Health for Life Counseling: Building a Different Kind of Therapy Practice in West Michigan
When Paul Krauss and Dr. Nicole Cain moved from Arizona to West Michigan in 2017, they saw something missing.
Both had worked in counseling clinics on the West Coast and had seen firsthand how powerful integrative, mind-body therapy could be for patients struggling with trauma, anxiety, depression, and stress. But after arriving in Grand Rapids, they realized few practices in the region were offering those approaches.
“At the time, there really weren’t clinics exclusively focused on EMDR therapy or integrative mind-body counseling,” Krauss says. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychiatric therapy that helps patients heal from traumatic life events. “We knew people here needed more options.”
So the couple decided to build the kind of counseling center they wished already existed.
That vision became Health for Life Counseling, a Grand Rapids-based practice focused on combining traditional talk therapy with more integrative approaches that address both the mind and body. Today, the organization has grown into a team of more than 40 clinicians across three locations, serving clients throughout West Michigan both in person and through telehealth.
But for Krauss and Dr. Cain, growth was never the goal by itself. The mission was always bigger.
“We want people to get healthy and get back to living their lives,” Krauss says. “The idea is to empower people with tools and skills so they can move forward.”
A Different Approach to Mental Health
Health for Life Counseling was built around the idea that mental health treatment should address more than thoughts alone.
Nicole says many traditional therapy approaches focus heavily on “top-down” cognitive work — helping people think differently about their experiences. While valuable, she believed there was also a need for more “bottom-up” approaches that help clients understand how trauma, stress, and emotions affect the nervous system and body.
“We found there was an opportunity to increase the availability of more integrative approaches,” Dr. Cain says.
That philosophy became the foundation of the practice. Health for Life Counseling specializes in trauma-informed care, EMDR therapy, and mind-body approaches designed to help clients process experiences at a deeper level.
Krauss says many clients arrive after trying other therapies that never fully addressed the root causes of what they were feeling.
“We focus on what in your environment caused you to feel this way and how we can help fix that,” he says. “A lot of it is dealing with the nervous system, your environment, and helping people understand themselves better.”
The practice also partners closely with the Holistic Health Collective of West Michigan, a network of medical and wellness professionals that includes doctors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and other practitioners. One of Health for Life’s newest locations is now co-located with the collective, creating a more comprehensive approach to wellness.
For Krauss and Dr. Cain, the name Health for Life reflects that bigger philosophy.
“Our mission is that counseling should help you build skills for life,” Krauss says. “We want to help people improve their relationships, improve their families, improve their communities, and feel empowered to move forward.”
Growing With Intention
As Health for Life Counseling grew, Krauss and Dr. Cain remained intentional about the kind of workplace they wanted to create.
The practice quickly attracted clinicians who were looking for a more collaborative and growth-focused environment. Paul says they built the company around continuous learning, regularly bringing in outside consultants, trainers, and experts to help both clinicians and leadership continue improving.
“One of the things we’ve learned is that you have to be willing to admit you don’t know everything,” Krauss says. “There’s always someone who can teach you a better way.”
The organization also prioritized fair pay, ongoing education, and a strong internal culture from the beginning.
“We wanted to create a place where we would want to work,” Krauss says. “We’re trying to build something ethical and sustainable long term.”
That commitment helped fuel rapid growth. By 2020, even during the pandemic, demand for therapy services was accelerating. More clients were reaching out for support, and more clinicians wanted to join the practice.
Health for Life Counseling quickly outgrew its original location.
How MWF Helped
To continue growing, the practice needed funding to open a second location in Ada and expand its capacity.
But like many small businesses, securing affordable financing wasn’t easy.
“We were still a small business, and a lot of banks were trying to charge us really high rates,” Krauss says.
That’s when they connected with MWF.
Through an MWF loan, Health for Life Counseling was able to secure financing with terms that made sense for the business and continue expanding during a critical stage of growth.
“The loan helped us almost double our capacity within a year,” Krauss says.
Dr. Cain says the support went beyond funding.
“Sometimes you just need someone to believe in a mission,” she says. “Michigan Women Forward believed in us. They invested in us, and we’re really grateful for those initial steps.”
In addition to financing, Krauss says coaching and guidance through MWF and other small business support organizations helped the practice navigate the challenges of scaling a growing organization.
Today, Health for Life Counseling serves clients across Michigan, including many who rely on Medicaid and Medicare — a commitment the founders intentionally made despite the financial complexities.
“We decided the mission has to be helping people,” Krauss says. “We want therapy to be accessible to anyone who needs it.”
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