Meet Priya Rednam-Waldo of Healing Home Counseling Group

My professional story starts somewhere very unexpected for a perinatal therapist and private mental health practice leader. But, through a diverse mix of joyful and challenging experiences, formative traumas, and profound healing, I’m confident that I’m right where I was meant to be with Healing Home Counseling Group.

My professional story really begins at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point before my eighteenth birthday. College is not typically counted as the start of a career, but in my case, I entered knowing that I would be training to be a military leader in the U.S. Army throughout my four years. And, post-9/11,  I knew that I would likely be using those skills and education in combat overseas. With the support of my parents, siblings and friends, I was able to develop an authentic and strong professional identity there while also building my authentic personal identity as an Indian-American woman.

West Point and the U.S. Army built my motivation for excellence in leadership, an understanding of the infinite power of teamwork and trust, and how courage in the face of adversity creates resilience. These lessons, along with identity integration became the driving force behind my commitment to equitable mental healthcare and bridging cultural gaps in that effort.

After graduation, I was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant into the Army’s Medical Service Corps, and within just a few months, I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for a very unique public health mission. I led a new team of more than fifty soldiers to provide primary healthcare for more than 20,000 detained Iraqi nationals in the largest internment facility in the country.  I really solidified my professional values of leadership accountability and the right to equitable,  compassionate, and dignified healthcare in Iraq. I witnessed also how deeply entrenched cultural expectations directly impact health outcomes and this experience ignited my passion for advocating for culturally sensitive healthcare practices.

After returning home and despite being a leader in healthcare, I felt really unprepared for the post-traumatic stress and anxiety that I experienced. I unfortunately received minimally helpful support, but credit that lack of effective care to pushing me to find a way to make change in the mental health field for others.

My early professional story then pivoted from military to nonprofit service after exiting active-duty and completing my master of public health degree at Johns Hopkins University.  I took on opportunities to make an impact in mental health and wellness, especially for underserved and marginalized communities. My leadership experiences supporting soldiers struggling with addiction, family stress, and victimization translated well into program management, education, and training about sexual assault and child abuse prevention and response.

Around this time, I want to add that I realized my authentic story would always involve change and that I am a person that thrives on change and so much of our mental health and wellness lives in the difficulty of transition. This unique strength pushed me further toward direct mental and social services after earning my master of social work degree from Wayne State University. I combined my leadership, public health and psycho-social clinical skills as the bone marrow transplant medical social worker at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. While rewarding, I still wanted to do more, especially to address the societal inequity that impacts mental healthcare access for diverse mothers and families.

The next part of my professional story actually chose me through a personal turning point-unexpected birth trauma and postpartum anxiety after the birth of my first child. This mental wellness struggle was steeped in stigma and self-denial both as a veteran and South Asian woman. Through my healing journey, I realized the paramount importance of specialized treatment and advocating for culturally competent healthcare, not only for myself but for all parents navigating similar challenges.

And so, I stepped back into leadership to co-found Healing Home Counseling Group in 2020, amidst the global pandemic. I was driven by my desire to pay forward the wisdom from my own healing so that other mothers and families can be healthy and joyful with excellent, culturally inclusive mental health care. Collaborating with my equally determined fellow Children’s Hospital of Michigan social work alum, Annie Phillips, we established a sanctuary for compassionate therapeutic care on the journey of parenthood.

Our values-based practice is revolutionizing parental mental health through equitable wellness tools and treatment and we are just getting started. At Healing Home Counseling Group, I am able to live my values by providing compassionate support primarily to diverse clients whose multicultural experience resonates so deeply with my own. I’m really proud of how the intersectionality of my identity—as a child of Indian immigrants, a mother to multiracial children, and a public health equity advocate —informs every piece of my life and service.

My professional story is ever-developing and I am excited to soon launch an additional endeavor that represents fully my unique story and heart and embodies my determination to change the world and its mental wellness support for diverse parents and families.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My journey has been quite the opposite of a smooth road, but I wouldn’t change any experience. I wholeheartedly believe that the bumps in the road, the wounds that result, and the healing thereafter are what makes the human experience so special and meaningful.

