Grace Behavioral Health of Michigan

06/25/2025

We have a culture of not being allowed to have needs, and it’s detrimental to all of us

You can’t train a child not to have needs.
You can only teach them not to show them.
Not to speak them.
Not to trust that their needs matter.

But those needs don’t go away — they just get buried.
And what gets buried doesn’t vanish.
It festers.

It shows up later — in anxiety, people-pleasing, overachieving, or shutting down.

When we respond to a child’s need with dismissal, frustration, or control —
We don’t make them stronger.
We just make them quieter.

And being quiet isn’t the same as being okay.

So the goal isn’t to raise children who stop needing. It’s to become parents who stop fearing their needs…

Because that’s how we raise children who know they’re worthy of being heard. ❤️

Quote Credit: ❣️

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06/21/2025

This! This concept is worked on at length in therapy.

We do not try to make anyone “feel worse” when they are happy; but we do everything to try to make people “feel better” when they are in a million other states of emotions we label as “negative”. This is problematic.

When we experience loss, our bodies need to grieve.
We need to feel the feelings associated with the loss as a way to process it. This is how we respect ourselves & honor our relationship to the separation, the loss. How we move through it & learn how to begin moving forward.

But, societally, we are so uncomfortable with people not feeling 'good' that we try to rush ourselves & others through this process by “making them feel better.”
By encouraging distraction & disconnection from what their bodies are telling them they need.

While it’s often well-intentioned, and is needed at moments (and is what we’ve learned from our families & culture), it can also be invalidating & disruptive; it often doesn’t respect the space the person is in.
It doesn’t allow the grief to be processed.
It has more to do with our discomfort than the actual needs of the person doing the grieving.

This also goes for any other unpleasant emotion - we often struggle to allow people to just be where they are so they can sit with what is.
Those feelings exist for a reason.
They let us know about our needs for safety & connection. About unresolved wounds that need our tender care & attention. They signal to us when we need to replenish our energy stores, and they help us protect what we don’t want to give.

Collectively, we need to learn how to better sit with emotional discomfort. Being compassionately present to this discomfort allows us to develop the resilience to move through moments of adversity - and life WILL be full of challenging periods and moments.

And when you get better at gently sitting with your own discomfort and listening to your own deeper needs, you intuitively get better at extending the same supportive grace to others. It’s the sort of ripple that will change your friendships, your family system, and even your community.

If you're interested in learning more about this, I'm starting a new cycle of my year long program in September, working with Cycle Breakers - those who are working to heal and shift old patterns, and are looking to practice new ways of relating to self & others in a small group of like-minded people.
Sign up at the link below:
https://theeqschool.myflodesk.com/fb4ux9zhce

06/18/2025

Good news for our community! They are located in our shared cooperative, Embrace I Chelsea

We are excited to announce the addition of two new services to the Chelsea Pediatric Therapy Center!

We are now offering social and emotional support services as well as occupational therapy.

Contact us to talk with a professional to determine whether or not your child would benefit from these services.

05/29/2025

Summer is almost here! Don't let your child's speech and language skills regress over summer break. Consistency is the key to making progress. Contact us to get on the summer speech schedule!

(734)-489-9414
chelseapediatrictherapycenter@gmail.com

04/25/2025

We don’t have all the answers

We will do what we can to help you find them ❤️

One day, during my practicum to become a trauma therapist, I expressed to my supervisor, "I don't feel like I know enough yet to help my clients," and her reply completely surprised me.

She said, "I'd be more worried if you DIDN'T feel that way. It's the new therapists who think they know everything that are at risk for harming their clients."

This was an eye-opening moment for me because at that point I really questioning whether I was cut out for this work.

My supervisor explained to me that yes, we bring strategies, insight, and frameworks for understanding neuroscience and behavior, but clients and caregivers bring something no clinician can replicate: deep, nuanced knowledge of their life, their history, their triggers, their strengths, and the real-world dynamics of their family.

I learned that in trauma-informed care, collaboration and trust are more essential than knowledge or degrees.

When we position ourselves as “the expert,” without centering the voices of our clients, we risk disempowering people and overlooking critical context.

Sometimes, the clinical world and social media can make people feel like their voice is secondary and that therapists have all the answers. But, in trauma-informed care, the individual's voice and opinions are central.

We’re here to walk with our clients. Not in front of them. Not above them. With them.

Therapists, you don’t have to know all the answers (None of us do). That's a relief! We are imperfect humans, just like everyone else.

We make mistakes, even with our own families. It’s ok to admit we don’t know everything in life, how could we? So much of life, science, and psychology is still a mystery!

04/22/2025

Infant mental health programs aim to address this from the start ❤️

Researchers examined data from 2,232 British identical twins (51.1% female) who were followed from birth through age 18 for the study.

10/05/2024

Life is stressful. Whether it’s work or relationship issues or you’re worrying about politics or global conflict, it can be overwhelming. NPR’s Stress Less: A quest to reclaim your calm aims to help.

09/27/2024

Now that school is back in session and everyone is back to a normal schedule and routine, are you looking to get extra speech therapy support for your child?

We have immediate availability for afternoon and evening speech therapy appointments!

Contact us to talk with a licensed speech therapist about your concerns or schedule your first session.
(734)-489-9414
chelseapediatrictherapycenter@gmail.com

08/27/2024

I'm very excited to announce we have new clinicians on board, open to providing telehealth services to all individuals in the State of Michigan. Kelly and Audrey are joining Amanda and me, Katrina, at Grace Behavioral Health of Michigan.

Kelly specializes in work with children and Audrey works well with the adult population. They will be able to accept BCBSM insurance and cash payment, for now. Eventually they will be accepting BCN and Aetna.

Amanda and I continue to see clients, both in-person and via telehealth.

I am so eager to support these wonderful humans, who are here to help other wonderful humans.

Should you know of someone in need of supportive therapy services, please contact us at therapy@gracebehavioralmi.com to request a first appointment. Our in-person sessions are held in Chelsea, MI and we can see anyone in the State via Telehealth.

Thank you and be well!

07/31/2024

Do you have concerns regarding your child's communication skills? The Chelsea Pediatric Therapy Center is a private speech clinic located in Chelsea, MI. We provide 1:1 speech therapy sessions with pediatric clients tailored to their specific communication needs, as well as parent education throughout therapy sessions.

Contact us to talk with a licensed Speech Language Pathologist! We currently have immediate availability for speech therapy sessions.

07/13/2024

Graphic credit: Generation Mindful

07/12/2024

This is a very important thing to explore in treatment

Post-traumatic growth describes the phenomenon in which people who have experienced tragedy are able to create a more meaningful life after their hardship. The term was coined by psychologists Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD, in the mid-1990s.

"People develop new understandings of themselves, the world they live in, how to relate to other people, the kind of future they might have and a better understanding of how to live life," says Dr. Tedeschi on the transformation.

What are your thoughts on post-traumatic growth? Do you believe it's possible for yourself? Let us know in the comments 🌳

🎨 Art by Liz and Mollie