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Devon Kardel, DTLLP

Chronic Pain & Health Challenges Trauma Therapist

If you’d rather start with a call or text: 313-288-2450.

I’m here to help you feel safe in your body, take back your power, and live with more ease - even in the midst of pain or illness.

  • You’ve been holding so much - physically, emotionally, or both - and it feels like too much. Maybe you’re living with chronic pain or illness that no one fully understands. Maybe you’re exhausted from managing symptoms in silence, feeling disconnected from your body and unsure how to find relief.

    Or maybe it’s emotional pain: anxiety that won’t settle, relationship patterns that repeat, or trauma that still lives in your body. You might feel overwhelmed by shame or confusion, wondering why it’s so hard to feel okay - or even to feel like yourself.

    Sometimes it all blends together: the stress, the pain, the disconnection. You’ve tried to push through, but you're ready for something different.

    I work with adults facing chronic illness, complex trauma, syndromes without easy answers, and relational wounds. Many of my clients also live with ADHD, emotional reactivity, or feel stuck in survival mode.

    Together, we slow things down. We create space to feel without overwhelm, gently explore what hurts, and reconnect you with your body, your strength, and a sense of clarity and calm that lasts.

  • I specialize in helping adults living with complex trauma, chronic pain, chronic illness, and invisible syndromes that often go misunderstood. Many of the people I work with are navigating life with ADHD, brain injuries, emotional overwhelm, or patterns of disconnection from their bodies and relationships.

    If you’ve been living in survival mode for too long - pushing through pain, stuck in cycles you can’t explain, or feeling like no one really sees what you carry - I want you to know you don’t have to keep doing this alone.

    I help people like you reconnect with their bodies, calm their nervous systems, and feel more at ease from the inside out. Together, we’ll work toward relief, clarity, and a deeper sense of safety - both within yourself and in your life.

  • I have training in trauma-focused and somatic therapies including EMDR.

    I am currently a doctoral level clinical psychology student at the Michigan School of Psychology earning my Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) degree and license. I earned a Master’s Degree in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Michigan – Dearborn before starting my PsyD program. I have specialized training in working within medical systems and with those with traumatic brain injuries. I am a member of the Michigan Psychological Association (MPA) and part of their Advocacy Task Force.

    • Aetna

    • Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO (BCBS)

    • Priority Health

    • U of M Health Plan (PHP)

    • Private pay rate: $175

Therapy for people in pain.

Whether it’s emotional, physical, or both - your pain deserves care, not silence.

Healing the Wounds the Body Holds

Devon’s Healing the Wounds the Body Holds approach is for those who have lived too long feeling overwhelmed, in pain, disconnected from their authentic selves, and stuck in survival mode. Whether you're navigating trauma, chronic illness, health uncertainty, persistent pain, relationship challenges, or the challenges of ADHD or traumatic brain injury, you deserve more than symptom management - you deserve relief, resolution, and reconnection with your body’s innate wisdom.

Devon’s integrative psychotherapy approach blends somatic practices, connective experiences, and trauma reprocessing to help you access the parts of yourself that are holding the burden of suffering. Grounded in mind-body awareness and relational safety, I incorporate elements of trauma-informed care, mindfulness, and embodiment to support whole-person healing.

Together, we can slow things down - creating space to feel without becoming overwhelmed, and to understand your sensations and body experiences as meaningful messages rather than malfunctions. This approach is especially supportive for those managing complex syndromes or chronic conditions that haven’t found relief in traditional talk therapy or medical care alone.

This work emphasizes:

  • Regulation and relief: Learn to calm internal noise and restore a sense of quiet in your body.

  • Somatic awareness: Build a compassionate relationship with your body to reduce fear, numbness, or discomfort and to help reconnect to your authentic self.

  • Trauma reprocessing: Gently work through past experiences stored in the body that keep you locked in cycles of pain, anxiety, or fatigue.

  • Whole-person healing: Reclaim agency, reduce chronic tension, and experience more energy, clarity, and connection.

This space is grounded in deep respect for the complexity of what you carry. Therapy doesn’t rush your process - it honors your pace while guiding you toward lasting transformation.

Heal the Wounds the Body Holds: Request an appointment with Devon.

TEND TO YOUR PAIN ►►►

Connect. Match. Begin.

Fill out our New Client Inquiry form and submit

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Easier than trying to figure out what to say in an email and more detail than a voicemail - this is a simple form that will help us match you with a therapist, type of therapy, and available appointment.

Complete our onboarding process

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We’ll respond to your form by email with information and, if available and appropriate, an appointment offer. We’ll send a link to our client portal for your to complete the initial documents. We’ll check your insurance benefits and provide a courtesy estimate of your cost-sharing responsibility.

Tend to your pain

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You’ll meet regularly with one of our therapists and work together to help you move from overwhelm and disconnection toward safety, flexibility, and lasting personal change.

Whether it’s emotional, physical, or both - your pain deserves care, not silence.