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Attunigrate

  • Trauma & PTSD Therapy in Michigan

    Attunigrate offers virtual trauma therapy for adults across Michigan, including EMDR. Whether what happened was one event or a decade of them, the work is the same: getting your nervous system out of a state it has not been able to leave. Trauma-informed and LGBTQIA+ affirming. Most major insurance is accepted.

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Does this sound like you?

Something happened and you have handled it, except your body did not get the memo

You startle at things that are not dangerous and stay calm at things that are

You've told the story so many times it sounds like it happened to someone else

Certain rooms, tones of voice, or times of year take you somewhere without warning

You would rather not talk about it in detail, and every therapy you've read about seems to require exactly that

What happened to you was normal in your family, which somehow makes it harder to name

What's actually happening

Trauma is not the event. It is what your nervous system did to survive the event and never stopped doing. Vigilance, numbing, bracing, leaving your body when things get intense. All of it worked at the time. That is why it stuck.


The reason time alone does not resolve it is that the memory was not filed the way ordinary memories are filed. It stayed loaded, with the sensory and physical detail still attached, so it does not feel like remembering. It feels like happening.


That is also why explaining it does not help much. You can narrate the whole thing accurately and stay exactly as activated, because the part holding it does not work in sentences. The work is getting it processed and filed, which is a different task from telling it well.

How we treat it

Somatic Therapy​

Anxiety lives in the body before it reaches language. Somatic work builds the capacity to notice it and settle it without arguing with it first.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

The part of you that performs and the part that resents performing are both trying to protect you. IFS gets them talking instead of fighting.

EMDR

Processes specific memories that still carry a physical charge, without needing to narrate them in detail.

If you don't want to talk about what happened

A lot of people put off trauma therapy because they assume it means

describing the worst thing that ever happened to them to a stranger, in detail, early. That is not how we work. EMDR in particular does not require you to narrate an event to process it. You set the pace, and "I'm not ready to go there" is a complete sentence in this room, not an obstacle to get past.


What the first six sessions look like

Before you start

A free consult with the therapist you have been matched to. You are matched on what you are bringing, not on who has an opening, and you still have to feel safe with the person in front of you. We verify your insurance and tell  you your exact cost before session one.

Sessions 1 and 2

 History and what brought you here: the primary concern, and the life events that led to it. There is paperwork at this stage, and it can feel like a lot. No one is asking you to relive anything yet. By the end of session 2, you and your therapist set goals together, on a three- to six-month horizon.

Sessions 3 and 4

 You are both still getting acclimated, and you are deciding together how to approach the thing you came in for. Your therapist is mostly listening here rather than teaching. This is your time to talk and put things down.

Sessions 5 and 6

 If EMDR was part of the plan at intake, this is usually where it starts. If it was not, this is often where your therapist starts handing you language: words for patterns you have lived a long time without being able to name. By this point, the early doubts have been said out loud and dealt with, and it feels safe to work.

How long does this actually take?

Most clients notice something has shifted somewhere between three and six months in. Real, but not dramatic. The larger changes tend to arrive in year one and year two.


We would rather tell you that now than have you decide at month two that therapy does not work. Nishani, Shelby, and Desiree work psychodynamically, which starts from the position that people do not change quickly and there is no point pretending otherwise. Many of their clients stay for years because they want to. If you want something more contained, Dr. Leija works short-term, usually six to eight months.

Who you'd work with

Desiree Messina

LCSW

Eating disorders, body image, athletes, and performance pressure

What clients say

"Desiree gave me exactly what I needed to work on. My relationship with food has been changing for the better because of her. She gets it."  (J.P.)

Meet Desiree

Dr. Silvia Leija

PhD, LMFT

Bilingual Spanish. Couples, chronic pain, complex trauma, immigration evaluations

What clients say

"I love love love Silvia. She helps me alot. I can see different points of views when I'm stuck. And I love that we align on so much."  (A.T.)

Book with Dr. Silvia

Shelby McCliggott

LPC, ACS, EMDR-T

Sexual assault and domestic violence recovery, PTSD, veterans, Black women's mental health

What clients say

"Shelby has been incredible to work with. I am getting to process so much. She is direct but effective. So glad I found her."  (K.D.)

Book with Shelby

Insurance & Payment Options for Therapy in Michigan

We accept most major insurance plans. Attunigrate is in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Care Network, Aetna, Priority Health, and UnitedHealthcare.

Most clients using insurance pay a copay between $25 and $75 per session, depending on their plan. We verify your exact cost before your first session so there are no surprises.


Private pay is $150 per session with most of our therapists, $175 with Dr. Leija.
We do not accept Medicare or Medicaid.

Check your coverage
See full pricing

You set the pace

Book a first session and tell us as much or as little as you want.

We'll take it from there.

Start your becoming

FAQ's

EMDR processes memories that are still stored with their original charge, using bilateral stimulation while you hold the memory in mind. It has a strong evidence base for PTSD. Most people find it strange for the first session and then stop noticing the mechanics.

No. EMDR in particular does not require narrating an event to process it, and no therapist here will push you toward detail you have not offered. You set the pace.

That is most of what we see. Ongoing conditions, family environments, and long-running situations produce trauma responses just as reliably as single events, and they often take longer to recognise because there was never a moment that obviously counted.

Yes. Affirming care is how we practise rather than a specialty line, and that matters more here than anywhere. You will not spend your first sessions establishing that your identity is not the problem before you can get to what actually happened.

Yes, and leaving is often when it surfaces rather than when it resolves. Shelby's work focuses on sexual assault and domestic violence recovery specifically.

Most clients notice a shift between three and six months in, and a typical course here runs six months to a year. EMDR on a single specific memory can move faster than that. Complex or long-running trauma usually does not.

No. Unprocessed memory does not decay on a schedule, which is the bad news and also the reason there is no expiry on treating it. We see people working on things from thirty years ago.

Usually. We are in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Care Network, Aetna, Priority Health, and UnitedHealthcare. Most clients using insurance pay a copay between $25 and $75 per session. Private pay is $150, or $175 with Dr. Leija. We do not accept Medicare or Medicaid.