Meet the People
Behind Your Care

We’re grounded in authenticity, trauma-informed practice, and a shared belief that therapy should feel safe, steady, and deeply human.

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Our Story

Rooted in Purpose,
Built on Connection

BirdWellness began during a season of deep reflection—a moment when passion and exhaustion collided. After nearly fifteen years each in community mental health, we knew what it meant to support people through crisis, trauma, and life’s most vulnerable moments. But we also knew the emotional toll of working within systems where paperwork, policies, and bureaucracy often overshadowed meaningful therapeutic work.

For both of us—Brian and Megan—our careers began at Saginaw County Community Mental Health. We spent years walking alongside individuals and families through some of their hardest chapters. The work mattered deeply, yet over time, the system around us no longer reflected the clinicians or humans we were becoming.

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“Like a nest built with care, BirdWellness was created piece by piece—shaped by our shared values of warmth, safety, and growth. Our journey reflects our belief that healing takes flight when people feel understood.”

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And so it begins...

BirdWellness began during a moment of pause in 2023, when Brian’s recovery from cochlear implant surgery created the first real quiet in years. That stillness opened space for reflection—on the kind of work that felt meaningful, the values we wanted to honor, and the question of what therapy could look like if built entirely around humans, not systems.

What started as a lighthearted reference to Brian’s last name quickly took on deeper symbolism. Birds represent freedom, clarity, and renewal—creatures that build safe, grounded nests for growth. The name naturally became a reflection of the practice we envisioned: a place where connection comes before paperwork, therapy feels calm rather than rushed, clinicians can be their full selves, and clients feel truly seen.

BirdWellness grew from two people at a dining room table—writing policies, designing forms, and shaping a foundation rooted in warmth, authenticity, and genuine care. As the vision expanded, we welcomed clinicians who shared those same values. The practice didn’t grow from ambition; it grew from purpose.

Meet The Team

Our Dedicated Professionals

Our clinicians bring over 55 years of combined experience, genuine compassion, and a down-to-earth approach to every session. Get to know the people who will support your healing journey and help you create meaningful, lasting change.

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Brian Birdwell, LMSW

DBT & CBT-Informed | Practical, Direct, Human

Populations Served

Adults & Adolescents (16+)

Areas of Focus

- Depression and anxiety
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
- Emotional dysregulation and impulsivity
- Self-harm and suicidal thoughts
- Relationship conflict and instability
- ADHD, anger, and difficulty managing reactions
- Major life changes, grief, and identity shifts
- Chronic self-doubt and long-standing struggles with self-worth

Therapeutic Approach

You may understand what needs to change but still feel stuck repeating the same patterns. You may feel overwhelmed by emotions, disconnected from yourself, uncertain in relationships, or frustrated that insight alone has not been enough.

Brian helps clients turn insight into action.

His approach is present-focused, collaborative, and grounded in practical change. Drawing primarily from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Brian helps clients better understand their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationship patterns while developing concrete skills to respond differently.

Therapy with Brian is not about endlessly analyzing the past or pretending that positive thinking will solve everything. Although past experiences may be explored when they continue to affect the present, the primary focus is on helping clients build emotional stability, communicate more effectively, tolerate distress, improve relationships, and make decisions that align with the life they want to create.

Brian believes meaningful growth requires both compassion and accountability. He offers a space where clients can be honest, imperfect, and fully human while also being encouraged to take responsibility for the changes within their control.

What It Is Like to Work With Brian

Brian is often described as steady, grounded, relatable, and straightforward. His style is warm and conversational, but he is not afraid to ask difficult questions, identify patterns, or gently challenge avoidance and self-defeating behaviors.

He works especially well with clients who appreciate honesty, structure, humor, and practical feedback. Sessions may include emotional processing, skill-building, problem-solving, and direct conversations about what is working, what is not, and what needs to happen next.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is progress: learning to manage difficult emotions, break patterns that are no longer serving you, and move toward a life that feels more stable, meaningful, and worth living—one step at a time.

