Amy Vallerand

Hey! My name is Amy and I am a fully licensed Master's Level Social Worker who has spent the last 10 years of my career working in high-crisis environments and have now started to build a life in the private practice world! I specialize working with couples (married, dating, divorced, separated, strictly co-parenting, open), parents/parent-coaching*, women/women's health/mom's with younger children, teens, and families. Once I learned about the field of social work, I knew with certainty that this was the path for me. My journey into the profession wasn’t linear — I had to pause my education early in adulthood and return years later with a clearer sense of purpose and commitment. When I did return, I moved through my education with determination, earning my Bachelor of Social Work from Wayne State University and my Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, with a concentration in Interpersonal Practice and Medical Social Work. 'A penny for my thoughts' on how I work with different specialities! -Couples therapy is work I genuinely love and a population I have a huge passion for. I believe the most needed, and often most missing, ingredients in any partnership are transparency and communication, which I’ve learned in not just from clinical training, but from lived experience;I’ve done this work the wrong way, right way, the hard way, and every way in between — and that shapes how I show up for the couples I work with! In our sessions, I view the relationship itself as my client. A healthy partnership is made up of two healthy individuals, and I’m here to take over as the temporary team manager. I focus on slowing conversations down, clarifying misunderstandings, and identifying the patterns that create conflict or disconnection. The goal is never to assign blame to be hateful but to label the actions and feelings as they are knowing it’ll lead to an increase understanding and help you all build the practical skills that allow a relationship to grow. -Parenting can be deeply meaningful — and also incredibly isolating, overwhelming, and emotionally complex, especially during seasons of change. I bring both professional experience and personal understanding to my work with parents, including those navigating divorce, co-parenting, single-parent homes, and the challenges of raising children while also caring for yourself. -Working with younger clients requires creativity, patience, and genuine connection. I view therapy as a team effort that includes parents, guardians, and caregivers as essential partners. Rather than focusing solely on behaviors, I pay close attention to how young people express themselves — through play, storytelling, conversation, and the patterns that show up in their relationships and daily lives. Most challenging behaviors serve a purpose, and once we understand that purpose, we can develop strategies that help them feel safer, more regulated, and better understood. My approach to therapy is deeply relational, collaborative, and individualized. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all model. Therapy should adapt to you, not the other way around. Across all ages, the core traits I bring into every session are consistency, curiosity, transparency, and a genuine commitment to walking alongside you through your journey. From my years working in Emergency Rooms and big school systems, I’m comfortable being more direct when it’s needed, building rapport quickly, and can hold space for all the difficult and messy conversations. I’m here to make sure our time together is both productive and feels safe and comfy for both people, and I take that job very seriously! This makes me particularly well-suited to working with couples where one or both partners are neurodivergent (ADHD, autism, OCD, etc.)! If you’re nervous about starting therapy, that’s completely okay and understandable! Many fears come from the unknown, what I often call “the monster in the closet.” My hope is that once we turn on the lights together, things feel more manageable and less intimidating than you initially thought. I promise to simply be a human being with you, genuinely curious about getting to know you, and feeling honored to be invited into your thoughts and feelings. You don’t need to know exactly what you need, you just need a willingness to begin; and here you are with it now! *Though I have an extensive background in early childhood therapies, being fully virtual I am currently only able to bill insurance for virtual parent-coaching sessions (anything in-person would be out of pocket).