Blake Family Consulting

09/06/2025

To support engagement and participation in virtual therapy, some children receive a stuffed Diggory the Dragon as part of their treatment. It is soft, sensory-friendly, and coincides with the “Teach Your Dragon” bibliotherapy series by Steve Herman, which follows Diggory as he learns a variety of life skills.

Incorporating Diggory into sessions provides children with a tangible, comforting way to connect to the material, increase conversational involvement, and reinforce therapeutic themes. While there are more than 65 books in the series, the following titles are those I recommend and have integrated into therapy (in no particular order):

1. The Sad Dragon
2. Train Your Angry Dragon
3. Fix Your Dragon's Attitude
4. Teach Your Dragon to Understand Consequences
5. A Dragon with ADHD
6. Teach Your Dragon Body Safety
7. Teach Your Dragon About Personal Space
8. Train Your Dragon to Accept No
9. Train Your Dragon to Follow Rules
10. Dragon and the Bully
11. Train Your Dragon to Love Himself
12. Diggory Listens to His Body
13. Help Your Dragon Deal with Anxiety
14. Dragon Sibling Rivalry
15. Teach Your Dragon Manners
16. Help Your Dragon Deal with Change
17. Train Your Dragon to Do Hard Things
18. Train Your Dragon to Clean Up
19. Help Your Dragon Cope with Trauma
20. The Adopted Dragon
21. Help Your Dragon Overcome Separation Anxiety
22. Two Homes Filled with Love
23. Teach Your Dragon Integrity
24. Teach Your Dragon Respect
25. Teach Your Dragon to Follow Instructions
26. Get Your Dragon to Try New Things
27. The Mindful Dragon
28. Diggory Doo - It's Moving Day
29. The Bossy Dragon
30. Teach Your Dragon to Stop Lying
31. Help Your Dragon Deal with Jealousy and Envy
32. Train Your Dragon to be Responsible
33. Teach Your Dragon Feelings

09/03/2025

I had the chance to sit down with Krista Nash of Children First Family Law - check out our podcast episode!

Divorce brings many challenges to families going through a divorce, and involving a mental health professional can make all the difference in their outcomes on the other side of the divorce. On this episode of Children First Family Law, Krista sits down with Lauren Blake, owner and founder of Michig...

09/03/2025

On today's episode of Children First Family Law, Lauren Blake pulls back the curtain on high-conflict divorce dynamics. She shares her unique path from legal professional to trauma-informed therapist, revealing why mental health matters more than legal battles. Hear her powerful perspectives on co-parenting and family healing.

Listen wherever you find podcasts!

09/03/2025

Payment Policy for Therapeutic Services:

The costs for all therapy sessions are due at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the scheduled appointment.

Should a card not be uploaded in time, declined, or if the card is unable to be processed on the morning of the appointment, the session is cancelled immediately and both parents receive an email informing them that the session has been cancelled due to non-payment.

This policy also extends to sessions that are to be split between the parents - if one party does not make their payment, the session will not be held.

This policy is strictly enforced with no exceptions - this information is clearly outlined in the intake documents signed by the parents before services commence.

08/27/2025

These were found to be the most common strategies used by parents, intentionally or unintentionally, to alienate a child from their co-parent.

- Bad-mouthing
- Limiting contact
- Withdrawing love or getting angry when the child expresses interest in the estranged parent
- Telling the child the estranged parent doesn’t love them
- Forcing the child to choose or express loyalty
- Bad-mouthing to create the impression the estranged parent is dangerous
- Confiding in the child about adult relationship issues
- Limiting mentions or photos of the estranged parent
- Forcing the child to reject the estranged parent
- Limiting contact with the estranged parent’s extended family
- Belittling the estranged parent in front of the child
- Creating conflict between the child and the estranged parent
- Cultivating dependency on the alienating parent
- Throwing out gifts or letters from the estranged parent
- Interrogating the child after visits with the estranged parent
- Making the child feel guilty about a positive relationship with the estranged parent
- Having the child spy on the estranged parent
- Telling the estranged parent the child doesn’t love them
- Monitoring letters or phone calls with the estranged parent
- Having the child call the estranged parent by first name
- Having the child refer to someone else as “mom” or “dad”
- Not letting the child be alone with the estranged parent
- Telling the child someone else is their mother or father
- Restricting visitation by requiring siblings to stay together
- Not allowing the child to bring gifts from the estranged parent into the home
- Threatening to take the child away from the estranged parent
- Preventing extended family from talking about the estranged parent
- Creating secret signals or communication with the child
- Encouraging the child to keep secrets from the estranged parent
- Physically assaulting the estranged parent in front of the child
- Changing the child’s name
- Accusing the child of being too close to the estranged parent
- Making it appear as though the estranged parent is rejecting the child

Amy Baker identified these as the most common parental alienation strategies in her book, "Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome."