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Megan Morell, LMSW

Trauma-Focused | Child, Adolescent & Family Care

Populations Served

Children, Adolescents, Adults, & Families

Areas of Focus

- Child and family therapy
- Trauma and post-traumatic stress
- Emotional and behavioral challenges
- Anxiety and depression
- ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
- School-related stress and developmental concerns
- Grief and
- support and caregiver stress
- Family conflict and communication difficulties
- LGBTQ+ identity exploration and support

Therapeutic Approach

When a child or teen is struggling, the effects are often felt throughout the entire family. Parents may feel overwhelmed, unsure how to help, or discouraged when the strategies they have tried are no longer working. Children and adolescents may not always have the words to explain what they are experiencing, especially when trauma, anxiety, grief, or intense emotions are involved.

Megan helps children, teens, adults, and families better understand what is happening beneath the behavior and develop practical ways to move forward.

Her work is developmentally sensitive, trauma-informed, and tailored to each client’s age, needs, strengths, and family relationships. She understands that therapy with a young person rarely happens in isolation. When appropriate, Megan actively involves parents and caregivers, helping families strengthen communication, respond more effectively to emotional and behavioral needs, and create greater stability at home.

Megan is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Parent Management Training, and other family-systems interventions.

Rather than relying on a single method, she draws from multiple evidence-based approaches to create a treatment experience that is engaging, flexible, and responsive to the person and family in front of her.

What It Is Like to Work With Megan

Megan is often described as warm, energetic, compassionate, and deeply relational. She creates a supportive and consistent environment where clients can feel safe enough to express themselves, explore difficult experiences, and develop new ways of coping.

Her approachable style helps children and teens feel comfortable without making therapy feel intimidating or overly clinical. At the same time, she provides parents and caregivers with clear guidance, practical strategies, and a better understanding of their child’s emotional and behavioral needs.

Megan believes that difficult behaviors often communicate an unmet need, an overwhelming emotion, or a skill that has not yet been developed. Her goal is to help clients and families identify those needs, build on their existing strengths, and create meaningful changes that extend beyond the therapy session.

Through patience, collaboration, and honest support, Megan helps children, teens, adults, and families feel more connected, capable, and hopeful as they navigate life’s challenges together.

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Jimmy Vuong, LMSW

Authentic, Insight-Oriented Therapy | Young Adult & Culturally Responsive Care

Populations Served

Young Adults, Adults, Adolescents, & Couples

Specialties:

- Anxiety and depression
- College, academic, and early-career stress
- Identity development and self-esteem
- Relationship and family conflict
- Addiction and substance-use concerns
- Mood-related challenges
- Body-image concernsLife transitions and uncertainty
- LGBTQ+ affirming care
- Multicultural and intergenerational experiences

Therapeutic Approach

Young adulthood can bring enormous pressure to figure out who you are, where you belong, and what you are supposed to do next. For many people, that process is complicated by anxiety, depression, family expectations, cultural identity, relationship struggles, or the feeling that they are somehow falling behind.

Jimmy helps clients slow down, make sense of their experiences, and better understand the patterns shaping their thoughts, emotions, relationships, and choices.

His approach is collaborative, culturally responsive, and grounded in genuine curiosity. Rather than assuming there is one correct way to live, heal, or define success, Jimmy works to understand each client within the context of their relationships, culture, identity, values, and lived experiences.

As a Vietnamese American therapist and former clinician with the University of Michigan’s student counseling services, Jimmy brings particular insight into the pressures faced by college students, young adults, first-generation individuals, and clients navigating cultural or intergenerational expectations.

Jimmy integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Motivational Interviewing, psychodynamic exploration, and strengths-based, person-centered care. His work balances insight with action, helping clients understand where patterns come from while also learning how to respond differently in the present.

What It Is Like to Work With Jimmy

Jimmy is authentic, creative, thoughtful, and refreshingly unconventional. He brings his full personality into the therapy room and does not believe therapy needs to feel stiff, overly polished, or impersonal to be meaningful.

