Where Healing Occurs and Hope Is Realized

Michelle Fitzhugh admits that her heart has been beating pretty fast these days. But in one quick breath, she insists this is a good thing. It’s simply the feeling she gets when she can sit with someone whose life is tied up in knots – and taking that positive first step toward peace and stability seems impossible – and be that trusted counselor who helps them feel heard, accepted, and at ease as they learn to face their problems.

For Michelle, this is where real healing occurs. So if her heart races a little more each day — so be it.

“That’s why this job never gets old and why I’m so passionate about what we do,” Michelle said. “It’s an honor to be trusted to sit with people and help them feel safe enough to share the hard, ugly, and painful parts of their lives and then watch them go through these transformations where they get past things they didn’t think they could ever overcome.

“That’s the part that makes my heart beat fast, and I feel like I’m just getting started.”

While she feels like she’s just getting started, Michelle, whose family has been an integral part of the Argyle community for as long as she can remember, has been a fully-licensed counselor for more than 25 years. And even before that, she was the friend everyone felt comfortable turning to for guidance, understanding, and a shoulder to cry on. She was a teacher and school counselor for several years before founding Redeemed Life Counseling in 2018. She currently serves as its clinical director, and the practice has since grown to include 11 fully-licensed therapists.

“I have a great team around me, and they are very good at what they do,” she said.

Redeemed Life is a full-service, trauma-focused counseling center, and the need for a local resource like this can’t be overstated. Life can be complicated and stressful, and not a day goes by where someone isn’t presented with a painfully complex issue or mental health crisis. This could include struggling with the death of a loved one, marital problems, childhood trauma and developmental trauma, sexual violence, PTSD, anxiety, depression, phobias, eating problems, bipolar disorder, etc.

Sadly, many people try to tackle these and other issues alone. Perhaps they feel like they don’t have someone in their life to turn to, their issues will resolve themselves with time, or they feel like they will be judged or treated differently. In other situations, an individual or family member may bottle up their struggles and pretend those problems don’t exist.

Eventually, this can make life feel hopeless and place additional strain on the loving relationships that mean so much to them.

No one should feel alone or without answers — regardless of their journey. And to help, Redeemed Life offers counseling practices such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), brainspotting, play therapy, mindfulness counseling, addiction counseling, life coaching, group therapy, couples and family counseling, and more.

Your story is unique, which means the solutions to the challenges you face should be catered to those needs.

They even have a gift shop and comfort baskets to make people feel loved during difficult times. Just a few items they offer include adult coloring books, candles, fuzzy blankets, grief workbooks, and stuffed animals.

“We really do work with just about everyone, and I’m blessed to have such an amazing team around me,” Michelle said. When she’s not working, she’s busy spending time with her husband, Mike, a former teacher at Liberty Christian School in Argyle. They have a special needs daughter named Emery (23) and a 33-year-old son named Walt. “I’ve experienced difficult things as an adult, and I knew I could always lean into people who would walk alongside me and help. And naturally, I’ve always been someone who could hold space for people, listen to what’s going on, and be there for them.”

She added, “I wanted to build more of a community inside a practice, and I think we’ve been able to do just that.”