Emily is a licensed professional counselor who received her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Concordia University. She is a National Certified Counselor and a member of the American Counseling Association. She has experience working with a wide range of clients and client issues such as addictions, addiction recovery services, anxiety and depressive disorders, chronic illness, suicidal ideation, negative thinking patterns, and self-esteem and confidence issues. She also specializes in working with children and teens with developmental and behavioral issues, those on the autism spectrum, and children with special needs.
Emily utilizes a strengths-based approach to counseling and incorporates tenets of Positive Psychotherapy into her practice to help clients use existing resources within themselves to achieve the change they are striving for. She uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques like thought stopping and challenging automatic thoughts; mindfulness techniques like deep breathing and muscle relaxation; as well as, dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT) techniques to enhance a person’s emotional regulation, interpersonal, mindfulness and distress tolerance skills in my practice.
I believe in the healing power of the therapeutic relationship to promote wellness and initiate change. I believe that the counselor and client’s relationship should be collaborative; built upon trust, understanding, empathy, and genuineness. I believe that a person’s presenting issue should be understood holistically- looking at all aspects of a person’s life and not just the current problem. I believe that every person has resources within themselves that they can apply to their current situation to help them recognize their past successes and utilize their individual strengths. Once the counselor and client collaboratively determine the focus of the counseling relationship, we will work to enhance motivation to begin the change process.