Emily Jones

Emily Jones (she/her) is passionate about helping individuals who are struggling with challenges related to trauma, life transitions, interpersonal concerns, and gender and sexuality. She provides individual counseling for tweens, teens, and adults, and has a unique clinical interest in working with individuals with the Highly Sensitive Person trait and with adolescents and young adults living with chronic illness. She also has experience helping clients navigate anxiety, depression, LGBTQIA+ issues, identity exploration, interpersonal conflict, and grief. 

In addition to traditional talk therapy, Emily offers Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA). 

She earned her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy from Appalachian State University, and still enjoys working with young adults and college students, especially those adjusting to new environments, major life changes, and academic stress.

Emily tailors her counseling approach to each individual based on their unique needs. She checks in with her clients throughout the counseling process and collaborates with them to adjust the course of counseling as needed. 

Emily’s primary approach to counseling is based in Person Centered Therapy and Feminist Theory, which means she believes each client is the expert in their own life. Emily provides psychoeducation as appropriate to help clients increase their understanding of their lived experience. This may include learning about why we respond the way we do to outside events and how the mind and body impact our feelings. She strives to demystify the counseling process and to empower her clients to join in making decisions about the course of therapy. She highlights themes of social justice and multicultural considerations in examining how external factors, such as societal and cultural norms and pressures, can impact each client’s experience. 

Emily wants her clients to know that Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA) is not about creating “good” art and no prior experience or skill in art is needed. All humans possess the innate capacity for creative expression. That could look like scribbling with oil pastels on paper to create distance and safety when examining an overwhelming feeling, creating a playlist of meaningful songs to aid in emotional regulation, or engaging in mindfulness practices to aid in grounding. EXA is applicable to a wide range of concerns and can be especially impactful for clients working through trauma. All expressive arts activities are offered as an invitation and clients are welcome to choose whether or not to engage with art making as they feel comfortable. 

Prior to entering the field of counseling, Emily worked as a teacher for over 7 years, working with students from kindergarten through high school and teaching subjects such as Dance, English, and Art. In her free time, Emily enjoys reading fantasy novels, cooking vegetarian meals, practicing yoga, hiking with her husband and dog, making art, and playing board games with friends.