Forward Therapy builds connections, provides quality mental health care in Great Lakes Bay region

Building relationships defines one of Forward Therapy and Consulting’s guiding principles, not only for their clients, but also for their employees and community members.

Clinical partner Andy Sovis says, “We want to impact our community, to be a resource and a place for accessing quality mental health care.” 

Megan Welke, also a clinical partner, says, “Our goal is providing great care for everyone we serve and to also be a great place to work.” She added, “We want to support our team because then it trickles down to everyone we touch.”

Forward Therapy and Consulting held its official ribbon-cutting ceremony, sponsored by the Midland Business Alliance, on May 29 at its Eastman Avenue location, in the office building behind Eastman Party Store. However, Welke originally started the business in 2021 with support from her husband, Jason

“It was one of the scariest things I’d ever done,” she says. At the time, Welke was counseling patients at Midland Family Physicians, where clients frequently referred her to friends and family. Because they were not patients there, they could not access her services. Thus, Forward Therapy was born.

Welke and Sovis bring a wealth of education and experience to their practice. 

Sovis’ resume includes work as a therapist and counselor at Midland County Community Mental Health, the Midland County Jail, the Midland Juvenile Justice Center, and Delta College. Most recently, he served as Director of Counseling at Northwood University.

Welke was Assistant Director of Personal Representation Services with The ARC of Midland, worked at CMH, and was the Care Manager for Midland Family Physicians. 

Welke earned her Associate’s degree from Delta College, a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from Saginaw Valley State University, and a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) in both Clinical and Macro practice from Michigan State University. Sovis graduated from Western Michigan University with a BSW degree and earned an LMSW from the University of Michigan. 

This social work commonality helps align Sovis and Welke in their philosophies of purpose. Welke says social work deals with a person and their environment and how they impact each other, versus a psychologist who may focus more on theories.

In addition, both have small-town roots, Sovis from Owosso and Welke from Coleman, which, according to Welke, gives them another valuable perspective. 

The two became acquainted several years ago when they shared a BSW student intern. Sovis says they got to be friends through professional interactions and kept running into each other.  In 2023 they had the idea of doing something together.

“It was serendipitous,” Sovis says. He joined the practice as a partner in fall 2024, forming Forward Therapy and Consulting PLLC. That same fall, they hired Jason Greve, and in January, brought on Rachel Gaus.

Greve is a Licensed Professional Counselor, and through his training, brings a different perspective and sees things through a different lens. Sovis says his passion is working with young adults and families, and adds he gleans a lot from home-based therapy assessments and interventions

Gaus, a Limited Licensed Master Social Worker, focuses on children and teens and works full-time as a social worker at the Midland County ESA. 

Welke says their assembled team allows for a diverse, comprehensive approach. “Andy and I are the primary leaders, but if there’s a sticky situation, we work together,” she says. “I may refer a client to Rachel, but I’m still behind the scenes.”

Welke focuses on couples therapy, which she says creates ripple effects that benefit families and children. She has training through the Gottman Institute, whose mission is to foster and sustain greater love and health in relationships. 

In addition to building relationships, both Welke and Sovis emphasize the vital role the community plays in their work. Sovis says online therapy services promote mental health, but to be truly effective, there needs to be a community connection. “We can help because we know this community.” 

Welke defines that community as the Great Lakes Bay Region. 

“There’s a benefit to both Andy and Rachel being right in Midland. Jason lives in Isabella County, and I live in Merrill while my kids go to school in Hemlock,” she says. “There’s a lot of value in the connections we’ve all built with people in that community.”

Some of this manifests itself in the consulting arm of Forward Therapy and Consulting. Sovis says they help businesses and nonprofits with team building and culture. “Organizations [can also] send their staff for Employee Assistance Programs, consult on best practices, and look at hiring practices.”

Sovis and Welke have plans and dreams to build Forward Therapy and Consulting into something even more comprehensive than what it is today.

Welke says they hope to open a second location within the next year, possibly in Alma, which she believes is underserved.

Sovis says his dream is to establish a mental health coalition or women’s center offering a continuum of care.

“In addition to the therapy we already offer, we could have yoga, paint therapy, etc., which would help our clients make connections and have a sense of belonging, that would in turn help fulfill their needs,” he says. “We could address mental and physical health all in one place.” 

Welke envisions this future expansion as a wellness collective. “Where we’re all collaborating in the same space: a PT, an OT, a PA or an NP, and speech and massage therapists,” she says. 

“That transfer of trust is a game-changer when we’re all working together. It’s a reciprocal relationship, not a competition.”  Even without this space yet, she emphasized, “We focus on the well-being of the whole person.”