A conversation with Dr. Grace Lim of Where The Forest Grows
Dr. Grace Lim is a physician specializing in child behavioral and developmental health. She works collaboratively with families, empowering them so they can thrive as a whole. Grace exudes warmth, and both her clinical and lived experience bring a unique and compassionate approach to her work. Her own journey with child loss and grief has significantly impacted her life, which also inspired her new practice Where The Forest Grows (https://wheretheforestgrows.com)
“I have mostly been in private practice the last 10 years, and have been wanting to do my own thing.
I decided to do what I really love, which is walking with families through the difficult process of determining whether development is on track, and if there is a potential diagnosis such as ADHD or Autism. Then, I help families get plugged into resources as they go forward.”
“I knew I wanted to include Forest in the name of the business, because of my son, Forest. He was stillborn 4 years ago. That definitely changed and shaped a lot of how I practice.”
“I want a child to be able to thrive within the context of their family –
In order for us as parents to be the best we can, we need to be learning about ourselves and growing along with our kid: hopefully to get on that journey of becoming and thriving ourselves.”
“The forest is like a family: What are the things that feed us? What are things that can be pruned?”
“[Before Forest was born], my primary identity was being a pediatrician. That definitely flipped afterward, and made me realize my priorities.
I really value family and want to live my life without working all of the time. Not to say I was, but it was more short-sighted back then.
That mindset also inspired this – that I can work when I want or part time, with my family being top priority.”
“[Loss] can make you see what’s really important”
“I think sometimes we can be told from external sources: “this is how you should do things”.
There was a little bit of incongruence and tension in what I was doing before, feeling like this [job] isn’t exactly the right fit, but I need to just grind at this more, everyone else is doing this, it’ll be what I want it to be at some point.”
“After having Forest, I only had so much energy and capacity, so it let me strip away everything that isn’t serving me: relationships or jobs.
Being able to clarify my vision for my life is what I’d share with that [pre-2022] version of me.”
“A month after Forest died, on the railing of our porch, there were three fledglings that sat right next to each other. I was having a hard time at that point, wondering “Where did he go?”, “Is there an afterlife, and what does that look like?”. Then these three little birds showed up, and it was really special.”
“A few months later, I was with a friend eating lunch in our backyard and a fresh monarch butterfly came to us. I was able to pick it up, and it sat on my shoulder for the entire lunch. I tried to minimize it, thinking there are a lot of monarchs around, but stuff like that doesn’t really happen.
I definitely now have come to believe that there are signs of a sort. But even if that’s not real, I at least take those moments to remember Forest and say hi.”
