Emma grew up on Long Island, moved to NYC to complete her education, and now resides in Queens. She attended CUNY Hunter College where she earned a degree in Psychology and also minored in Women and Gender Studies. Emma then continued her time at Hunter College and received her Master’s degree in Social work with a mental health focus. She takes immense pride in having her entire education from public schools in New York.

Before working at Refresh, Emma was a counselor at a residential summer camp for children and adolescents with developmental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. During her time at Hunter, Emma was a student research assistant. She worked on projects about adolescents’ perceptions of sexual consent and how Black women cope with discrimination. Both projects were then presented at a regional psychological conference. Emma previously worked as a care manager for adults with serious mental illness and chronic physical illness to assist in managing their healthcare.

As someone who has been a client before, Emma understands the strength it takes for people to ask for help and come to therapy. She uses this empathy in her therapeutic practice and takes a client-led approach to her treatment. Emma comes from a behavioral perspective but also thinks it is important to discuss previous relationships and past behaviors to understand the patterns which may be occurring. She employs skills from dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) to teach coping skills for clients to use outside of sessions. Emma’s clinical interests focus on anxiety, depression, trauma, chronic illness, family conflict, and relationship dynamics.

Emma utilizes self-care daily. She enjoys listening to podcasts, watching tv, cooking, exercising, and self-reflection. As a child, Emma always knew she wanted to move to NYC. She was drawn to the diversity of people and loves learning about other cultures. Volunteering and activism have always been important values to Emma. Her interests focus on voting, food insecurity, healthcare and educating others about mental health.