ONLINE THERAPY FOR LANSING & ACROSS MICHIGAN
Therapy for Life Transitions, Overwhelm and ADHD in Lansing
Specialized online therapy tailored for Lansing professionals, academics, and adults navigating major life changes.
Serving clients across Michigan. BCBS in-network.
Do any of these sound like you?
Overthinking
Disconnected
Depleted
Unseen
When your intellect is your primary tool for navigating high-stress policy work or demanding academic programs, it is incredibly easy to cut yourself off from your body. You intellectualize your feelings, rationalize your stress, and keep pushing until a burnout-induced collapse forces you to stop. We specialize in treating "gifted kid burnout," supporting brilliant professionals who are secretly drowning in the day-to-day administrative logistics of life.
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Who We Work With
We support graduate students experiencing imposter syndrome, the kind that follows you even after you've clearly proven you belong. State workers exhausted by rigid systems they didn't design and can't easily change. Adults realizing their intense perfectionism is no longer serving them, even though it's the thing that got them this far. And people quietly burning out while still meeting every deadline.
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Why Virtual Care
Virtual therapy keeps your professional life and your personal life in separate rooms. Get support from your car, your closed office door, or your couch, or wherever you actually have time and privacy.
Our virtual practice has zero connection to any state agency, university department, or employer system. What you share stays entirely within the clinical relationship.
“We talk about what has been making life hard and work with you to find the best options to make things feel more manageable.”
—Steven Gilpin, LMSW
HOW WE CAN HELP
Our Specialties
Real life rarely fits into neat categories, and neither do the lives of people we work with. Below are some of the areas we specialize in. Don’t worry if what you're carrying doesn't map perfectly onto any of these.
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Anxiety, Stress & Burnout
When anxiety, stress and overwhelm have become your default, something needs to change. Therapy is a place to start figuring out what's actually driving it, and work toward handling life with a little more room to breathe.
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Trauma & The Past
Past trauma has a way of showing up in daily life in ways we might not expect, including interactions with others and how you think about yourself. We can help you make sense of your history so it stops running the show.
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Neurodivergent Support
We tailor sessions for therapy for how your brain is actually wired, not against it. Whether you're navigating ADHD, Autism, or a late diagnosis, you don't have to mask, overexplain, justify, or perform. Just show up as you are.
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LGBTQ+ Affirming Care
Connecting Heals is a space where you never have to spend a session educating your therapist or defending who you are. Just grounded, skilled support for the life you want to build.
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Relationships & Boundaries
If your relationships leave you more drained than fulfilled, often there is a reason. We’ll help you understand the patterns behind people-pleasing, codependency, and conflict avoidance.
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Life Transitions & Parenting
Becoming a parent, losing a partner, navigating divorce, or starting over after a major life change. Transitions are harder than they look.. We’ll work to help you find your footing.
Additional areas of clinical expertise
Chronic Stress
Depression
Identity & Cultural Stress
Transgender Support
Self-Esteem & Self-Trust
POC-Affirming Care
Coping Skills
OCD
Suicidal Ideation & Crisis Support
You’ve tried therapy before. This is different.
We skip the surface-level coping list and get to the root of the burnout, with clinicians who understand what it's like to think your way out of everything, until you can't.
Start with a free 15-minute consultation. No commitment, no pressure, just a real conversation to see if we're the right fit.
WHY CONNECTING HEALS
What We Actually Do Differently
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We pace the work carefully, and prioritize your stability throughout.
Our team has trained across hospital and partial hospitalization settings. We build the safety net before we start digging, and we know how to support you while the hard work is happening.
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We respect your story.
We specialize in the intersections of neurodivergence, trauma, and LGBTQ+ identity. Your story deserves to be heard without explanation or judgment, and that's exactly what you'll find here.
