12/28/2025
As we close out 2025, I’ve been taking a moment to pause and reflect, with a lot of gratitude and a little disbelief, on how far BirdWellness has come.
This practice didn’t start with a big business plan.
It began in a season of stillness, during my recovery from cochlear implant surgery in 2023, when Megan and I finally had the space to ask ourselves some hard but honest questions about the kind of clinicians… and humans… we wanted to be.
After nearly 15 years in community mental health, we knew the work mattered deeply.
But we also knew we wanted to create something different.
Something grounded in presence.
In integrity.
In real human connection.
So we started small.
Just two clinicians at our dining room table…designing forms, writing policies, credentialing with insurance panels, and talking about what we wanted this practice to feel like.
A place where people feel seen.
Supported.
And allowed to grow at a pace that’s sustainable.
A nest — safe enough for rest, strong enough for change.
We began seeing clients part-time in September 2023.
By January 2024, we took the leap and went all-in.
It was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating… and somehow, it worked.
Since then, we’ve served over 250 clients and completed more than 4,500 virtual sessions. We’ve grown into a small, deeply committed team, including the addition of Jimmy Vuong, LMSW, whose authenticity and grounded presence embody everything BirdWellness stands for.
As we move into 2026, BirdWellness continues to grow with intention.
Our newly redesigned website is now live, and we’ve expanded our services by partnering with a highly respected, EMDR-certified clinician to support first responders and trauma survivors, providing specialized care for those carrying the long-term weight of high-stress roles and trauma exposure.
When I look back at how BirdWellness came to be and how it continues to grow, what stands out most isn’t the numbers or the milestones.
It isn’t even the risk it took to leap when the timing wasn’t perfect.
It’s the way every decision has been guided by the same quiet question:
Does this align with who we are and how we want to show up for our clients, for each other, and for ourselves?
Our values didn’t come from a branding exercise or a mission statement drafted after the fact.
They emerged organically—
from years of sitting with people in pain,
from seeing what happens when care is rushed or systems overshadow humanity,
and from our own need to build something sustainable, ethical, and deeply human.
We believe growth should be intentional, not forced.
That healing happens in relationship, not checklists.
That clinicians do their best work when they’re supported, grounded, and fully present.
And that real change takes courage, balance, honesty, and compassion—over time.
Those beliefs shape how we practice.
How we grow.
And how we protect the heart of this work.
As we move into 2026, my goal remains simple:
To continue building BirdWellness as a premier virtual mental health practice in the Tri-Cities; one grounded in authenticity, connection, resilience, and care that lasts.
Here’s to what we’ve built.
Here’s to what’s coming next.
And here’s to every person who helped this practice take flight.
— Brian Birdwell, LMSW
Co-Owner, BirdWellness, PLLC
