It’s 2025 and we are celebrating our 15th Anniversary! That’s quite a milestone for those working in this field of autism therapy. We are proud of the unique blend of comprehensive autism therapy services we offer families. To celebrate, we are hosting a Family Fun Day Saturday, July 12 – more details are at the end. But first, let’s take a brief look back at our history, to recognize and honor the impact Healing Haven has had over the past 15 years.
The Early Years
Founded in 2010 by Jamie McGillivary, MS, LLP, BCBA, LBA, we started out as a stress management program for parents of kids with autism and other special needs. Through Jamie’s work at a local hospital, helping parents learn how to teach their child with autism, she saw how families struggled to get the support that they needed. Healing Haven was born from a need to address many of the unmet needs families and children with autism face on a daily basis.
Jamie and her team’s research during that time taught them firsthand how parents could be very effective agents of change. “It also shaped my passion for understanding the stress that parents experience. I realized the importance of addressing the needs of the whole family,” Jamie explains. Jamie often talks about “early intervention for parental coping skills.” She believes that parents need to learn more than just techniques to reach their children. She started Healing Haven to help parents learn how to take care of themselves in an effort to best care for their children.
As time went on, insurance coverage became a reality for many families which made therapy services much more accessible. Healing Haven started offering one-on-one ABA therapy in a small clinic in Berkley. While insurance legislation led to many more families receiving services, the knowledge Jamie gained from that stressful time – seeing families scrambling for services – left an indelible mark on her mind and heart. It was the inspiration for creating a program that continued to emphasize parent involvement and stress management.
“I really trust our BCBA. She is the ally I’ve always needed. She understands what we are going through, makes me feel supported, and less isolated.” – Healing Haven parent
Intentional Growth in Madison Heights
As demand for our services grew, we found a larger clinic space and moved to Madison Heights in 2016. Following the move, we continued to grow and another building on the Madison Heights campus became available. We opened our second clinic in May of 2018, the School & Community Readiness Clinic, designed for older kids and teens.
In 2020, when the world shut down, we pivoted to offer telehealth ABA Parent Training, speech and OT, serving as a lifeline for families during the lock down. We reopened for in-person comprehensive autism therapy services in June of 2020. Then in 2021 another building on the campus became available, so we took over that space in stages, with the full Early Intervention Clinic opening in April of 2022 serving our youngest clients.
As our clients continued to age, we realized the growing need for customed programs for teens and young adults. When more building space on the campus opened up, we took the opportunity to create a clinic for teens and young adults. The Life Skills clinic opened in March of 2024.
These four clinics create our one-of-a-kind autism therapy campus in Madison Heights. However, we have families driving to us from all over the metro area, so we knew that bringing our unique blend of services to new areas was needed.
“We love Healing Haven. Our team is so amazing and supportive. We feel so lucky to have our children in a safe place to learn and grow. Thank you!!!” – Healing Haven parent
Looking Beyond Madison Heights
In September of 2024, we opened our first location outside our Madison Heights campus. Our Farmington Hills clinic is designed for children up to age 8 and has a unique design of multiple classrooms, helping prepare young children for school.
And now we are excited to be working on a new Healing Haven clinic in Clinton Township. This large, innovative clinic design will serve children up to age 12, with an estimated opening of Fall 2025.
Not Just ABA Therapy
At Healing Haven, our team works to support parents and children beyond simply delivering one-on-one therapy. We provide a unique blend of comprehensive autism therapy services not always offered together in a single clinic. Our focus is on the child first, rather than their diagnosis, by providing compassionate care where children can feel they are part of their own care team, and their voices matter.
“It has been a difficult process getting my child diagnosed with autism and our BCBA has been very understanding and helpful. She always provides me with assistance and different measures that my family can use. She has made a challenging situation a little more manageable.” – Healing Haven parent
Over the years, Healing Haven expanded to provide interdisciplinary services including speech and occupational therapies so parents have one service location for their children’s therapy. This factor alone helps reduce the stress parents are carrying. This also provides opportunities for the different providers to collaborate on goals unique to each client.
We weave stress management into all our services, but for those who need more focused support we have a team of counselors helping parents, siblings and individuals with autism or other needs. And rounding out our services we added testing and assessments in 2019, to help parents get answers to their concerns over their child’s development in a timely fashion.
It’s wonderful to look back over the past 15 years and reflect on the families and children we’ve had the honor of working with. And we look forward to the future, as we prepare to open a brand-new clinic in Clinton Township in the fall of 2025. Our new Clinton Township clinic will serve children up to 12 years old.
Anniversary Celebration
And to celebrate our 15th Anniversary, we invite you to join us at a Family Fun Day, Saturday, July 12 from 2-4 PM. We’ll have a petting zoo, a foam party, cool treats and more on our Madison Heights campus – 30701 Barrington Street, Madison Heights. This event is free and open to families, but we ask that you register here so we know how many people are attending. We look forward to seeing you!