Christine Stevens Mills COM®
Christine Stevens Mills is an IAOM Certified Orofacial Myologist and Speech Language Pathologist. She established a private practice, devoted to treating children and adults diagnosed with orofacial myofunctional disorders and/or chronic sucking habits, spanning over forty years.
Christine’s initial orientation to this new field began in Coral Gables, Florida at the Institute for Myofunctional Therapy taking introductory and advanced training. She then returned to Michigan and opened Suburban Myofunctional Therapy Clinic in 1974. Her professional journey allowed her the privilege of learning from some of the trailblazers who wrote the initial textbooks. She was privileged to receive post graduate training in Oral Facial Myology from Dick Barrett and later seminars on Myo Functional Disorders "Awareness and Recognition" from Bill Zickefoose. Wayne State University provided a graduate course, studying Tongue Thrust Therapy, taking a close look at Neuro Muscular Facilitation (a sub-cortical approach to addressing tongue thrusting). This sub-cortical approach was researched at Children’s Hospital by Dr. Mervyn Falk and presented by him at this course. Christine continued her quest for knowledge, by taking courses in nutrition, airway obstruction and body posture, determined to provide the best care for her patients. A phrase that came to have great meaning in her career, ‘If you do not know it, you will not see it, if you cannot see it you cannot treat it’. ‘Knowledge helps you see it’! Determined to be the best therapist she could be, she applied to begin the certification process and became certified through the International Association of Oro Facial Myology in 1980.
As Christine’s private practice grew, she was compelled to do more. With other colleagues in the state of Michigan she initiated the Great Lakes Myo-Functional Therapy Study Club where therapists could consult with each other on difficult cases. Christine was also committee chairman seeking Orofacial Myology licensure in Michigan. In 1994 Christine served on the I.A.O.M. Board of Directors for three years. While continuing her private practice she decided there was a need for trained Orofacial Myologists (in her geographic area). Christine then developed an IAOM approved certification track course, "Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders A to Z" she taught in Michigan. She expanded her teaching geographically by later teaching IAOM track courses in Michigan and Myrtle Beach, S.C. In 1994 she became an Associate Professor at the University of Detroit Mercy Dental School, Orthodontic Department, teaching a graduate course on orofacial myofunctional disorders to first year orthodontic students. The University of Detroit Mercy was one of only two universities, in the country, at the time, with an established required Orofacial myology course in its curriculum. Christine held this position for nineteen years, officially retiring from the University in 2015.
Christine’s professional Orofacial Myology career transitioned from an ‘everyday job’ to a fulfilling lifelong professional career, retiring after a forty five years. Christine currently resides in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and continues to consult and mentor.
