Experts recently offered tips for how to have positive mental health in the new year. Pictured is a room at the Birmingham Maple Clinic in Troy.
By: Sarah Wright | Troy Times | Published February 5, 2025
TROY — For those looking for support at the start of the new year, local health professionals recently shared information to help individuals cope with a variety of mental health issues.
Lori Edelson, who is a psychotherapist and the owner of the Birmingham Maple Clinic, located at 2075 W. Big Beaver Road, noted an increase in appointments after the holidays.
“Most patients return to their therapists with intense experiences they want to process after the holidays,” Edelson said in an email. “Family issues, grief and loss issues, life changes, and relationship issues seem to be high on people’s ‘radar’ just after the holidays. . . .We receive a LOT of calls from new patients, and work hard to connect as many as possible with a therapist.”
Birmingham Maple Clinic currently has between 3,500 to 4,000 active clients and provides access to, among other services, individual therapy, couples therapy, marriage counseling, family therapy, group therapy, support groups, educational groups for specific topics, psychological testing, psychiatric evaluation, medication monitoring, and community consultation. Services are offered remotely and in person.
“We cover every mental health area of specialty from birth to death,” Edelson stated. “We have therapists that are trained specifically in a variety of areas so we can treat most every mental health diagnosis.”
Licensed marriage and family therapist Carrie Krawiec, also from the Birmingham Maple Clinic, noted that there are some fluctuations in availability and motivation that can affect new and current patients’ mental health needs at the start of the year.
“Following the holidays … there are some people looking to set new goals for the year or evaluate some changes in their life,” Krawiec said in an email. “For example, some people wait until ‘after the holidays’ to take a risk such as leaving a relationship, and at the start of the year they may be motivated to make that change and need the help of a therapist. On the other hand, clients often have insurance changes in the New Year and unmet deductibles, and they may postpone therapy until deductibles are met.”
Krawiec primarily specializes in topics surrounding couples counseling, family issues, parenting problems, postpartum depression and menopause, pregnancy, fertility problems, relationship problems, and stress.
She explained that stresses from the holiday season can carry over into the new year.
“The passing of a holiday season can invoke a sense of loss or the doldrum of winter after the holiday hubbub has subsided,” Krawiec said in an email. “The passing of a holiday season can also draw attention to overeating, over drinking, overspending, and unearthing of family dynamics or a sense of grief or loss about changes to a family through death, dysfunction or even growth of new family formations (e.g.: children, grandchildren, in laws).”
In contrast, psychological testing specialist Matthew Goodman, who also works at the Birmingham Maple Clinic, says that the new year can be slower for him as people are still getting back into their routines after the holidays.
“For testing specifically, a lot of people want to do testing by the end of the year as they have already met their health care deductibles by December,” Goodman said in an email. “In January, people are a little bit more cautious to initiate testing, which for some people looking to be tested, presents an opportunity for more availability to schedule testing.”
Marianne Burnett, who is a bereavement coordinator for Corewell Health East, primarily works with individuals who are grieving. She has worked with seniors who may have lost their friends or their independence.
Her work also includes working with individuals who have suffered the loss of an infant. A lot of her work is done in group sessions.
“Grief is hard work and it’s exhausting,” Burnett said. “They call it grief work for a reason. You know you come to this exhausting holiday full of memories and triggers and . . . it’s been kind of a high, and now you’re coming into this season of cold and dark days, and even those of us who are not grieving struggle sometimes with that.”
Burnett advises people to be patient with themselves, slow down for a moment to breathe, exercise, practice yoga and breathing techniques, eat healthy, go for short walks, make time for friends, and practice gratitude.
“Gratitude has been shown to increase resilience . . . which is really interesting because people complain they have to send thank you cards, but thank you cards are kind of a reminder that other people love you when you do have a lot to be grateful for,” Burnett said. “So I use an app called the gratitude app. It’s wonderful. It gives you daily reminders, you can record who you’re grateful for, and I think it really does help.”
She also suggested that pets, specifically dogs, can provide comfort to others as they are processing their grief.
“If you do not have a pet, petting a dog has been shown to lower blood pressure,” Burnett said. “So if you know somebody that has a friendly dog, you can go over there. It’ll provide comfort and calm.”
Suggestions Edelson offered to help with anxiety, depression, grief, loss, and seasonal stresses include maintaining a healthy diet, getting enough rest, participating in physical activities each day, which can include taking a walk, scheduling plans with others to help counteract loneliness, taking time to do something enjoyable at least every other day, and scheduling an appointment with a therapist if symptoms persist for more than two weeks.
Edelson also pointed out that alcohol is a depressant and that marijuana use causes lethargy, apathy and low motivation.
Krawiec suggests that clients consider their insurance and financial position when seeking help.
“We recommend that clients get informed of their health insurance deductible and what that deductible means to your personal finances while weighing the importance of investing in your mental health,” Krawiec said in an email. “Postponing treatment until a deductible is met may cause people to enter treatment in distress a few months down the road rather than being prophylactic.”
Goodman suggests that potential patients try to maintain a rhythm to continue their goals for the new year.
“A lot of people may have made a New Year’s resolution to get started in therapy,” Goodman said in an email. “As we all know, these goals can fade away quickly without a plan. So, it’s good to be proactive early on to establish a rhythm for yourself that you can sustain as the year goes on.”
For more information about the Birmingham Maple Clinic, visit birminghammaple.com.
For more information about Corewell Health, visit corewellhealth.org.