Emily Roussard, LSWAIC Licensed Associate Clinical Social Worker

A woman with blonde hair and green eyes outdoors, wearing a light gray sweater over a navy blue top, smiling softly.

Philosophy and Approach

A glass sphere on sand at the beach reflects the sunset sky, with clouds and the sun visible on the horizon, and the sky displays warm colors.

A lot of people arrive in therapy convinced something is wrong with them. I tend to think the more interesting question is: wrong for what?

I look at the full picture — your nervous system, your history, your sleep, your environment, your workload — not just your symptoms. Neurodivergent traits like ADHD, autism, or sensory sensitivity are part of that picture, not problems to eliminate.

The work is about building capacity in ways that respect how you actually function.

My Specialties

Living room with a yellow couch, a pillow, an open MacBook, a gray sofa with a decorative pillow, a large indoor plant, and a window.

  • Long-term impacts of emotionally unsafe or invalidating environments, including patterns around self-trust, conflict, and survival.

  • Not just sadness. Depression often looks like flatness, exhaustion, disconnection, or going through the motions while feeling nothing. We look at what's underneath — not just symptoms, but sleep, nervous system load, relational patterns, and what might actually be depleting you.

  • Anxiety makes a lot of sense when you understand where it came from. Whether it shows up as overthinking, physical tension, people-pleasing, or never being able to fully relax, we work on understanding the function of it — not just turning the volume down.

  • When keeping it together has become its own full-time job

  • Patterns in how you connect, push away, or lose yourself in relationships.

  • Unlearning people-pleasing, over-functioning, or chronic self-doubt.

  • Working with older teens and young adults, with family dynamics taken into account when helpful.

  • When appropriate, I involve partners or parents to reduce conflict and build clearer communication — without assigning blame.

  • Polyamory, ethical non-monogamy, kink, and BDSM-involved relationships come with their own relational dynamics, communication demands, and stressors — and deserve a therapist who won't pathologize them. I work from a sex-positive, kink-affirming lens, whether you're navigating jealousy, communication breakdowns, identity, or the intersection of these relationships with trauma or attachment.

Work with Me