Clients who connect well with Jimmy often appreciate humor, open conversation, creative perspectives, and a therapist who is willing to think outside the box. He is especially skilled at connecting with adolescents, college students, young adults, and people who have previously felt misunderstood, judged, or out of place in traditional therapeutic settings.

Jimmy offers warmth and validation while also inviting clients to look honestly at the patterns that may be keeping them stuck. His style is relational and exploratory, with room for reflection, spontaneity, gentle challenge, and the occasional unexpected metaphor.

Jimmy may be an especially good fit for clients who are looking for a therapist who feels real—someone who can meet them where they are without expecting them to filter their personality, identity, or experiences.

His goal is not to tell clients who they should become, but to help them better understand themselves, loosen the grip of unhelpful patterns, and build a life that feels more authentic, connected, and aligned with what matters most to them.

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Moregan LaMarr, LMSW

Trauma Therapy | EMDR, First Responder & Depth-Oriented Care

Populations Served

Adults, college students, first responders, and trauma survivors

Specialties:

- Trauma and post-traumatic stress
- Complex and developmental trauma
- First responder stress and occupational trauma
- Anxiety and depression
- Personality-related concerns
- Emotional dysregulation
- Complex emotional wounds
- Relationship and attachment patterns
- Identity, self-worth, and personal growth
- Major life transitions

Therapeutic Approach

Trauma can affect far more than memories of what happened. It can shape how a person sees themselves, responds to stress, experiences relationships, and moves through the world. Even after the immediate danger has passed, the mind and body may continue operating as though safety is temporary or difficult to trust.

Moregan helps clients understand these responses without judgment and begin healing at a pace that feels safe, purposeful, and sustainable.

Her approach is trauma-informed, evidence-based, and deeply attentive to the individual needs of each client. She prioritizes safety, trust, and preparation rather than rushing clients into difficult material before they feel ready. Therapy may involve processing traumatic experiences, strengthening emotional regulation, understanding long-standing patterns, and rebuilding a more secure and compassionate relationship with oneself.

Moregan is a Certified EMDR Therapist and also integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, and empowerment-focused strategies. She draws from these approaches thoughtfully rather than applying a single formula, adapting treatment to each client’s history, readiness, strengths, and goals.

Moregan works exceptionally well with individuals who have experienced complex trauma and with those whose roles require them to remain composed during crisis, including first responders. She understands that people who are accustomed to protecting, helping, or caring for others may have difficulty making room for their own emotional needs.

Her work helps clients move beyond simply surviving difficult experiences and toward greater emotional stability, self-understanding, connection, and choice.

What It Is Like to Work With Moregan

Moregan is exceptionally knowledgeable, thoughtful, and clinically skilled, while remaining warm, approachable, and deeply human. She has a uniquely calming and grounding presence that helps clients feel comfortable without feeling pressured.

She meets clients where they are while gently helping them explore what lies beneath familiar coping strategies, emotional reactions, and relationship patterns. Her style is compassionate and steady, with the depth and structure needed to support meaningful trauma work.

Moregan understands that healing is rarely linear. She respects the protective strategies clients have developed while helping them determine which patterns continue to serve them and which may now be limiting their lives.

In addition to her clinical work, Moregan serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Social Work at Saginaw Valley State University. Her role as an educator reflects both her depth of knowledge and her commitment to thoughtful, ethical, and effective clinical practice.

Clients who work with Moregan can expect a secure and collaborative space where they are treated with respect, their experiences are taken seriously, and healing is allowed to unfold without force or judgment.

Her goal is not simply to reduce symptoms, but to help clients reconnect with themselves, develop greater trust in their own internal experiences, and create a life that feels safer, fuller, and more authentically their own.

Why Choose BirdWellness?

At BirdWellness, you’re never a case number—you’re a human.

We created this space to slow therapy down so healing can deepen.

Ready to get started?

Schedule your free 15-minute consultation today.

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