Family therapy clinic opens on Mill Street in Plymouth

Rich Palzewic

Staff

January 26, 2026

PLYMOUTH – Calming Waters Family Counseling, which specializes in solution-focused therapy, has opened a new clinic in Plymouth.

The clinic, led by owner and chief mental health therapist Donna Schelfhout, is located at 623 E. Mill St., Suite 3. 

“Calming Waters Family Counseling serves individuals and couples of all ages who are experiencing a disruption in their mental health and want help,” Schelfhout said. “We provide affordable, solution-focused therapy modalities designed to restore mental health in the short term so our clients can return to enjoying their lives or create better ones for themselves.”

Schelfhout said Calming Waters works with a wide range of clients, from children as young as three to adults in their 80s.
“What ties them all together is that they have all experienced a disruption of their mental health, and they all want help,” she said.

With 23 years of experience coaching married couples and 30 years supporting teens and others recovering from mental health challenges, Schelfhout said she is trained in a broad range of solution-focused therapies, including communication-based approaches and mindfulness techniques.

Before founding Calming Waters, Schelfhout said she served as a mental health therapist for Behavioral Health Clinic and Access Community Therapies in Sheboygan.

“Before that, I was a therapist at Shorehaven Behavioral Health in Brown Deer,” she said.
Schelfhout said the clinic works with individuals and couples who are suffering from anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD, PTSD and combinations of these diagnoses.

“We can help you, whether you have insurance or not,” she said. “We work to be the affordable care our neighbors need to face their mental health challenges effectively.”

Schelfhout said she also works with blended families and co-parents.

“I have also mentored a few couples through the divorce process – trying to help them figure out how to be amicable for the sake of the children,” she said. “I also work with foster kids and adopted children.”

Schelfhout said she has even collaborated with police in a nearby community to help manage a young man with autism.

“It was great [to meet with them], because they didn’t quite understand how to work with that,” she said. “I came in and explained a few things about the young man specifically, but also about the autistic community – how to meet them where they are and how to de-escalate a situation.”

A journey in mental health

Schelfhout said she decided to shift focus last April, when the behavioral health clinic she was working for, Access Community Therapies, was bought out by Behavioral.

The experience, she said, made her realize she preferred private practice and small, community-based settings.

“I like the community feel of being able to meet our clients where they are,” she said. “During the buyout, it was moving things to a larger scale – almost to a psychologist level. Our company only had 17 employees, while Behavioral already had 100 employees. Behavioral does great work – don’t get me wrong – but after about six weeks, I knew it was best to go out on my own. I wanted to go in a different direction.”

With the clinic established, Schelfhout said she’s largely able to focus on the aspects of her work she finds most fulfilling.

“Something I wanted to do with my own practice was have a sliding scale for payment,” she said. “A sliding payment scale is a flexible pricing model that adjusts the cost of services based on a client’s financial situation, making them more accessible to individuals with varying income levels.”

Schelfhout said a sliding scale payment system is commonly used in the therapy and healthcare fields to ensure services are affordable for those who may not have the financial means to pay full price.

“With Calming Waters, I have an affordable cash rate for clients who might need that,” she said. “I have said for years that I didn’t get into this business to get rich – I got into this business to help people have better mental health for tomorrow.”

Schelfhout said she’s also looking forward to working with the PATH program again.

She said she previously enjoyed bringing the community-based program into various schools, but after the clinic’s buyout, “the company was no longer going to be doing that.”

Opening Calming Waters

Schelfhout said her first official day seeing clients at Calming Waters was Sept. 8 of last year, and within a week, she had already booked 21 appointments.

“I think my name is fairly well known in the county,” she said. “A lot of the clinics, the county, the schools and people know me. When I started passing out [my business] cards, people were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, let me know when you go live, and let me know when you’re in network with insurance.’ Every time I get in network with a new insurance, I make sure to update my profile on psychologytoday.com.”

Schelfhout said some of her clients are referrals, while others find her on the aforementioned website.

“I also do faith-based counseling as well,” she said. “I don’t have myself listed as just a Christian counselor, but I will offer faith-based therapy to those who want it. To those who come into my office and say, ‘I really don’t want that,’ we don’t go there. I’m not here to push my belief on you – I’m here to help you figure out how to make tomorrow better.”

For now, Schelfhout said she’s the only therapist on site at Calming Waters.

“I have all four of my rooms set up for myself,” she said. “I have a small lobby that will facilitate one family waiting at a time, so it’s perfect for me. We will see for the future. All of my clients are seen at the office or on telehealth.”

A name that fit

Schelfhout said she feels “super blessed” with how things are going at Calming Waters, which is located in a quiet building with views of the water.

“Ten years ago, when I got my license to do therapy, I came up with that name because water is very calming,” she said. “I was renting space from somebody in downtown Sheboygan by Lake Michigan. For two and a half months, I tried to build this business, but I was new and green. Nobody knew who I was, and none of the insurance companies were taking new people, so I had to go back into the workforce right away.”

Fast forward to this past fall, when she started her own practice again, Schelfhout said the name “Calming Waters” still seemed fitting.

“We happened to find riverfront property, so it just turned out beautifully,” she said.

Schelfhout said she appreciates the diversity she has with Calming Waters.

“I can add a couple to my roster, and with most couples, from six to nine weeks, they’ll be in a good spot and back out there doing fine,” she said.

Schelfhout said she feels mental health issues have always “been there,” but it’s more normalized now.

“Twenty years ago, when I first started, it was more of a private thing, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we’re having these struggles with our teen kids, please help us,’” she said. “At church, my husband and I would spend time with these teens, have them over to our house, go to the park with them and help them work through whatever it was they were going through in today’s world.”

Now, Schelfhout said, people talk about mental health more openly.

“I stress to my clients that they can’t use their mental health issues as a crutch,” she said. “I work on: what are we going to do to help you function? There are options we’re going to work through to find out what is causing your issues.”

Schelfhout said the overuse of technology can have a real impact on mental health.

“[The overuse of technology] decreases our ability to interact with other people, but it also decreases our drive to want to do some of those basic things,” she said. “Even as adults, force yourself to put your phones down.”

For more on Calming Waters Family Counseling, visit its Facebook page.