Maternal Hope Counseling Center

12/05/2025

Great opportunity!

11/24/2025

Meet Sarah Christian! ❤️

Sarah has wanted to be a therapist for as long as she can remember. Her path toward this work began during college, while she was earning her master’s degree and working in a residential facility for youth. That experience confirmed that she was exactly where she was meant to be. The desire to support people through life’s challenges has guided her ever since. Listening, understanding, supporting, offering tools, and helping others feel truly seen are all at the heart of what Sarah does.

After completing her degree, life took her across the ocean to the UK, where she spent many years working in child protection, foster care, and adoption. Those years were incredibly meaningful, both personally and professionally. It was during that time that Sarah met her husband and they welcomed their first child.

When Sarah's family returned to Michigan, she spent several years as a home-based therapist before transitioning into outpatient therapy. That’s when she discovered her passion for perinatal mental health. Supporting women during their reproductive years, through infertility, or the many transitions that come with pregnancy, birth, and motherhood quickly became close to Sarah's heart. Since then, she has completed extensive training in this area, earned her Perinatal Mental Health Certification (PMH-C), and continue to attend conferences and courses to keep learning and growing in this field.

For Sarah, being a therapist means walking alongside people—offering compassion, perspective, and tools to help them feel more grounded, connected, and empowered. It’s truly a privilege to be part of someone’s journey toward healing and growth.

Outside the office, Sarah is a mom to four amazing kids who are growing up far too quickly—my youngest is now in school full-time! As a family, they love to travel and spend time outdoors, whether they are biking, walking, exploring Michigan’s beautiful trails and lakes, or traveling somewhere further. Sarah always tells her kids that every vacation should be to a place they've never been before—something they try to do whenever they can.

11/17/2025

10/29/2025

Meet Heather Kiel! ❤️

Heather knew she wanted to be a therapist from a really young age because of her own lived experiences. She pursued the social work degree because it gave her a few years to decide exactly what she wanted to do with it in the clinical therapy realm. She loves helping people, but has learned that it's not just helping people, it's walking with them in their darkest times. To have someone to trust you in that space is nothing short of an honor.

Heather's favorite part of the work she does is the moment she sits with someone and can feel the healing shift in them; the "aha" moment. Or a moment where she is reflecting with someone about their time together and realize just how much they have gone through, how resilient they are. She loves when their posture straightens, their face gets brighter and you can see the change.

Outside of the office, Heather enjoys baking. Most recently, sourdough! She also enjoys gardening, reading and a good Netflix documentary. She and her husband have been together since 2006 and married since 2011. They have two boys who keep them very busy, and she is also a dog-mom to their family beagle, Rita (named after the character on Bluey). They love traveling together, camping, spending time balanced between being busy and lounging on the couch.

Heather is looking forward to being EMDR Certified any day now! She just recently traveled to Philadelphia to complete (for the 2nd time) Karen Kleiman's "Art of Holding" training. She notes that there may be more opportunities in this sphere, but all to be determined right now!

10/25/2025

4 years of loving the work we do, supporting the women in our community. We are so thankful for this opportunity every day ❤️

10/24/2025

Meet the Therapists! We will be featuring each of our therapists and sharing a little more about them in the days to come. First, meet Megan Freed! ❤️

Megan knew she wanted to be a therapist from a very young age and was very involved in PALS mentoring in high school, often giving advice and offering a listening ear to anyone who needed it. Megan finds passion in being a positive, nurturing and down-to-earth support for others. At first, Megan focused on treating children and adolescents and since then her specialty has shifted to working with women!

Megan's favorite part of the work she does is helping clients to heal from a trauma or wound in their past; whether it is a traumatic birth, a significant loss, challenging first pregnancy/postpartum period, battling infertility or even deeper wounds that have recently been uncovered. Seeing clients truly heal their nervous systems is incredibly rewarding. Holding new babies is an added bonus 😍

Outside of the office, Megan enjoys playing sports with her 3 athletic boys, traveling all over the country, going to the beach, getting a delicious coffee, listening to Audiobooks and weight lifting. She's also a BIG Michigan football fan - GO BLUE!

Megan has been married to her husband for 17 years and together they share 3 boys who keep them busy, laughing, challenged and always on their toes.

This past year, Megan became certified in EMDR and is very proud to utilize this therapy technique in her practice regularly with clients who have PTSD or any sort of trauma; be it during the reproductive period of their life or from childhood.

10/15/2025

10/11/2025

10/02/2025

💙 Baby Blues vs PPD vs PPA: Know the Difference 💙

Not every mood change after birth is the same:

🔹 Baby Blues: Mild mood swings, tears, irritability; usually resolves within 2 weeks.
🔹 Postpartum Depression (PPD): Persistent sadness, hopelessness, low energy, loss of interest; can last months without treatment.
🔹 Postpartum Anxiety (PPA): Intense worry, racing thoughts, panic attacks; can interfere with daily life.

Recognizing the signs early is key to recovery. Mental Illness Awareness Week is the perfect time to learn, reach out, and support each other.

*️⃣ Perinatal mental health disorders also include OCD, Bipolar Mood Disorders, PTSD, and Psychosis. *️⃣

You are not alone. Get help now ⤵️
🔷 Call or text the Postpartum Support International HelpLine at 800-944-4773. You never need a diagnosis to ask for help.
🔷 Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-852-6262
🔷 In a crisis situation, call or text the National Su***de & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
🔷 Download the Connect by PSI app in the App Store or Google Play Store
🔷 Visit postpartum.net for additional programs and resources.

09/23/2025

ACOG reaffirms the safety and benefits of acetaminophen use during pregnancy.
More than two decades of research have found no causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability in children. Acetaminophen continues to be an important and safe option for managing pain and fever in pregnancy—conditions that can pose serious risks to pregnant patients and their fetuses if left untreated. Learn more about acetaminophen use during pregnancy: https://bit.ly/4mqIzWr

09/23/2025

APA Statement on White House Announcement on Autism https://ow.ly/P6k850X0zCi