Writer | Mikayla Balk
Photo | Break Room Therapy
Focus On: You Could Use a Break (Room)
Winter 2025 Issue
We’ve all got something that bothers us, whether it’s at the forefront of our minds or an occasional nagging thought that visits on long car rides. There are many ways to cope with negative emotions, but what do you do when you feel like you need a physical outlet for those emotions and can’t seem to find a release?
Consider breaking things. Not in the embarrassing way where the redness flushes your face as soon as the plate hits the floor and you realize you’ll have to clean a hundred shards off the tile. Instead, you can break things in a clean, safe and freeing way through break room therapy.
Dawn Levian started Break Room Therapy in Grand Rapids in June 2019. She had the idea several months earlier, in January, after searching for an outlet for her husband. The closest break room at the time was in Detroit. While he wasn’t interested in going, Dawn was intrigued. After solid hours of research, she thought it could be an excellent method of coping with trauma.
People attend break rooms for a wide range of reasons. Perhaps they’ve been cheated on, they’ve lost their job, they’re having family problems, or they’re even dealing with political turbulence. Sometimes, people come in because they’ve lost a loved one and don’t know how to process that grief.
“Between writing things down and the physical release, as well as the permission to fully express their emotions, people leave the room very different from how they came in,” Levian says.
Guests are welcome to write down their reasons for coming in on a board and can share how they feel before and after the experience if they want.
“Mental health is very important, and this provides a space for people to let go and release whatever hurt they’re dealing with,” she says. “We’ve had people say that they don’t know what they’ve been holding onto, but just wanted to feel something.” While at the break room, guests can cry, scream, curse and nobody will look at them sideways.
To partake in a break room session, people should book a reservation, as walk-ins aren’t available. Typically, the business is open Thursday through Sunday, but other arrangements can be made. Minors must be accompanied by an adult, and children under 13 are not allowed to participate.
Guests must wear thick-soled tennis shoes as a safety precaution. If you don’t have any, there are shoes available to rent. Break Room Therapy also has lab coats, safety glasses, body shields, earplugs, gloves and other equipment that isn’t required but is available for anyone to use.
Parties are incredibly popular at the break room. They’ve hosted bachelorette parties, birthday parties, and now, divorce parties are all the rage. There are also 16 therapists from the area who integrate sessions in the break room with their clients’ regular therapy.
If you’re wondering where all these breakable items come from, Break Room Therapy works with thrift stores to bulk purchase items that aren’t selling. They take items from restaurants, too. Typically, these items would be thrown out, so it’s a creative method of recycling. Eco-friendliness is a major part of their business ethics. As many materials as possible are recycled into plastic bags, and cardboard boxes go to a recycling center. The business has a glass pulverizer to repurpose glass into sand.
Sometimes it takes more than just talking to let go of whatever you’ve been holding onto. “We understand we’re not for everybody; there are lots of different outlets for different people,” Levian says. “But we’re a space that is welcome to everyone. Life is hard enough. The only thing you’ll be judged by here is your character.”
The next time you’re overwhelmed by the pressure of deadlines or come home to a sullied carpet, see if a break room works for you. q
