Emily McBay

Emily McBay is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 13 years of experience. She left a first career interest in meteorology to follow a path helping people navigate hard moments. Emily values family, travel, animals, and simple joys, and brings that down-to-earth perspective to her work.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master’s degree in Counseling and Psychology from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a concentration in Family and Forensics. Early in her career she provided counseling in correctional settings and worked with students and families at a university and in a treatment center. Today she sees a diverse range of people through a local nonprofit in Florida.

Emily helps people facing anxiety, depression, stress, career questions, relationship and parenting challenges, trauma and abuse, and issues with motivation and self-esteem. She also works with caregiver strain, addiction-related concerns, ADHD, and midlife or life-purpose questions. Practical problems like communication, commitment worries, infertility stress, and isolation are also in her focus areas.

Her style is person-centered and integrative. She uses techniques from cognitive behavioral approaches, acceptance and commitment ideas, attachment-focused work, and dialectical skills when helpful. Sessions aim to be collaborative and goal-directed, with the client’s needs steering the plan.

Emily is based in Florida and works in English. She frames therapy as a joint effort - she will offer support, coaching, and direction, while patients set goals and drive the change they want.

How Emily’s approaches translate to online support

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice hard thoughts without getting stuck and focuses on taking actions that match personal values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns affect current connection and trust, and it can help with intimacy, family problems, and codependency. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns; it is often used for anxiety, mood issues, and coping skills.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what has or hasn’t helped before. Together they will try methods that seem likely to fit and adjust as needed so the plan matches real life and real concerns.

Confirm current session options before booking, as formats are not specified here. Many people find online sessions help fit therapy into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, reduce travel time, and make it easier to schedule around work or caregiving. Online work also supports using tools like worksheets, behavioral experiments, and skills practice between meetings so progress can continue outside sessions.