My professional struggles include seeking a fine balance between internal authenticity and external acceptance and the related tension between finding my confident voice. My voice’s purpose and fearless conviction is now a source of such pride. But, the challenge continues to be navigating a world that still does not fully value a woman’s, much less a woman of color’s, assertiveness and parental experiences as a strength.

Personally, my combat-related trauma, postpartum anxiety and birth trauma were certainly also uphill battles to find health and peace. I realize now though that Healing Home Counseling Group, my personal values and my future professional endeavors for preventive specialty support in early parenthood would not have come to be without the bumps.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Healing Home Counseling Group is a values-based Michigan psychotherapy practice providing compassionate youth and perinatal therapy services throughout Michigan ensuring all are seen, valued, and supported on the journey of parenthood.

We take great pride in our supportive and healing culture for our team of therapists and clients alike and ensure that everyone receives care from an advanced-trained perinatal mental health expert.

Healing Home provides individual, couples, and group treatment rooted in Compassion • Empowerment • Integrity • Excellence • Respect. We engage in a world of inclusivity and celebrate the unique beauty and strength of each of our clients. Our home welcomes all ages, sexes, cultural and spiritual backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

Our innovative Healing Home Postpartum Planning online educational journey is the first-of-its-kind equitable approach to ensuring a healthy, supportive, and joyful experience in early parenthood. Informed from working with hundreds of parents who have directly benefited from this method, parents decrease anxiety and stress and increase confidence and joy through the transformative event of bringing home a baby.

The lifetime online access includes digital postpartum coaching directly from Healing Home’s leadership team, an introductory postpartum planning masterclass, a personal postpartum planning journal, a collaborative couple’s journal, and a personal plan template. (HSA/FSA eligible and available at www.healinghomegroup.com/course). Education is power and we believe all parents and families are worthy of feeling empowered on the journey of parenthood.

Maternal mental health during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is a public health crisis with 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers experiencing a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. Healing Home is committed to changing the world for mothers, fathers, and partners to decrease that prevelenace and to honor the worthiness of all parents to feel truly well in the significant life transition into parenthood. When parents are mentally healthy, children can be mentally healthy too.

We believe in finding balance and integration in professional spaces between the many aspects of identity: individual, family, cultural, and professional. We offer business leadership consultation, digital education, customized retreats, and public speaking engagements throughout the country. We are revolutionizing the transition for generations to come.

I am most proud of Healing Home’s dedication to excellence in perinatal mental health treatment that was born from Annie’s and my own pregnancy and postpartum struggles, our healing journeys, and our shared public health and clinical expertise. We openly share that, “we are on the journey of early parenthood and know the joys and heartaches that it can bring. We ensure that parents know they are not alone, are worthy of being truly well, and can have confidence in hope for a joyful future. We are proud to be a part of your village and honor your best hopes for wellness with compassion.”

How do you think about luck?
I would define luck as the Irish so beautifully describe the road rising to meet you, just how and when you need it to. I have been incredibly lucky in my life to be born into my family, to meet my husband in the U.S. Army and marry into a loving Irish family, to care for my precious children, and to be truly joyful and healthy as I approach my 40th birthday.

Professionally, I have been lucky to develop relationships with incredible peers and mentors, been privileged to seek higher education, and been offered opportunities to make a real impact in varied positions and organizations. The caveat I must add though is that ‘luck’ has come in many other forms too for me. It has sometimes been in missed opportunities, disappointment, grief, and trauma.

Through those struggles, I’ve built resiliency, grit, independence, and courage to change the world. So, I would not characterize that as ‘bad luck’ but rather challenging pathways to feel empowered to seize lucky opportunities or even create my own luck.

I want to make sure to note the immense luck I feel presently. I was very lucky to meet my business partner and dear friend, Annie Phillips, while serving at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Without that fortuitous connection and our time sharing an office in the hematology/oncology clinic and moving through the journey of parenthood together, my life and work would undoubtedly be diminished. Annie adds incredible light and love to everything we do with our families, our dear friends, and our valued practice and clients.