About Emily

I grew up in Michigan’s gorgeous Upper Peninsula and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Lake Superior State University in 2006.  After moving to St. Louis, I began my career with crisis assessment, intervention, and counseling in emergency rooms across the St. Louis area. I earned a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling in 2011 from Lindenwood University, completing my practicum in an Intensive Outpatient program for substance abuse. After graduation, I became a Licensed Professional Counselor within the state of Missouri. I have provided individual therapy since 2016 and was the counselor for a bariatric surgery support group for 4 years. I have been hired by local hospitals and agencies to build departments, conduct consultations on processes and policies, and create training programs. In 2022 I built a clinical program specialized to the Intensive Outpatient level of care. I developed a new trauma-based curriculum which proved to not only decrease depression and anxiety scores, but also led to an incredible reduction in dissociative symptoms and significant increase in overall personal wellness. 

I have years of experience working with clients to help them solidify their personal values, needs, and priorities in order to design a life that fulfills them, with a balance of enjoyment, peace, and engagement with personal passion, versus being caught in a trap of ceaseless responsibility. I work alongside clients to aid them in developing a healthy level of confidence, sense of autonomy, and greater personal efficacy. I use concepts from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Humanistic Therapy in an eclectic, trauma-focused approach that focuses on treating and honoring the individual and seeing fast results in distress relief.  I use humor to cultivate an environment that is inclusive, challenging, and even at times, fun. I am currently working on a Doctor of Health Sciences degree in Advanced Trauma Counseling from Bay Path University. 

The first session we complete the paperwork and chat. We get to know each other a bit and talk about what you want to get out of working together, and how I feel I may be able to help. The next few sessions will be looking at prioritizing what is most important for you. Once we’ve identified some issues and a direction for treatment, we’ll do some work focusing on JUST YOU. Because you are more than the issues you are facing. I often use the Enneagram system to help guide us to your core identity- what motivates you most, your natural traits and strengths, and what growth would look like for you as unique human being. We do discussions (be prepared, I have a chalkboard) to help with visualizing how you feel, what you want, and how to get where you want to go. I don’t speak in jargon, don’t believe I know better than you do what is best for you, and don’t come a place above or beyond you. We walk together, and we find the directions as we go. I’ll ask a lot of questions, offer some food for thought, and never flinch or shy away from the hard stuff. That’s what I’m there for- so you don’t have to hold it yourself anymore.

Mental health exists as presently for every human being as their physical health. Every person at any moment exists somewhere on a spectrum from very well to very unwell. A focus on mental health is important for people who have lost their jobs, their relationships, attempted to harm themselves, who have a chemical imbalance, who have experienced trauma, who are grieving, but it is for everyone, all the time. Our place on that spectrum can move in the middle of a workday, or after a fight, after we skip breakfast, after we think of a sad event. We are in constant emotion motion.

I believe any bias against mental health issues, or reluctance to seek treatment is founded in fear and in lack of knowledge.  My goal is to work toward  making ideas and practices accessible and non-threatening, so the client can gain a working knowledge of general human psychology and mental health without feeling judged. With greater awareness, we are more free to acknowledge that we could all use some self-reflection, work on communication, recognizing of shifts we could make in our thinking, moving away from believing that something is wrong with us and toward being proud to be in a perpetual state of progress.