Emily Passik, LMHC, SEP, Senior Clinician, Clinical Trainee Program & Clinical Supervisor
Emily Passik (she/her) completed the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at SUNY New Paltz, where she initially received foundational training in the practice of music therapy. She believes that channeling the power of the creative arts enables one the capacity to cathartically give voice to implicit experiences that otherwise might go unexpressed.
As a clinician, she champions the natural human inclination towards resilience and encourages clients to tap into this reservoir by emphasizing each individual’s unique strengths and holding space for radical authenticity. She recognizes the incredible potential for empathic understanding to redefine the relative safety and scope of personal relationships and highlights this element within the overarching view of the healing process. Emily values the therapeutic alliance as a core mechanism for change and seeks to implement a highly collaborative approach in her work by emphasizing the autonomy of the client and the goals they genuinely wish to achieve. She operates from a therapeutic stance of curiosity, compassion, and non-judgment.
Emily practices primarily from a psychodynamic/relational orientation, weaving in additional modalities such as parts work, somatic experiencing, creative arts therapies, and play therapy. She holds certifications in child-centered and synergetic play therapies, while currently pursuing a registered play therapist certification and training in EMDR. She is a Somatic Experiencing practitioner and assists with the local chapter of the training. Emily is currently approved to offer individual personal SE education sessions at the beginning level.
Apart from being a psychotherapist, Emily is also a clinical supervisor and supervisor of the clinical trainee program at MPG. She facilitates weekly group and individual supervision at the practice, and recruits, interviews, writes curriculum, teaches, trains, and guides the learning process for graduate student interns. Emily strongly believes in supporting the development of future generations of new clinicians, providing them with a stable foundation to build flourishing careers and be able to contribute meaningfully to the field of counseling.
Her past therapeutic endeavors include work with children, adolescents, adults, and groups of various kinds. Emily specializes in navigating issues related to anxiety, depression, traumatic experiences, self-esteem, life transitions, grief, and interpersonal conflict. She is committed to bringing an anti-oppressive and anti-racist framework to all of her roles, and to holding others within a holistic, intersectional context of being.