08/20/2025

Some parents withhold contact between a co-parent and a child in an effort to prevent trauma or heartache. While the reasons for that may be understandable, it’s important to recognize that withholding a parent–child relationship does not prevent trauma - it only changes the shape of it.

Children still experience confusion, loss, and even rejection, often believing the absence is their fault or that it is necessary to protect their primary parent. These feelings can directly affect a child’s self-esteem and their ability to manage anxiety and fear. If you are seeking support in addressing and rebuilding the bond between a parent and a child, please reach out. Our work with families is trauma-informed, judgment-free, and always centered on the best interests of the child.

07/19/2025

For decades, the prevailing message to children was: “Your feelings don’t matter. Just do what you’re told.” Emotions were seen as inconvenient, even disruptive. As a result, many adults today are unlearning emotional suppression.

But in our effort to correct the past, we’ve overcorrected.

We’ve gone from ignoring kids’ feelings to letting them run the show. A child is disappointed, so we cancel the plan. A child is frustrated, so we change the rule. A child is anxious, so we remove the challenge.

Here’s how I see it: We need to do something no generation before us has done: not shut down our kids’ emotions, not let kids’ emotions dictate what we do. We need to learn to hold both: Feeling and boundary. Expression and leadership. Validation and authority.

It’s our job to make decisions we believe are best for our kids. And it’s our kids’ job to have feelings about those decisions.

Our boundaries shouldn’t dictate their feelings... and their feelings shouldn’t control our boundaries.

This is what sturdy parenting looks like.

07/19/2025

I often see the “they won’t get out of the car for parenting time” kids in session. However, I have a little one who had the added complexity of also refusing to speak both in session and at exchanges. These puppets were a game changer - the child had a way to successfully communicate how she felt without words (though, we’ve found that she’s okay with making the puppets talk so long as it’s the puppet, not her, that’s speaking). This week we finally had our first reunification session where the child chose the yellow puppet while speaking about the non-custodial parent. Progress!

I think sometimes we forget that absolutely every feeling that exists, we were taught. Children who are taught early on that their emotions are not welcome or safe will almost always default to stunted expression and repression of how they feel. This can follow them for a lifetime if not addressed. When this happens, we must make the repair and then teach - identifying feelings, where they exist in our bodies, what they mean, reflect on how we (and the parents) have treated others when having felt those emotions in the past, and how we should handle those feelings moving forward. It’s never the emotions that is bad, it’s what we do with it that can help or hurt ourselves and others.

For example, the “anxious” puppet for me feels like a burning hot bowling ball sitting in my stomach - but for my little one in session, she feels heavy ropes of spaghetti draped across her shoulders. When I’m feeling anxious, I’ve found that stretching, counting, breathing exercises, and journaling decrease the strength of those feelings. Now we are going to pay attention to what brings those feelings on and participate in some activities to find what works for her.

Being able to safely feel and express is crucial to developing well rounded kids.

07/08/2025

Meet the newest addition to our practice - Kerisma Reed, LLMSW! Kerisma has been supporting families with us as a parenting time supervisor but she is expanding her role to provide additional therapeutic services for families in need - this includes reunification therapy, co-parenting therapy, and therapeutic supervised parenting time. Kerisma's background includes extensive work with the Department of Health and Human Services and Oakland County Friend of the Court.

06/06/2025

We exclusively worked with separated and divorced families—and we understand how quickly calendars fill up with tutoring, soccer games, parenting time, therapy sessions, and everything in between. To simplify scheduling, we've moved to direct bookings for both new and existing clients. Click the link below to schedule an appointment.

https://blakefamilyconsulting.clientsecure.me

02/06/2025

About 40% of separated parents say an ex-partner tried to turn their child against them, a study says.

01/27/2025

This 100-page, adult-led workbook, “The Body Safety Workbook” by Jordyn Wold is an absolute must-have for little ones aged 3-7. It breaks down essential topics like body autonomy, consent, secrets, strangers, and boundaries in a way young children can easily understand.

I always ensure parental consent before introducing this resource, and I’ve seen firsthand how quickly kids grasp these concepts and apply them in real life. This book is especially valuable for divorced families, where children navigate different homes, different people, and different rules. No matter the environment, every child deserves to understand and advocate for their own boundaries while respecting others.