EP # 245: From Teacher to Therapist: How Melissa Griffin Built WellNest Counseling

What makes Melissa Griffin with WellNest Counseling a good neighbor?

Many believe counseling is only for those in crisis, but Melissa Griffin of WellNest Counseling is challenging this misconception. As she reveals on the Good Neighbor Podcast, seeking support proactively can be transformative for families at every stage of development.

Melissa's path to founding WellNest Counseling began in the classroom. While teaching, she discovered her true passion wasn't academic instruction but supporting children's emotional wellbeing. This realization led her to pursue counseling while continuing to teach, eventually building a practice that serves the entire family system. From play therapy for young children to support for teens, adults, and young adults establishing their independence, WellNest offers comprehensive mental health services designed to meet clients where they are.

What makes Melissa's approach particularly insightful is her personal experience as part of a military family. Having navigated multiple deployments with young children, she understands firsthand the challenges of transitioning from co-parenting to solo parenting overnight. This experience informs her practical advice for families facing separation: find your village, schedule regular self-care, and utilize technology to maintain connections during absence. As she poignantly shares, "We all really love to be together because we know what it's like to be apart."

WellNest's philosophy—"bringing wellness to your nest"—reflects Melissa's belief that counseling isn't just for crisis intervention but can help families thrive at any stage. Whether you're a young adult building your nest or in the midst of parenting challenges, her practice offers a supportive environment for growth and healing. Ready to explore how counseling might benefit your family? Connect with WellNest Counseling through their website, social media, or by phone to learn more about their services and approach.

To learn more about WellNest Counseling go to:

https://www.wellnestcounseling.com/

WellNest Counseling

214-449-1088

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a counselor?
Well, one may be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
melissa Griffin LPC, with hercompany Wellness Counseling.
Melissa, how are you today?
I'm good.
Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to have you onand we're so excited to learn

(00:33):
all about you and your business.
Can you tell our listeners abit about your company?

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, so I own Wellness Counseling and we are a
mental health private practice.
We really specialize in seeinganyone who's in a family system.
So we have therapists that doplay therapy.
We've got therapists that seeteens.
We've got therapists thatspecialize in working with
adults or those like perinatalkind of family systems or family
stages, and then we evenspecialize in working with that

(01:01):
young adult that's like kind ofjust building their nest and
starting out.
So anywhere across the familylifespan is what we see.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Amazing and, being in the industry you are in, how in
the world did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I actually started out as a teacher, I knew that I
loved working with kids and thatthat seemed like the next right
thing for me to do.
I, you know, I nannied when Iwas a teenager.
My mom is a pediatrician andhas owned her own practice for a
long time, so I always saw thatI always saw working with kids.
I promptly got into teachingand realized very quickly that

(01:42):
that was not the scene for me.
I loved working with the kids,but I loved more hearing about
kind of their social emotionaldevelopment than I did teaching
them about like math or historyor something like that.
But then my first year I decidedto go back to school.
I taught for three more yearsafter that, so a total of four
years, and then I worked ongetting my master's in

(02:03):
counseling.
And then you know, here we arenow.
I've got my private practice.
We work with a lot of kids.
I knew I wanted to work withkids and parenting and I'm
fortunate to be able to havegrown a group practice as well.
So I have other therapists thatwork here.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
From teaching to counseling.
I am sure there's manymisconceptions you come across
in your industry.
Now, what is the biggest mythor misconception you come across
in the counseling world?

Speaker 3 (02:33):
I think the biggest one, the biggest myth we come
across is that you have to be incrisis or something's wrong
with you to come to counseling,and that is just like the
farthest thing from the truth.
We really love it when parentsand families come to us when
it's like oh, you know we'restruggling with this thing, but
it's not a big deal, but we wantto get ahead of it right.

(02:55):
Or we can really work withfamilies that are maybe in a
good place but just want to getto that next level.
So you don't have to be incrisis and you don't have to be
nothing has to be wrong with youto come to counseling.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
And, on that note, who are your target customers?
And in terms of marketing.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
How do you attract them?
I think, say our targetcustomers are going to be kind
of anyone in that family system.
So kids from ages two and ahalf, three, all the way up to
teenage years, all the way up tothose 18, 19, those young
adults who are starting out andtrying to build their nest,
those, the ones that are inthick of it.

