Emily Strang, Ph.D.
Hi there!
I grew up on the other side of Sam’s Gap in Kingsport, TN. I have lived many places pursuing my education and launching my career. But, I was called back to the Blue Ridge Mountains and work to serve our community.
My Training
I am a licensed Psychologist (NC #6148) and a member of the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. I received my BS in Psychology and Neuroscience from Duke University. I have a Master’s degree from Brandeis University in Experimental Psychology.
I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at University of Missouri- St. Louis. I completed my internship and residency as a generalist and trauma-focused therapist for military Veterans and their families. I then spent 6 years as a therapist for combat Veterans, Veterans who experienced sexual trauma during their service, and active duty Air Force servicemembers.
My Approach
First and foremost, I focus on providing an emotion focused, interpersonal process approach with my clients. This means that I see our relationship as a foundational tool for change. The therapeutic alliance is a relationship like no other. Together, we run a laboratory to experiment with new ways of communicating, expressing, challenging, negotiating, and clarifying. We are also always on the hunt for activated emotions, so we can label and process them as they surface. Within this kind of relationship, you can clock and change painful longstanding patterns you have experienced in your relationships with others and yourself.
Within this highly attuned therapeutic relationship, I specialize in incorporating targeted, evidence-based therapies for specific symptom clusters or challenges (e.g. CBT for mood/anxiety, PE for trauma-related symptoms, IBCT for couples). We will also likely examine how your experience as a child, in your family of origin, impacts you today.
I work with adults in individual therapy and intimate partners in couple’s therapy. Check out the “Therapy Services” tab for more.
What’s in a name?
I’ve named my practice Bold Moves Behavioral Health. Why an emphasis on action in my name? For us to make significant changes in our lives—stopping a problem behavior, revolutionizing your relationship with yourself, setting and holding boundaries— we must experiment, “try on,” and do change.
We can pretty much do 3 things: think, feel, act. Thinking is an amazing tool for us, and yet we are preprogrammed to get lost and stuck in the Thinking Woods when pain is involved. We analyze and reanalyze in a good faith effort to stop our pain, move past, or change. But, rarely can we heal just using our head. It takes effortful emotional processing (feeling the feelings) and changes in behavior.
We have to do change by leaning into things like processing a previously unfelt emotion, confronting what has been avoided, learning new skills, and practicing the new behavior. On top of all this, in therapy, you are challenged to open up and trust someone else to be your guide. This life-changing work is effortful and can feel unmooring and scary... That’s why these moves you’re about to make are bold. And I will be with you every step of the way.
Waiting area, just outside my office