Blake Family Consulting

03/08/2026

03/02/2026

The NAME of the therapy listed in a COURT ORDER determines who is in the room.

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY means I am treating one person. If that person is a child, I will meet with the parents for intake and background information. Parents may schedule separate consultations as clinically appropriate, but the child is the identified client and the only person participating in regular sessions.

FAMILY THERAPY allows for the greatest flexibility. Family therapy simply means two or more family members are present. I determine who should attend each session based on clinical need. That may include the entire family, just the parents, only the children, or different combinations over time. The ultimate goal is improving overall family functioning.

CO-PARENTING THERAPY is therapy focused on the parents. The primary participants are the two parents. Depending on the dynamics of the family, a child may join a session. In some Orders, the spouse or partner of one or both parents may also be included. Regardless of who attends a particular session, the goal remains improving the parents’ ability to co-parent effectively.

REUNIFICATION THERAPY typically begins with separate intake meetings with the custodial parent, the estranged parent, and the child or children. The work then progresses to structured sessions between the estranged parent and the child or children. During this phase, I generally have less ongoing contact with the custodial parent. The goal of reunification therapy is to build or rebuild healthy parent-child contact in situations of estrangement, when it is clinically appropriate and safe to do so.

ASSESSMENT FOR THERAPY. Including the word “assessment” in an Order can also be incredibly helpful. For example, an Order may direct an assessment to determine whether a child has the capacity to engage in reunification therapy, or authorize a limited number of co-parenting sessions to assess whether the parents can effectively participate in co-parenting therapy or whether a Parenting Coordinator or Guardian ad Litem may be more appropriate. Assessment language provides clarity before committing everyone to a long-term therapeutic structure.

02/20/2026

**We still have availability for parenting time supervision only.

We are actively onboarding 16 new families and have 12 additional families on a waitlist. To ensure every single family receives the dedicated attention they deserve in a timely manner, we are temporarily closing our waitlist. I do not want families waiting 45-60 days to start care.

Maintaining the integrity of our care comes first. We will review our waitlist in one month (March 19th) to see if we are able to take on new cases at that time.

I highly recommend reaching out to us via phone or email to inquire about new cases before adding us to an Order - we do not want to create further delays. Thank you for understanding!

02/20/2026

She's back! Kerisma stepped away briefly to spend more time with her family - but she's back with us and ready to help assist our families. Kerisma will be providing various forms of therapeutic services.

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.

02/13/2026

These guys come with me to many therapy sessions. Learning to hold Anxiety+Fear and Joy+Hope during hard conversations is a learned skill.

02/07/2026

“Anticipatory anxiety is the excessive dread, worry, or fear experienced regarding future events or potential, often imagined, negative outcomes. It causes physical symptoms like muscle tension, racing heart, and insomnia, often leading to avoidance behaviors and social/professional disruption. Common causes include impending social situations, health results, or major life changes.”

Anticipation

02/06/2026

During the reunification intakes, I always have a moment where I tell the parent(s) (almost verbatim): "This is a really difficult process. When you're a kid, it's hard to confront others when you are upset. It's even harder to confront an adult - but top tier difficulty is confronting a parent," and then I segue into talking to the parent about their relationship with their own parent(s).

You would be surprised at how many parents participating in reunification therapy are no contact with their own parent(s).

Sometimes we are asking our kids (who are usually still at least a decade from a fully developed frontal lobe) to do something we cannot even do ourselves. My purpose for asking these questions is to give the adult a moment to sit in the memories of the dynamic between a parent and a child from the opposite perspective.

01/15/2026

MIPA is an incredible organization for mental health professionals and legal professionals seeking to collaborate and learn from each other.

2026 MIPA memberships are available for purchase. To ensure the proper registration, membership access requires logging in through our website linked below!

- Go to the MIPA website.
- Click the 'Membership' button and log in using your email.
- Pay the $60 annual fee.
- Enjoy a full year of educational luncheons, social and networking events, and inclusion in our directory of legal and mental health professionals!

We look forward to another great year of connection, collaboration, and learning.

www.mipamichigan.com

11/28/2025

Safety is something most of us don’t think to be thankful for - until the moment we no longer have it.

1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men are victims of intimate partner violence. Many of the individuals who have utilized our services have also relied on HAVEN for their resources during vulnerable transitions in their lives. For more than fifty years, HAVEN has offered comprehensive advocacy, education, counseling, and shelter exclusively for survivors of intimate partner violence. We have a heart for separating and divorcing families and want to assist high risk families this season. To support HAVEN’s ongoing efforts to help survivors establish safety and stability, we donated the following from their wish list:

🔒 10 Kwikset exterior entry door locks with deadbolts
🎥 10 Wi-Fi–enabled indoor security cameras
🚨 10 six-pack sets of battery-powered door and window alarms

These items address some of the most immediate and practical safety needs that arise when a survivor begins rebuilding their life - often in a new home, often with limited resources, and often during the most dangerous stage of their journey.

Our hope is that these tools help ten families feel more secure, supported, and empowered as they take their first steps toward long-term stability and safety.

Happy Thanksgiving from Blake Family Consulting and Blake Family Advocacy!

11/21/2025

Congratulations to Jacob Simon at Jacob Simon Law for winning one of our Yeti Hopper M20 Backpacks in today’s raffle!

11/21/2025

Congratulations to Frank Briguglio at Clarkston Legal for winning one of our Yeti Hopper M20 Backpacks in today’s raffle!

11/21/2025