About · Emily Pierce, LPC-A, LCMHC-A

Anxiety, OCD, and trauma all teach you to avoid. Treatment teaches you it’s safe to stop.

I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate specializing in OCD, anxiety, panic, body-focused repetitive behaviors, and trauma, using structured, evidence-based treatment rather than open-ended talk therapy.

Book a consultation See my approaches
Emily Pierce, LPC-A, LCMHC-A

Introduction

Hi, I’m Emily

If you feel stuck in intrusive thoughts, constant worry, panic that arrives without warning, urges you can’t seem to interrupt, or patterns that don’t respond to traditional talk therapy, you’re not alone. Many of the people I work with are highly motivated and capable, and still feel caught in cycles that are genuinely difficult to break on their own.

I use evidence-based approaches, including Exposure and Response Prevention, EMDR, interoceptive exposure, Habit Reversal Training, CBT, and DBT skills, to help you respond differently to thoughts, emotions, urges, and physical sensations in a way that creates real, lasting change.

The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.

My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and structured, so you don’t just talk about what’s happening. You learn how to move forward.

Professional development

Training and credentials

I have completed advanced, specialized training in the leading treatments for OCD, anxiety, panic, body-focused repetitive behaviors, and trauma.

  • Certified Ex/RP Therapist through the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA)
  • Intensive EMDR training through an EMDRIA-approved program
  • Trained in interoceptive exposure for panic and feared physical sensations
  • Trained in Habit Reversal Training for trichotillomania, excoriation, and related body-focused repetitive behaviors
  • Advanced training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

I am also the author of Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD: A Clinician’s Treatment Manual , written to help other therapists deliver ERP with confidence.

These approaches are considered gold-standard treatments for the concerns I treat.

Clinical focus

  • OCD and intrusive thoughts
  • Anxiety, panic, and health anxiety
  • Hair pulling, skin picking, and body-focused behaviors
  • Trauma and PTSD

My work is focused and specialized so that you receive the most effective treatment available for what you’re actually dealing with.

What it’s like to work with me

  • Structured and goal-oriented
  • Collaborative and transparent
  • Focused on real-world progress

Clients often describe my style as supportive and direct. I’ll meet you with compassion while also helping you challenge the patterns keeping you stuck. You won’t just talk about your struggles. You’ll learn to respond to them differently.

Methods

Evidence-based approaches

Research-supported treatments that move you out of stuck patterns, each tailored to your specific needs.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

The gold-standard treatment for OCD and anxiety. ERP helps you gradually face feared thoughts and situations while reducing the compulsions that keep the cycle running, so you regain a sense of control and freedom.

For OCD & anxiety

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a highly effective approach for processing trauma and distressing experiences so they no longer feel overwhelming or intrusive in daily life.

For trauma & PTSD

Interoceptive exposure

Panic often centers on the body itself: a racing heart, dizziness, breathlessness. Interoceptive exposure works directly with those feared sensations rather than around them, so you stop fearing anxiety itself.

For panic & health anxiety

Habit Reversal Training

A structured approach for hair pulling, skin picking, and related behaviors. We build awareness of your specific urges and triggers, develop a competing response you can use in the moment, and reduce the shame that keeps these behaviors hidden.

For body-focused behaviors

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT helps you identify and shift the unhelpful thought patterns that feed anxiety, stress, and emotional distress, with practical between-session work that builds momentum.

Foundational

DBT-informed skills

DBT provides concrete tools for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and navigating difficult situations and relationships more effectively.

Skills-based

Let’s get started

You don’t have to stay stuck

Reaching out can feel like a big step, but you don’t have to figure this out on your own. The first step is a consultation where we discuss what’s been going on and decide together whether this approach is the right fit.

Book a consultation

A short consultation is the simplest way to see whether ERP, EMDR, or another approach is the right starting point.

Open the client portal

In-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna. Out-of-network benefits supported through Thrizer, with CareCredit financing available.