Grace Pernicky, LLMSW

EMDR and Anxiety Therapist

• Therapist

  Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

• Patient Populations: College Students, Adults

• Education: University of Michigan Social Work

  (Ann Arbor)

• In network with:

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO

  • Aetna

You feel disconnected, isolated, and don’t know who to trust and how to feel about your life anymore. You may sometimes even feel like the world outside of you doesn’t feel real, as if you’re looking at it through a window pane of fear and anxiety. You may have always felt this way, or you may have gone through an experience or phase of life that really altered your perception of the world, and you just can’t figure out how to get back on track. In the past, you may have been able to handle discomfort and difficult situations on your own, but you just can’t seem to shake yourself out of this feeling. Your friends and/or family just don’t seem to get it. You’re not even sure you can trust yourself and your instincts anymore. You are ready for a change.

In sessions, I aim to support you as you navigate the emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, and social ups and downs that your life story involves. I bring a client-centered, anti-oppressive, and holistic approach to sessions. My mindset in approaching life's roller coaster is one of curiosity. I’m not here to “fix” you. I’m here to support you as you wade into the unpredictable waters of your own healing journey. I am here to remind you that everyone has their own path to wellbeing. I am here to help empower you to own and author your life narrative. Finally, I recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and I invite you to get curious along with me in our sessions as we work towards tangible solutions to your presenting problem.

• Treatment Focus Areas

  • Anxiety

  • Attachment Focused

  • Chronic Pain and Illness

  • Codependency

  • Coping Skills

  • Complex PTSD

  • Depression

  • Dual Diagnosis

  • Divorce or Breakup

  • Empaths/HSPs

  • Family Conflict

  • Grief and Loss

  • Intimacy Issues

  • LGTBQ+

  • Peer Relationships

  • PTSD

  • Racial Identity

  • Relationships

  • Recovering Perfectionists and People Pleasers

  • Self-Esteem

  • Sex Positive - Kink Allied

  • Sexual Identity and Orientation

  • Sexual Trauma and Abuse

  • Social Anxiety

  • Specific Phobias

  • Spirituality

  • Stress

  • Suicidal Ideation

  • Trauma/PTSD

  • Women’s Health

• Therapy Modalities

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Attachment Based Therapy

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

  • Eclectic

  • Existenial

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS)

  • Meditation/Mindfulness

  • Mindfulness Based CBT

  • Narrative Therapy

  • Person Centered

  • Psychodynamic

  • Relational

  • Somatic Therapy

  • Strength Based

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Get to Know Grace:

• Who is your ideal client?

  I work with a wide variety of clients, but many of them struggle with anxiety and everything that comes along with it, whether due to past trauma or other factors. Often, clients come in with a state of overwhelm. Some of them have forgotten why or when they started feeling anxious in the first place. Sometimes, the anxiety can feel more situational, and we can work together on developing a wide variety of coping skills that are contextual to the situation you are in, but I like to go further with anxiety in clients; when we have a reached a point where the anxiety is not so overwhelming within the body, we can learn that it can be okay, and even valuable, to sit in that discomfort. To learn not just how to “get rid” of anxiety, but to treat it as a friend that sometimes needs a little more time, space, and compassion to get behind the changes and uncertainty that might crop up in your life.

  I also love working with folx experiencing chronic health issues, as I have personal and professional experience that have fueled my passion to help these clients not just survive but thrive in their lives. Clients with these issues often feel as though everything in their lives is dependent on and centered around their physical pain. They also often develop mistrust of health professionals, and even themselves, as they face sometimes severe and often inexplicable pain and are not getting the solutions they want and need. This can be an incredibly difficult space to occupy, and I feel honored to help clients live through and become more empowered in their lives when all they feel on a day-to-day basis is victimized, exhausted, and frustrated. There is a way through this discomfort, and in sessions, we will learn together what that might look like.

• What's something you wish people knew about therapy or the therapy process?

  I wish that people knew that therapy can and should be anything that you want it to be! A place for reflection and processing, a place to explore future possibilities and directions, or a place to work toward tangible goals using a variety of modalities and intervention styles. I think that, especially given how therapy is portrayed in the media, some folx can have a particular, set idea of what therapy looks like. It does not have to be that way.

• Why do you like being a therapist?
  Being a therapist, I feel as though I learn just as much, if not more, than my clients do! Every individual contains a whole unique world. It is also an absolute privilege to be given the opportunity to be granted access to that precious, one of a kind world. I am an avid learner, and as mentioned above, I highly value curiosity and creativity and collaboration - 3 “C’s” that make me feel confident that being a therapist is right for me!

• Besides being a therapist, what do you enjoy in your spare time?

  I have so many things I love doing! Making plenty of time to connect with and be present with the natural world is really important to me, which can look like hiking, rock climbing or bouldering, biking, swimming, gardening, or foraging. Music is also very important to me, and I love playing guitar, violin, and singing, whether by myself or with friends. I’ve also always been an avid reader and writer, and love writing and reading poetry especially. Spending time with loved ones, whether it’s my family (including pets), friends, or partner, is also very important to me.

• What is your favorite book, podcast or mental health resource?

  One of my favorite resources to work through with clients is The Artist’s Way, for creative folx (musicians, painters, actors, etc.) looking to reclaim their sense of artistry as part of their identity. I also have recently started reading Dan Siegel’s book Brainstorm, which is a wonderful lens to look through and better understand adolescence, for both children and adults alike!