Grove: Beyond The Couch

Dr. Jason Clapton and Heidi Clapton have spent decades looking underneath the behavior that gets a child labeled. He is a developmental optometrist with a fellowship in pediatrics and brain injury; she is an occupational therapist, and between them they have built a practice around a single stubborn idea, which is that the thing you can see is rarely the thing causing it. They talk about why so mu...

Almost everyone has someone in their life they wish would get help. Susan and Melissa take on the hard version of that problem: what you can actually do when the person struggling is an adult who has not asked for anything. They talk through why people refuse support far more often than they admit, why fear of judgment and the cost to a job, a license, or a family is usually underneath it, and wha...

Ask most couples what is wrong and you will hear the same three words: we don't communicate. But what if that is almost never the real problem? Melissa and Susan sit down with fellow therapist Christina, who works largely with couples, to unpack what people actually mean when they say communication has broken down, why even silence is its own kind of message, and how being understood is a differen...

Some days the world hands us more than we ever agreed to carry. The constant stream of news and noise can leave us drained and flattened without our quite knowing why. Melissa and Susan sit down to talk about what all that information does to a nervous system that was never built to hold it, why staying endlessly informed is not the same as being well, and how small, honest boundaries around what...

Before her first official day at Grove, Kendall Deaver sits down with Susan to talk about the three and a half years she spent in residential treatment and what that work asked of her. Reaching young men who had been handed off between adults their whole lives meant giving up the idea that she needed to arrive with answers. Along the way, a belief she had absorbed growing up, that people are not t...

Some people know at twelve that they want to be a counselor. Diana took the long way, starting in music and songwriting before a class in disguise, a chance conversation, and a feeling that kept resurfacing led her back to the work she was meant for. In this warm conversation, Melissa sits down with Diana, a former Grove intern stepping into a new chapter on the team, to talk about the winding roa...

Most of us treat rest like a reward we have to earn, saving it for the moment we can barely function. By then it is rarely enough. In this conversation, two therapists get honest about why we wait too long to step away, why slowing down can feel so uncomfortable, and why the size of a break matters far less than the willingness to take it. From two-week vacations to five quiet minutes in the backy...

What does it actually feel like to sit on the other side of the room? This time the questions turn toward the therapists themselves, exploring why they were drawn to this work, how confidence slowly replaces the script, and what it means to hold hope for someone who cannot yet hold it for themselves. It is an honest look at the real difference between a friend and a professional, the slow and quie...

First responders show up for everyone else, but who shows up for them? In this episode, Melissa and Susan explore the particular mental health challenges that come with being a paramedic, firefighter, law enforcement officer, dispatcher, or rescue worker: the accumulated weight of repeated trauma exposure, the pressure to compartmentalize, and the fear that asking for help means admitting weakness...

Every morning at school, before the first lesson begins, something important is already happening. In this episode, Melissa and Susan sit down with Sarah Harvick, a vice principal in Putnam County, Tennessee, to talk about what schools see that most people don't: the pulse of a building, the kids who are quietly struggling, and the adults who notice first. From TCAP season to summer slide, from bu...

Most people picture therapy as two people in chairs, facing each other, talking. That image captures something true, but it's only part of the story. Melissa and Susan are joined by Marissa Fike, a therapist at Grove who has built her practice around the idea that healing can arrive through many unexpected doors: a carefully blended cup of tea, a poem you didn't know you were ready to write, a wal...

The early days of parenthood are celebrated more than they are prepared for, and a lot of new parents end up in that season feeling like they're doing something wrong. In this conversation, Melissa and Susan dig into what postpartum mental health actually looks like: not just depression, but anxiety, anger, and intrusive thoughts that can feel alarming without being dangerous. They share their own...

In this episode, Melissa and Susan explore a timely question: can AI actually replace therapy? They talk through the pros, the limits, and the real risks of using tools like ChatGPT for emotional support, self-reflection, and mental health questions. From boundaries and human connection to the danger of relying on AI in moments of crisis, this conversation looks at where AI can be helpful as a too...

