Hello! I'm Michelle, a marriage and family therapy intern at Grand Rapids Specialty Therapy while I work toward my graduate degree as a Marriage and Family Therapist through Northwestern University. I have nearly two decades of experience working as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where I've been able to create supportive relationships with families as they navigated life changes that came along with having a hospitalized newborn. I focus on supporting individual development within the context of family, cultural, and societal influences with a solution focused and strength-based approach to working with individuals and families. My clinical interests include grief and loss, life transitions, trauma and shame, infertility, self-esteem and self-worth, creating boundaries, codependency, anxiety management, divorce, LGBTQIA+, co-parenting and blended family issues. I endeavor to create safe spaces that promote each person’s dignity and allow for authentic and vulnerable expression. I strive to be both culturally humble and curious as a student therapist, holding the belief that every person is the expert on their own life and every family is created through intentionality and love.