Emily Works, LMFT

I support those who are looking for a home, who are searching for love, and who are longing for family. I believe that therapy should feel like coming home. I seek to help those looking for a sense of home within themselves and within their community. I offer unconditional love to those who have never felt fully loved. And I dig deep to help you forge safe and trusting relationships. I'm here to support you in discovering your true, authentic self. Across the lifespan, we face struggles that make it difficult to connect with ourselves, communicate honestly with our loved ones, and know what we need. I help children, adolescents, adults, and families learn what they need and how to meet those needs. We all need to feel a sense of groundedness, safety, and home within ourselves and our relationships. For those of you who feel lost or like you have fallen behind, I support you in lovingly finding your way. I specialize in working with children, teens, adults and neurodivergent youth/adults struggling with anxiety, peer relationships, and family relationships. I provide child counseling and adult relationship counseling to those in Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, and the Tri-Valley area. I have worked with people from a wide variety of cultures and intersectional identities, and I adjust my therapeutic approach to advocate for my clients’ specific needs. As a queer, nonbinary, and neurodivergent therapist, I offer LGBTQ+ and neurodiversity affirming therapy to both children and adults. CHILDREN/TEENS I offer play therapy, sand tray therapy, expressive arts therapy, and family therapy to support a variety of needs: developmental, systemic, and generational trauma, depression, anxiety, challenges with relationships, attachment issues, challenges with parenting, and challenging behaviors. I also support parents in advocating for their unique child’s developmental, emotional, and learning needs. ADULTS I connect with your inner child to creatively guide you towards healing and wholeness. I view my role as therapist as that of a kind, safe, and curious collaborator. I follow your lead to help you nurture your strengths, develop emotional awareness, process trauma, and discover your authentic self. For those who are seeking healing through modalities other than individual talk therapy, I offer play therapy, sand tray therapy, expressive arts therapy, and family therapy tailored for adults. I also support late diagnosed and/or self-diagnosed neurodivergent adults on their journey of understanding and accepting their neurodivergence. ABOUT My passion for helping others grew from my 20 years of experience working with children and families. Since my first job working as a mother’s helper in Pleasanton (my hometown!) when I was in high school, I have loved working with kids and their families. In this role I luckily learned an important lesson early in life: accept neurodivergent children as they are unconditionally. After earning my bachelor’s degree, I worked as a nanny for several families, and then I became a group music and movement teacher for babies, toddlers, and their caregivers. I also taught private singing lessons to children and adults. I enjoyed connecting with families though music and caregiving, but I craved to leave a greater impact on the families I worked with. This led me to pursue a Masters in Clinical Psychology specializing in Child Studies, and I could not feel happier with my decision. I am a queer, nonbinary, and neurodivergent. I love supporting, queer, trans, and gender creative youth and adults, as well as neurodivergent and Autistic youth and adults. In addition to the fulfillment I experience in my work, I also turn to my creative endeavors to cultivate joy. I enjoy singing, dancing, reading for hours, hanging out with my cats, roller skating, baking vegan treats and rock climbing. I love to learn and grow. I’m currently learning to play the piano and building my knowledge and understanding of all things neurodivergent. EDUCATION Antioch University Los Angeles MA, Clinical Psychology - Child Studies Specialization - 2018 California State University Northridge Bachelor of Music, Vocal Arts – 2011