About Emily Green, Psy.D.
I have been fortunate enough to receive rich and diverse clinical training while working towards my doctorate (I received my Psy.D. from Ferkauf Gradaute School of Psychology in the Bronx, NY) and in the years since. The majority of my experience has been with at-need, underserved populations, which has provided me with deep understanding of the diversity (and resiliency) of the human experience. I’ve worked with college students at a local university, in an outpatient clinic for women with both trauma and substance abuse histories, and at a city hospital on both inpatient and outpatient units. Working with folks with varying severity of mental health from all different life circumstances has been deeply meaningful and important to me; I don’t doubt it has made me a stronger and more adept clinician.
In 2018, I moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a job at a practice serving D.C. police officers and their families. It was here I learned more than anything the toxicity of mental health stigma, particularly amongst men and ethnic-minority communities, and how that stigmatization not only keeps people from getting help but in fact makes their suffering worse. When we think we are not allowed to feel how we feel, that the only way to deal with our pain is to ignore it, shut it up, even drink it away, we add an extra layer of torment that can crush us under its weight. The power of helping someone find a genuine sense of freedom from how their thoughts and feelings have controlled them only energizes me to continue this work.
Whether you are a long-time therapy consumer, or someone who never thought you’d take this step, I’m looking forward to helping you figure out where you have gotten stuck and how to take back your life.
Therapeutic Approaches
Compassionate, Science-backed treatment that works.
My approach to treatment recognizes that one size does not fit all when it comes to therapy. It is my job as a clinician to work with you, the client, as a team, to determine the best course of action in helping you work towards your therapy goals.
My work is grounded first and foremost in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT. ACT is a behavioral and cognitive approach to treatment which focuses on helping clients work towards a life of meaning and value, whatever that may look like for them. ACT recognizes that this doesn’t mean stopping our uncomfortable thoughts and feelings (this proves to not work so well) but rather being open and willing to stop fighting with our internal experience and just letting it be present. Adaptive and flexible, ACT is evidence-based (Thank you, Science!), and most importantly it is effective- it just works.
Often times in our pain there is incredibly useful information about what's important to us. As humans, we have evolved to move away from physical pain, to escape it: and for most types of pain, those methods work! But for emotional pain, avoidance not only doesn’t get rid of our pain and suffering, it often amplifies it. In discovering how each individual client finds meaning in their lives, we ground ourselves in the willingness to walk toward our pain, rather than away from it. It is in this space that we the motivation to work towards healing and meaningful change.
For more information on ACT, click here.
Other evidence-based modalities used include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Cognitive Processing Theory (CPT)
Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)
Attachment-based Therapy
Cultural Competence vs Cultural Humility
Our cultural background can significantly shape our experiences, how we have moved through the world, and how the world perceives us. As a therapist it is imperative that I let you guide me on what your background means to you and how it informs the way you experience your symptoms, how you've grown up thinking about mental health, or how you process emotions in general. It is not my job to guide you to an outcome that is right for me, or in line with my values, but rather to be guided by your expertise on YOU. I can't walk a day in your shoes, but I can listen openly and nonjudgmentally about what your experience in your own shoes has been.
As a clinician I have moved away from labeling myself as a “Culturally Competent” therapist, which implies that another person’s culture is something that as a therapist I can master or fully understand, a goal I can reach and claim. This has led me instead to a process-based approach to understanding those different from me, known as Cultural humility. Cultural humility implies that I cannot “know” your experience of the world but I can stand willing and open to learning from you about your identity and experience. I vow to acknowledge my own privilege and stay committed to not allowing that privilege to color my perspective of you and your needs. My hope is that through this process we can build a trust needed to dive into the most vulnerable parts of yourself, and in turn get you the best results in treatment.
