Inspiring Conversations with Ginger Houghton of Bright Spot Counseling

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ginger Houghton.

Hi Ginger, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I didn’t start out thinking, you know what sounds fun? Running a business. I just wanted to do good therapy — the kind that feels human and grounded, not like you’re checking boxes on a clipboard. But after years in the field, I realized something: therapists are out here doing sacred, exhausting work… often in systems that treat burnout like a personal flaw instead of a predictable outcome.

So, I decided to build something different. Bright Spot Counseling grew out of this belief that therapy should heal everyone in the room — clients and clinicians. We’re big on anti-burnout practices, profit-sharing, and actually spending time together in ways that don’t involve awkward icebreakers or forced team-building exercises. (Think: shared meals, community projects, laughing about the weirdness of being human.)
Starting a business has been a mix of chaos, curiosity, and caffeine — with a side of “fake it till you make it.” I’ve had to learn the business side while trying not to lose the heart of why I started: to build a space that feels safe, sustainable, and even joyful.

Bright Spot is the kind of place I wish I’d found early in my career — one that believes caring for the people who care for others isn’t an afterthought. It’s the whole point.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? Not exactly. More like that kind of “fun chaos” where you’re learning to drive a stick shift on a hill — a few jerks, maybe a little panic, but somehow you’re still moving forward and even enjoying it.
Learning the business side has actually been a blast. I’m a total nerd for learning new things, so figuring out operations, systems, and all the stuff I used to avoid has been weirdly satisfying. (Who knew QuickBooks could make a person feel powerful?)

The trickier part has been growing from a small practice to a medium-sized business without losing our heartbeat — that sense of connection and community that makes Bright Spot feel like Bright Spot. It’s been a stretch, for sure. We work hard to keep it human, to make sure no one feels like just another name on a spreadsheet.
It’s bumpy sometimes, but the good kind of bumpy — the kind that means you’re going somewhere new, and you’re awake enough to enjoy the ride.

As you know, we’re big fans of Bright Spot Counseling . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Bright Spot Counseling, we do therapy — but not the stare-at-the-ceiling-and-rehash-your-week kind. We specialize in all the good stuff that lives outside of traditional therapy: animal-assisted therapy with goats and horses (yes, real ones), EMDR, the Safe and Sound Protocol to help heal your nervous system, and even kayak therapy for when you need to process things somewhere that isn’t a beige office. We also offer medication management — but we do it our own way.

We’re a great fit for people who’ve done therapy before, liked their therapist, but still felt like something didn’t quite shift. Our approach goes beyond talk — we focus on helping your whole system reset so change actually sticks. For folks exploring medication, we use tools like GeneSight to understand why a certain med might not be working, and we always look at the full picture. Sometimes what looks like depression or anxiety is actually a thyroid issue, a vitamin D deficiency, or something else entirely. We do our best to rule those things out so healing doesn’t feel like trial and error.

What really sets Bright Spot apart is how we partner with our clients. We don’t play expert-from-the-mountain — we get curious with you. We care about the work, and we care about you as a whole human. And brand-wise, I’m most proud that Bright Spot feels alive — creative, compassionate, and just the right amount of weird. Therapy might happen in an office, on a trail, or in a kayak — but it always happens in connection.

Basically, we do therapy that feels human. Science-backed, heart-forward, and sometimes, paddling.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love most about both Plymouth and Farmington Hills is the sense of community — there’s such an openness to collaboration. Both cities have given us incredible opportunities to partner with other businesses and nonprofits that care deeply about people and the world we share. A great example is our long-term collaboration in Plymouth with Serenity Oaks Equine Sanctuary. Our sessions there don’t just support our clients — they also support the animals and the sanctuary’s mission to provide aftercare for off-the-track thoroughbreds. It’s a beautiful, full-circle partnership: they help us create outside-the-box, science-backed healing experiences, and we help them continue their mission of care and rehabilitation.

As for what I like least? Honestly, maybe just that we can’t clone that same collaborative energy everywhere. While we serve the entire state of Michigan through online therapy, the opportunities to connect in real life — to build something meaningful alongside other people and organizations — have been invaluable. These communities make it easy to do good work with good people, and that’s something rare and worth holding onto.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brightspottherapy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightspottherapymichigan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TherapyFarmingtonHills/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/89674352/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrightSpotCounseling
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/brightspottherapy/