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The goal is a life worth living, not just fewer bad days
We can't promise a cure. What we can do is work to help you build the capacity to handle hard things, trust yourself, and actually enjoy your life again. Realistic, and worth it.
who we are
The People Behind Our Practice
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Steven Gilpin, LMSW
CLINICAL DIRECTOR & THERAPIST
Practical, direct, and genuinely warm. Steve built this practice around the belief that therapy should feel like a conversation, not a procedure. They bring a deep clinical range (from crisis-level care to everyday burnout) and a firm conviction that much in life can be figured out, with the right support. -
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Liz Davila-Ferrall, LMSW
Trusted by Our Peers
IS THERAPY RIGHT FOR YOU?
Things You Might Already Be Thinking
"I'm already so exhausted and I don't have the bandwidth to start therapy right now."
That's actually one of the most common reasons people do start. You don't need to show up with energy to spare. You just need to show up. We'll figure out the pace & path together.
Therapy outcomes depend on fit and the therapeutic approach. If the style felt off or the method wasn't matched to what you were actually dealing with, it makes sense that nothing changed. That said, therapy works best when you're able to show up, be open and honest, and be willing to do the work. The more you bring to it, the more you get out of it.
"I've tried therapy before and it didn't really work."
"Is what I'm going through bad enough to actually warrant therapy?"
You don't need to be in crisis to deserve support. Chronic exhaustion, ongoing relational stress, and feeling stuck all count. You don't have to earn the right to ask for help.
"I'm worried I'll have to spend sessions explaining my identity before we get to the actual work."
We're not going to ask you to translate yourself. Whether you're queer, neurodivergent, a trauma survivor, some combination of those, or none of them at all, you don't have to earn your place here before the work starts.
in-network for online therapy
BCBS In-Network Therapy for Lansing
Connecting Heals is in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and its affiliate companies. That means if you have BCBS coverage, your online therapy sessions are billed directly through your insurance at your in-network rate — the same way you'd use insurance for any other healthcare appointment.
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What does in-network mean?
It means you pay your copay or work toward your deductible rather than the full session fee. Most BCBS mental health benefits cover outpatient therapy, including online therapy.
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What about online therapy?
Blue Cross Blue Shield covers online therapy the same way it covers in-person therapy. You don't need to be in an office for your insurance to apply. As long as you're located in Michigan during your sessions, your BCBS benefits work.
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What if I don't have BCBS?
Our standard session fee is $170. We offer a sliding scale on a case by case basis for clients who need it, and we provide superbills for out-of-network reimbursement if your plan allows for it.
Ready when you are.
No pressure, no commitment. Just a free 15-minute conversation to see if we're the right fit, on your schedule, wherever you are in the Lansing area.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions, Real Answers.
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Where do sessions happen?
100% online sessions over video. We serve clients anywhere in Michigan. Wear your pajamas. Bring your dog. Seriously.
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Who do you work with?
Preteens, teens, adults, and older adults — depending on the provider, generally 12 and up. We're licensed in Michigan and serve clients statewide.
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How do I get started?
Request a free 15-minute consult and we'll handle the rest. No paperwork before you say hello, no maze to navigate — just a conversation to see if it feels right.
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How is specialized therapy different from the short-term EAP therapy offered by the State of Michigan or universities?
While EAP is great for brief interventions, our work focuses on deep, lasting change. We help you address the root causes of trauma and executive dysfunction so you aren't just putting a band-aid on it.
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How do you support Lansing academics and government workers going through major life transitions?
Whether you are shifting out of a demanding MSU program, navigating a career change, or dealing with relationship shifts, transitions can dysregulate you. We provide a stabilizing anchor to help you find your footing.
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Can therapy help with the intense academic perfectionism required in East Lansing's graduate programs?
Yes. We work with you to decouple your self-worth from your institutional achievements, allowing you to engage with your work without constant anxiety.
Michigan Proud.
We're a virtual practice rooted in Ann Arbor and serving clients across Michigan. Whether you're in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, or anywhere in between, online therapy through Connecting Heals is available to you.
