Counselors
Real Life Counseling is a team of compassionate and experienced professionals who care deeply about helping individuals and families thrive. Our counselors bring a wide range of unique experiences, training, and specialties, allowing us to match each client with the provider who best fits their needs.
When you contact our office, we will help guide you toward the counselor who is the best match for your situation.
Jake is the founder of Real Life Counseling and has been serving families in Northern Michigan since 2011. After graduating from Grand Valley State University in 2007, Jake completed his Master’s Degree at Spring Arbor University in 2015.
Jake’s background includes working as a licensed teacher, school counselor, licensed professional counselor, and counselor supervisor. His experience in schools gave him a deep understanding of how family dynamics, culture, and community influence young people and their development.
Jake is passionate about helping teens, parents, and families navigate complex challenges and build healthier relationships.
Before becoming a counselor, Jake spent many years working with youth at camps, church programs, and Young Life. These experiences shaped his passion for helping young people grow into healthy, confident adults.
Jake believes counseling works best when clients feel seen, understood, and supported while also being encouraged to grow.
Outside the office, Jake enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing, and playing hockey in the winter. These activities reflect Jake's values he brings into counseling: adventure, personal growth, resilience, and strong community.
Dr. Brandon Mielke has been helping individuals struggling with substance use, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns since 2017.
Brandon completed his Bachelor's degree in Counseling Psychology at Cornerstone University in 2017. He earned his Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in 2020 and completed his Ph.D. in General Psychology through Liberty University in 2025.
Brandon is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor.
His professional experience includes working in residential rehabilitation centers, inpatient psychiatric facilities, and outpatient clinics.
Brandon enjoys helping clients find freedom from addiction and develop healthier emotional patterns.
Outside of counseling, Brandon enjoys spending time with his wife and children and exploring the outdoor beauty of Northern Michigan.
Aleena Hellebuyck is a Limited Licensed Professional Counselor (LLPC) with more than 10 years of experience working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. She provides therapy for individuals navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, identity exploration, life transitions, and substance use concerns. Aleena is passionate about helping clients build self-awareness, strengthen relationships, and create meaningful, lasting change through a collaborative and authentic therapeutic process.
Aleena works primarily with adolescents, adults, couples, and families. Her clinical approach is informed by psychodynamic therapy, Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), and Gottman Method principles for couples counseling. She helps clients develop a deeper understanding of their emotions, relationship patterns, and underlying experiences that contribute to current challenges. Her work emphasizes emotional insight, relational growth, improved communication, and long-term psychological well-being.
Her professional background includes extensive experience within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. As a former foster care case manager with the State of Michigan, Aleena developed expertise in child abuse and neglect, adoption, trauma, family systems, and complex behavioral concerns. She also has significant experience in juvenile drug court programming, substance use treatment, criminality, and re-entry services. Throughout her career, she has worked with individuals and families from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and clinical backgrounds in community-based, nonprofit, and private practice settings.
Aleena earned her Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Central Michigan University and holds a Limited Licensed Professional Counselor (LLPC) credential in the State of Michigan. She is also a Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor – Development Plan (CAADC-DP). Her clinical specialties include couples therapy, adolescent counseling, addiction and recovery, family conflict, divorce and co-parenting concerns, anxiety, trauma, identity development, and relationship difficulties.
Aleena offers in-person appointments on Fridays and telehealth services throughout the week for clients located in Michigan. She is a private-pay provider, allowing for individualized treatment planning and a personalized therapeutic experience focused on each client's unique goals and needs.
Outside of her professional work, Aleena values overall wellness, enjoys fitness and outdoor activities, and appreciates spending time in nature with her golden retrievers. She believes that meaningful change occurs through authenticity, self-reflection, and the development of healthier relationships with both oneself and others.
Lauren earned their Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling through Central Michigan University after completing an internship experience here at Real Life Counseling.
Lauren brings a relational, strengths-based, and compassion-focused approach to their work with couples, families, and individuals age 7 to 70.
Their areas of interest include trauma, relationships, neurodivergence, gender identity, and sexuality. They are also trained in Applied Gaming (ask about Lauren's therapeutic TTRPG groups)!
Lauren is passionate about supporting individuals from diverse and marginalized backgrounds while helping clients explore connection, meaning, and wellness in their lives.
Outside of the office, Lauren enjoys traveling, music, walking in nature, gaming, and spending time with their husband and cat in Northern Michigan.
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Jenna Morris
Jenna is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Intern from Central Michigan University who brings a warm, collaborative, and whole-person approach to counseling. She enjoys working with adults experiencing anxiety, stress, grief and loss, divorce, family estrangement, life transitions, relationship challenges, self-esteem concerns, perfectionism, burnout, and questions around identity or purpose. She is especially drawn to supporting people who may appear capable and successful on the outside while feeling overwhelmed, stuck, disconnected, or unsure of what they need on the inside.
Her developing therapeutic approach draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, mindfulness, attachment-informed perspectives, and strengths-based approaches. Jenna values understanding how past experiences and relationships shape us while also helping clients build practical tools, clarify what matters to them, and create meaningful change in the present. She believes therapy can hold both depth and lightness and appreciates the role appropriate humor can play in creating connection and perspective.
Jenna also brings nearly two decades of experience in yoga, mindfulness, wellness, education, and leadership to her counseling work. When appropriate and desired by the client, she enjoys incorporating mindfulness and body awareness into the therapeutic process. Above all, Jenna strives to create a space where clients feel genuinely heard and supported as they move toward a life that feels more authentic, balanced, and fulfilling.
I am completing the final steps of earning my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Central Michigan University and currently serve as an intern at Real Life Counseling. With a background in banking and Spanish translation, I bring curiosity, compassion, and a genuine interest in people’s stories to my work.
I recognize that everyone is navigating life for the first time. Because mental health affects nearly every aspect of our lives, that process can sometimes feel overwhelming. I love connecting with clients in the midst of their real, everyday experiences—even on their worst days. My goal is to create a safe, supportive space where clients can be recklessly authentic as they work through the challenges of life and relationships.
I am passionate about helping clients better understand themselves, recognize their inner strengths, and experience meaningful, lasting growth. I am especially interested in working with clients experiencing addiction, relationship concerns, anxiety, and depression. I also care deeply about expanding access to counseling for underserved populations.
Outside the counseling office, I enjoy reading mystery and thriller books, spending time outdoors kayaking, hiking, and snowshoeing, and relaxing with my husband, our cat, Malakai, and our husky, Layla.
If you are interested in meeting with one of our counselors, we invite you to reach out.
Our team will match you with the counselor who best fits your needs.