About Emily

Hey there, I'm Emily.

Long time therapist turned author, facilitator, and professional threshold enthusiast.

I'm a former trauma therapist, author, creator of
The Self-Trust Model™, host of The Self-Trust Podcast,
and facilitator of deeply personal retreats and immersions.

Those are just the
things I've done…

Emily standing in an arched doorway in a flowing floral dress
Emily laughing in an armchair, holding a mug of tea

But who I am?

That's a much more interesting (and continually evolving) conversation.

I'm a woman who believes the magic of life lives in the thresholds – even when it feels like the “messy middle”. And I've spent much of my life exploring what happens when we stop looking outside ourselves for the answers and start learning to trust the person we've been all along.

Welcome to my little corner of the world. Grab a mug of tea…

I'm so glad you're here.

I've lived a few lives. And I'm not done becoming.

I've been a therapist, a world traveler, a woman who spent decades unsure if motherhood was for her, a nomad, a “Maddy”, and now a mother who sometimes still can't believe this is her life.

I've wandered through foreign cities, climbed mountains, and found some of my greatest moments of clarity far from home, usually somewhere in nature.

I've known profound grief. I've fallen deeply in love. I've made decisions that changed the entire trajectory of my life and said goodbye to futures I once imagined for myself.

And through every version of my life, friendship has been one of my greatest loves. The women who've shared adventures, witnessed my becoming, and reminded me that even the most personal journeys don't have to be traveled alone.

Through it all, I've learned that the most meaningful changes rarely arrive with certainty.

Sometimes they begin with a quiet knowing that something needs to shift.

Sometimes they ask us to let go of a life we love to make room for one we can't yet imagine.

And sometimes we don't recognize how much we've changed until we look back.

Emily hiking a narrow ridge trail high above a red rock canyon Emily laughing with two friends in a pink-lit room Emily resting on a wooden bench beside a river in a pine forest Emily smiling in the driver's seat of her travel car, clothes hanging in the back, trees through the sunroof The long shadows of a family holding hands on a hilltop path Emily crouched on the rocks beside a rushing river, smiling Hand shadows spelling L-O-V-E against a pale wall Emily, pregnant, smiling with her husband against a brick wall Emily and two friends laughing together in a kitchen

From therapist to Self-Trust creator. The work has evolved. The curiosity hasn't.

For more than 13 years, I worked as a trauma therapist, helping people understand themselves, their patterns, and the experiences that shaped them.

I loved the depth of that work. And over time, I began to notice something.

People arrived in my office for all kinds of reasons. Different stories, different struggles, different words to describe what was happening in their lives.

But underneath so many of those stories, I kept finding the same thing.

They didn't trust themselves.

They didn't trust their feelings, their decisions, their ability to navigate uncertainty, or their capacity to handle whatever came next.

And I became endlessly curious about what might be possible if they did.

That curiosity became The Self-Trust Model™, a framework for navigating uncertainty, strengthening our relationship with ourselves, and making choices rooted in our own inner knowing.

Today, that work lives through my books, podcast, practitioner education, retreats, and Private Immersions.

Different experiences. Same underlying belief.

You can trust yourself.

And when you do… MAGIC is possible.

Emily at a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, arranging notes on a board
Emily against a brick wall, holding a tall stack of books
Emily laughing, holding a book in a pink-lit room
  • 16+Years of experience(13+ as a trauma therapist)
  • 2Published books
  • 111+Podcast episodes

A little science. A little magic. And a whole lot of curiosity.

I'm both a skeptic and a profound believer in signs.

I love understanding the science behind why we do what we do. And I also love the moments that feel too meaningful to explain away.

I believe in nervous system regulation, parts work, somatic experiences, and the wisdom of the body.

I also believe in intuition, synchronicity, ritual, and the occasional perfectly timed message from the universe.

I don't think we have to choose between being grounded and being open to wonder.

Maybe that's why my work tends to live at the intersection of science, spirituality, and Self-Trust.

There's room for all of it here.

A hand holding an open compass engraved "go slow, get curious" over a field of heather
Emily standing at the edge of a canyon, mountains and a winding valley behind her
Emily smiling with her cheek pressed against the trunk of a giant redwood

The real teacher? Life itself.

I've summited mountains, traveled the world, sat with people through some of their hardest moments, and spent years studying what it means to be human.

But nothing has taught me more than my own lived experiences.

  • Grief has taught me about love.
  • Motherhood has taught me about surrender.
  • Nature has taught me about perspective.
  • And slowly unwinding my own fierce independence has taught me that receiving support can be its own kind of courage.

These days, I'm particularly fascinated by what happens when we allow ourselves to be both brave and kind.

With other people, yes.

But especially with ourselves.

A few things you should probably know about me. Beyond the professional bio.

  1. 01

    I'm a tea fanatic. Every morning begins with an English Breakfast tea latte, and if we spend enough time together, there's a very good chance I'll invite you into a tea ceremony.

  2. 02

    I'm an avid hiker, but I'll choose a quiet trail through the trees over a crowded fourteener almost every time.

  3. 03

    I'm a former nomad who still has a hard time choosing a favorite destination. (But if you absolutely insist, Japan.)

  4. 04

    I believe deeply in the healing power of snow, silence, and mountain air.

  5. 05

    I'm a 4/6 Splenic Manifestor in Human Design, which may explain a thing or two about my tendency to initiate new ideas.

  6. 06

    I'm also a wife, a mother, and a bonus mom (although my girls call me Maddy, and there's a whole story behind that).

  7. 07

    I still have dreams I haven't acted on, books I haven't written, and parts of myself I'm getting to know.

  8. 08

    And despite spending years teaching Self-Trust, I still occasionally overthink things.

Emily walking through a tunnel of vermilion torii gates in Japan

The things I've created. Different doorways into the same work.

Emily signing a copy of Can People Really Change? at a table of books

The Books

I'm the author of Can People Really Change? and You Can Trust Yourself, two books exploring the possibilities of growth, change, and building a more trusting relationship with yourself.

Explore the Books →
Emily smiling on a laptop video call, holding up her phone

The Self-Trust Podcast

Conversations about the messy, beautiful, sometimes wildly uncomfortable experience of being human.

Stories, science, personal reflections, and conversations with people who are finding their own ways to do The Thing.

Listen to the Podcast →
A retreat room set for a circle: yoga mats and folded blankets around a ring of flower petals, glass doors onto a garden

Retreats & Private Immersions

Intimate, intentionally designed experiences where deep inner work meets nature, beauty, nourishment, and the rare luxury of having someone else hold the details.

For women standing at thresholds and ready to explore what's next.

Explore the Experiences →

One last thing. You don't have to have it all figured out.

There's still a deeply personal book living inside me that hasn't quite been ready to become The Thing.

There are still thresholds I haven't crossed, dreams I haven't acted on, and moments when I need to remind myself of everything I teach.

I don't believe Self-Trust means always knowing the answer.

I believe it means building a relationship with yourself strong enough to navigate the moments when you don't.

And maybe that's the work of a lifetime.

With curiosity, Emily