Sherry Mullins,MA, Licensed Professional Counselor

My Approach to Helping

More Info About My Practice

We now have offices in both Royal Oak and Lansing!

We happily accept your Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO plans, but please do not confuse your Blue Care Network or Blue Cross Complete with PPO. Insurance gets more confusing each year, and I'll help you make sense of your plan. If you aren't sure if your plan is PPO, please ask me.

No insurance? We do accept private pay clients. (Some therapists don't.) We are known for working quickly and accurately, and our clients can and do experience noticeable results often within their first weeks of treatment. Let's see if we can make something work for you.

If we find we are not a good fit for insurance reasons or any other reasons, I'll make suggestions to other therapists you might be able to work with if I am capable of doing so for you.

Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

Introverts
Hermits
Creative Types
"Empaths" (as an identity - capital E air quotes. This is different from having empathy)
Outcasts
The Tower Card always comes up.
"I hate people." or "I hate stupid people." (Be honest.)

Chronic Post Traumatic Stress (A.K.A. Death by Papercuts)

Perfectionistic People Pleasers (who, according to others or maybe even themselves, can never get it right)
Anxious Overwhelmed Notices EVERYTHING and Overthinks Anything (rinse and repeat, this is endless)
Highly Intelligent People
Do you feel like you're worthless?

Family Drama and Family Trauma
Codependent Relationships (I take care of everybody but nobody ever does the same for me. I don't get it.)
Betrayal that Feels like Abandonment (I don't like you when you are you. Be what I want you to be or I will punish you, shame you, or withdraw my love.)
Relationships with Narcissists or Borderlines
You're too nice.

I don't want to have BOUNDARIES or do my own thing because then I would be SELFISH (and people might not like me).

You became "The Parent" at a young age.
You could "feel" what needed to be done before you even learned to speak, and you took care of it. You still do this and have done it all your life. This is normal to you.
You were expected to "Perform and Excel" at grades, music, sports, etc.

Highly Sensitive People (people who are genetically born with a more sensitively tuned central nervous system. This is different from being an Empath. These two often, but do not always, go hand in hand.)

You're feeling so Angry! (but you won't show it, or for some of you even own it, you just stuff it, clench your jaw, and often become angry with your own self instead)

Deep longing ~ Sadness that is not easily remedied or relieved ~ Chronic "Missing"
No Meaning ~ No Purpose ~ Existential Problems (often said: "I'm not suicidal, but I have no real interest in living.")
Palliative Care ~ End of Life Review ~ Memoir
The Abandoned ~ The Bereaved ~ Those Left Behind

Or, to sum it up, we could just say: You don't belong here. ~Ouch.

Fun Fact: Do you know that every physical pain and illness is linked up with mental, emotional, environmental, and spiritual factors? The majority of our clients have at least one auto-immune disease.

Chronic Pain, particularly Centralized Pain Conditions (also known as: "We don't know what's wrong with you.")
Invisible Illnesses, Autoimmune Diseases (also called: "You don't look sick!" Often involve years of hearing from the medical community and loved ones that "there's nothing wrong with you.")
Whole Person Practices Addressing Health and Healing

How Psychotherapy Can Help

Underneath it all we are doing depth therapy, trauma therapy, somatic therapy, relational therapy, archetypal therapy, and contemplative therapy. You don't even need to know what all of these mean. (You'll probably go look them up though...) This work is not for the faint of heart. It is designed for those who want permanent deep healing and not just a quick fix.

My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy

"For you to become a living demonstration in the world of who you are." This doesn't usually make much sense at first. So if it doesn't now, you are in good company! But the more it gets said as I see you "becoming you" through the therapy process, we will have the opportunity to explore its meaning and celebrate you "as you" more and more and more and more.

My Role as a Therapist

I am a Dangerous Old Woman Being Peace in Troubled Times and Bringing Calm to Troubled Minds

My Guiding Ethical Principles

That's simple. To care. I can't tell you how many clients have quickly said that unlike some other therapists they had tried, "I actually seem to care about them". And it's true. You can do amazing things with your life with someone by your side who truly cares.

On the Fence About Going to Therapy?

The first 20 minutes by phone are free for those who are interested in therapy services. If we fit, great! We'll talk about the next step. If we feel another therapist would be just right for you; we'll acknowledge that and I'll wish you well. That's fine too. (I take the "anti-sales" sales approach.) Either way, I promise you will leave with something from those 20 minutes that you did not have before.

Had a Negative Therapy Experience?

Most of my clients have. Or they had good therapy experiences but feel like they went as far as they could go with that. Sometimes clients feel like they have talked about every single thing in therapy that they could possibly talk about, and they don't know why they still feel like something is wrong. Other times therapy was quite successful and life is very stable and good for them and that's when their body and mind go into a complete panic that they can't get rid of and can't make any sense out of. This is when I'll often get a call.

Although I do get some clients that are new to therapy, this is not "newbie therapy."

How My Own Struggles Made Me a Better Therapist

Some therapists are taught to never talk about themselves in therapy, and that the focus should be 110% on the client. But how can we bond like that? The relationship between us IS the therapy. My past and my inner makeup are significantly flawed, but I practice self-love and know my worth. This makes good modeling. This makes keen wisdom. This makes stillness and safety in my own mind, spirit, and body. This provides you with a warm container in which you can heal without even speaking, just by being together, often through the meeting of eyes alone. Because I have seen myself you will feel seen, deeply seen, and understood. I do share about myself in therapy, but for now, I will choose to practice what I preach and use good boundaries, and not disclose or expose my whole self. We are only just making one another's acquaintance.

What I Say to People Concerned about the Therapy Process

I usually recommend trying it out for the first time. If we both feel comfortable to "play again," and if the client is still a bit hesitant, I will often recommend they commit to another number of sessions. That number could be one more, three more, six more, or eight more. It just depends. There are lots of reasons someone might hesitate, so there are lots of things that we may be evaluating and addressing while building trust with one another or while giving it a good enough go to see if this is right for you or not, or whether this is the right time for you or not. I never try to force anyone into therapy, first of all. I never try to force anyone into therapy with me, second of all. But I do get sad when people are approaching the therapy door, but their protective parts can't allow them to step over the threshold and sit on the couch. That's why I like taking just very small steps into therapy for a person who feels hesitant. This way, their protective parts might not rile up with a screaming "No!!!!" as you get too close.

Importance of the Client-Therapist Alliance

Are you an odd duck? A misfit? An introvert? An artist? Someone who doesn't quite fit "here"? Perhaps you feel lonely, anxious, outcast, weighed down, overly responsible, pained. You're irritated, sensitive, suffering, trying to find your way while others tell you you're doing it wrong. What do you want? What do you need? Where do you go from here? Come. Sit with me a moment. Feel yourself melt into the warmth of belong. Life doesn't have to be so lonely, so isolated, so hard. Using her own introverted, quirky, quick, and intuitive ways; Sherry sees what is good and draws out the best of who you really are.