(03:34):
It's hard, marriage is hard,parenting is hard, being
somebody other than a parent ishard.
So anyone in that domain.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
And, in terms of marketing, how do you attract or
stay attractive to your clients?

Speaker 3 (04:04):
I we do a lot of networking, so we like to talk
to other professionals who dosomething you know, adjacent to
us, but maybe not exactly thesame thing.
We are really good at workingwith school counselors and
teachers.
Given that's my background, Iknow the world, that world and
you know a lot of most of ourclients actually come to us by

(04:26):
word of mouth.
We've had families that havehad really good experiences and
they share us with their friends.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Let's go ahead and switch gears for a second.
Can you describe a hardship orlife challenge you overcame and
it's made you a better andstronger woman today?

Speaker 3 (04:43):
My family, my husband and my kids.
We are actually a militaryfamily.
Well, we're a retired militaryfamily.
Now my husband just resigned,retired in January.
Prior to that we had been infor 15 years.
So one of our hardships wasgoing through those deployments.
That was really challenging.

(05:03):
My kids felt it.
They were.
My kids are all eight and under, so they were old enough to
understand kind of what wasgoing on.
So that showed up in a lot ofdifferent ways and it was hard
for me because I missed myhusband and I went from a
parenting you know duo to a soloparent kind of overnight.
But we all made it, made itthrough and we we came through

(05:26):
it and I think we all reallylove to be together because we
know what it's like to be apart.
So that has made us a strongerfamily.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Most definitely, and I think that's always a good
test to see how strong yourfamily really is when you have
that time apart and just to comeback together even stronger in
the end is such a beautifulthing, right?
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome.
And so for our listeners whomay have family members that may

(05:54):
be deployed even right now,what words of wisdom do you have
for them to get through thatchallenging time in their life?

Speaker 3 (06:01):
I would say to the stay at home parent find truly I
know everyone says this buttruly find your village.
Find your people that you cancall and just be like I'm losing
my mind.
I need somebody to come help inthose times of deep need.
Set that up for yourself.
Also, something that I findreally successful for family
members going through deploymentis for that stay at home parent

(06:23):
to schedule a weekly kind ofthree hour time away where they
can just have some time forthemselves, and then, if you
have kids, make sure you havesomebody else.
Put your kids to bed one nighta week maybe, or one night every
two weeks.
That is a game changer as well,because it's a lot all on
yourself.
For the deployed parent I wouldsay you know, find little ways

(06:45):
to connect with your family.
There's lots of apps and thingsthat you can do.
You can record yourself readinga story so we can play it at
bedtime.
Just find little ways toconnect that are simple and easy
, you know, and you can kind ofkeep that connection going while
you're away.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Thank you for sharing that with our listeners,
melissa.
Yes, so please tell ourlisteners one thing they should
remember about wellnesscounseling, wellness counseling
Well nest.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
yeah, we bring wellness to your nest.
That's what we like to say.
That would be my thing.
We like to bring wellness toyour nest, whatever that looks
like.
If you're like again, like Isaid, if you are a young adult
just starting out building yournest, we have a spot for you.
If you are in the thick of it,we have a spot for you.
We see, we not only see kids,but we see adults too.

(07:35):
So we really try to be verywell-rounded within WellNest
counseling.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Well, that's amazing and just for our listeners to
know as well.
If you are going through thattough time right now, I think if
you don't have any physicalpeople to rely on, you can
always you know, if you havefaith, rely on your faith to
kind of get through those timesas well.
Just a little added advice, andso, Melissa, how can our

(08:04):
listeners learn more aboutwellness counseling?

Speaker 3 (08:08):
You can find us on our website
wellnesscounselingcomW-E-L-L-N-E-S-T.
Wellnesscounseling.
We're also on Instagram underthe same name and on Facebook.
Of course, we do TikTok alittle bit.
All of our contact informationis on our website, so we are
happy and eager to have a quickchat or a longer chat if you

(08:30):
need that and learn a little bitmore about you.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, Melissa, I really appreciate you being on
the show.
I wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpfriscocom.
That's gnFriscocom.
That's GNPFriscocom, or call469-221-9345.