Emari Smith

Hey there, I’m Emari! What’s therapy like with me? My belief is that the therapeutic relationship is one of the most important pieces of the work. We’ll take some time to get to know each other so you can feel safe to open up and be heard as we go through this process together. I approach therapy by meeting you where you’re at and working with your values and beliefs. Knowing our core values is so important—they’re like our personal GPS for navigating life’s toughest choices! My goal is to help you find your voice, discover who you are (and maybe even love who you are!), and remind you that you’ve got everything you need to create a meaningful, fulfilling life.

When life throws repeated challenges like pain, abuse, or instability, it can feel like you’re slowly losing a part of yourself or like you never really got the chance to figure out who you are in the first place. Those experiences can lead to negative beliefs about ourselves—feelings of shame, isolation, resentment, and more. Over time, it becomes harder to show ourselves compassion or trust ourselves to make decisions, and we can struggle to build deep, healthy relationships. But I’m here to remind you that YOU are deserving of more, and there’s so much more of you waiting to be seen and understood! My hope is to help you feel empowered by your choices and break free from those limiting patterns.

I’m especially passionate about working with Queer adults (17+), especially those with a history of trauma—whether it’s family trauma, abuse, betrayal, religious trauma, medical trauma, workplace struggles, discrimination, or surviving disasters. I also love supporting folks navigating college stress and life transitions. I have experience working with the disabled community and the AuDHD community, too. My style is pretty flexible—I pull from everything from person-centered therapy to existentialism to find what clicks best for you. I’m HAES-informed and trained in EMDR therapy (both the standard and Chronic Pain protocols).