In this episode, Melissa and Susan are joined by Isha and Lori of Insightful Counseling in Sparta and Cookeville for a conversation about collaboration, community care, and the growing need for support in rural mental health services. They talk about what it looks like to serve children, adults, and families in the Upper Cumberland, with a special focus on autism, caregiver stress, school support,...

A snow-and-ice week brings up familiar “stuck” feelings, and Melissa and Susan use it to unpack what healing really looks like. They talk about why progress is often small, why sessions can feel heavy, how change happens outside the therapy room, and why healing isn’t linear. They also share updates on new groups and community offerings (including childcare support, yoga/sound bath, and more) conn...

This week, Melissa and Susan sit down with Seth Crabtree and Mike Giamo of Crabtree & Patterson Law Firm for a rare four-person conversation that connects the worlds of therapy and criminal defense. They talk about what it’s like to meet people at the worst moments of their lives, how attorneys compartmentalize heavy cases, why clarity often beats sugarcoating, and what “winning” really means...

It’s guest episode #2 in a row, and we’re joined by Noelle as she approaches one year at Grove. Noelle shares her path from 10 years in nursing, to stepping away because of burnout, to finding her way back into a helping role in a healthier, more sustainable environment. We talk about what burnout can really look like, the value of boundaries and self-care, and why the front desk can be its own ki...

It’s the first episode of 2026, and Melissa and Susan kick off the year with a special guest from their own team: Sarah. She shows up with fidgets, an emotional-support Furby, and a whole lot of honesty about what it’s like to do the thing you’ve been avoiding… even when your therapeutic philosophy is literally “avoid avoidance.” Together, they unpack why motivation can tank in the winter, how to...

Susan and Melissa wrap up the year with a honest, hopeful conversation about growth, change, and what’s coming next for Grove. They look back on the big projects of the past year—renovations, new partnerships, and a whole lot of hard work—while talking about why they prefer intentions over rigid New Year’s resolutions and how to carry the right things into 2026. Then they open up about their own e...

Susan and Melissa kick off the holiday season with a fun — and surprisingly insightful — conversation about common myths surrounding therapy. From the idea that “something must be wrong with you” to the misconception that therapists give advice or can read minds, they break it all down with humor, real talk, and a peek behind the scenes of what counseling is actually like. Whether you’re already i...

In this episode of Grove: Beyond the Couch, Melissa and Susan welcome therapist and yoga instructor Elizabeth Mounts to talk about what it really looks like to blend clinical work with yoga, somatic processing, and sound baths. Elizabeth shares her story of burning out in traditional mental health settings, stepping away from therapy, and then finding her way back with much clearer boundaries: kno...

In this episode, Melissa and Susan start with some lighter talk - fresh paint on the Grove building, skeletons in Santa hats, and small ways they’re trying to brighten the darker months - before gently shifting into a heavy but necessary conversation: domestic violence. They walk through the Power and Control Wheel, unpacking how abuse isn’t just physical, but can look like emotional abuse, financ...

Happy Halloween! 🎃 Melissa (Halloween superfan) and Susan (hard pass on haunted houses) swap stories about spooky décor, jump scares, and why some of us crave adrenaline while others avoid horror at all costs. Then they get therapist-y about fear: what phobias are, how our brains learn them (sometimes from family or one-off moments), and why finishing the stress cycle matters more than “just brea...

Susan and Melissa welcome Grove therapist Desi to celebrate her two-year anniversary on the team. They swap origin stories (and office décor tips), then get real about what actually makes therapy work: the person of the therapist, the culture behind the scenes, and finding the right client–therapist fit—sometimes that means a warm handoff to a different provider. They dig into the unique parts of...

As the days get shorter, Susan and Melissa unpack Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)—how it differs from “winter blues,” what to watch for (sleep and appetite shifts, low energy, persistent low mood), and why time change and circadian rhythms matter. They talk holiday pressure, grief triggers, and isolation—and share practical ways to buffer the season: light strategies (twinkle lamps to light boxe...