Emily McNamara, Ph.D.

My Approach:

I work from an integrative perspective, drawing primarily on principles from acceptance and commitment therapy, psychodynamic relational therapy, and attachment theory to help you tune inward to better understand your relationship with yourself and those around you. I have experience conducting evidence-based treatments including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), cognitive processing therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), psychodynamic therapy, compassion focused therapy, and emotionally-focused couples therapy. I take a person-centered approach to care, viewing you as the expert on yourself and the therapy space as a place to build awareness of your own internal conflicts, dilemmas, thoughts, feelings, and actions to create change. I listen closely to help you identify your personal goals and values, and join you actively in the room to bring about growth and change, so that together we can decide how you can take steps to move closer to what matters to you. My wish is to create a warm and nurturing therapy space, meeting you where you are, so you can feel cared for and seen by me in the present moment. Using this integrative approach, I have experience helping adults struggling with anxiety, trauma, depression, grief and loss, relationship and intimacy issues, major life transitions, chronic health problems, identity issues, perfectionism, obsessive and compulsive traits, and personality disorders.

Professional Background:

I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University, where I also received a master’s degree in General Psychology. Prior to this I graduated cum laude from Williams College with my bachelors degree, majoring in Psychology. Before joining MPPS, I worked at Montefiore Medical Center where I provided outpatient individual, group, and couples therapy as well as inpatient therapy to support patients during their hospital stay. I also previously worked at NYU’s Family Military Center in Manhattan, providing trauma-focused individual therapy and emotionally-focused couples therapy to veterans and their partners, and worked at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, serving the LGBTQIA+ community and providing DBT, ACT, and psychodynamic therapy to individuals with personality disorders, anxiety, depression, and chronic medical conditions. While at Temple University, I worked as a clinician in Temple’s Psychological Services Center, providing individual and group therapy to the North Philadelphia community, as well as Temple’s Adult Anxiety Clinic, providing adults with CBT for social anxiety disorder. My graduate research focused on optimizing adult anxiety disorder treatments, and my dissertation examined the relationship between social media use, loneliness, and social anxiety.