Emily Lemke, LCSW-C
Trauma Therapist, Consultant, & Mentor in Maryland, Virginia, & Beyond
Emily Lemke, LCSW-C
Trauma Therapist, Consultant, & Mentor
Licensed Clinical Social Worker — Clinical (LCSW-C), Maryland (#30795)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Virginia (#0904020366)
EMDRIA Trained in EMDR
Certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Primary modalities: IFS, EMDR, polyvagal theory, attachment-based and relational frameworks
Clinical background: community mental health, residential treatment, mobile crisis, inpatient psychiatric units, psychiatric emergency intake
Clinical team leader and mentor across multiple settings
Hi! I’m Emily. I’m so glad you’re here.
I've spent my entire career in rooms where the work was hard and the stakes were real.
I didn't become a therapist because it seemed meaningful in the abstract. I became a therapist because of the people — the specific, complicated, extraordinary people who let me into their lives and trusted me with their most difficult experiences.
That has never gotten old.
About Me
I'm a trauma therapist with a practice based in Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, built around complex trauma, attachment, and the cases that require more than a standard clinical approach.
Before private practice, I worked in some of the most challenging clinical environments: community mental health, residential treatment, mobile crisis, inpatient psychiatric units, and psychiatric emergency intake. In every one of those settings, I held formal and informal leadership roles. I was a clinical team leader. The person newer therapists came to with their hardest cases, their shakiest moments, and the questions they were too embarrassed to ask anyone else. I became that person not because I sought the title, but because I've always believed good clinical work should be shared, and that when you figure something out, you pass it on.
That instinct is still at the center of everything I do, whether I'm sitting with a client in session, or consulting with a therapist who's stuck on a complex case at 9pm.
Emily Lemke, LCSW-C
Maryland LCSW-C License #30795
Virginia LCSW License #0904020366
How I Work
What I Know About This Work
I have been the go-to clinician in every setting I have ever worked in.
In community mental health, residential treatment, mobile crisis, and inpatient psychiatry, colleagues came to me. Newer therapists came to me with their hardest cases, their crisis situations, their ethical dilemmas, the sessions they kept replaying on the drive home. I provided formal clinical leadership and the kind of informal mentorship that doesn't show up on an org chart but shapes how an entire team practices.
That didn't stop when I moved into private practice. If anything, it followed me here — which is why therapist mentoring and case consultation are now a formal part of what I offer.
My private practice carries a full caseload with a consistent waitlist, and I'm currently accepting a limited number of new clients and consultation clients. The work moves because I know how to find what's actually blocking it.
If you're a client: you are not too much, your history is not too complicated, and you will not be passed along to someone else. I take on the cases that matter.
If you're a therapist: I have been exactly where you are, and I know what it takes to get to the other side of it.
My Approach
My primary frameworks are IFS (Internal Family Systems) and EMDR, and I specialize in integrating the two, including through IFS-EMDR intensive sessions, which allow for deeper, accelerated trauma processing for clients who are ready to do substantial work. I also draw on polyvagal theory, DBT, TF-CBT, and attachment-based and relational approaches depending on what each client needs.
But the framework is never the whole story.
I believe the therapeutic relationship is the single most powerful and valuable element in this work. Clients don't heal because a therapist executed the right intervention at the right moment. They heal because they finally felt safe enough to let the work in. I take that seriously in every session.
My style is warm, direct, and real. I use humor. I show up as a person, not a blank slate. And I bring serious clinical skill to every case I take on.
Who I Work With
Therapists
Throughout my entire career, other clinicians have sought me out — for case consultation, for a second opinion, for someone who would tell them the truth about what they were seeing and what to do next.
I've formalized that into three offerings:
Therapist Mentoring & Clinical Coaching — for therapists at any stage who want to build real, practical clinical skills. If you feel stuck in sessions, uncertain in your instincts, or like something is missing that your graduate training didn't give you, this is for you. Open to therapists at any licensure level.
Individual Case Consultation — for licensed clinicians navigating a specific complex case: attachment trauma, IFS, parts work, adolescents, self-harm, suicidality, the client who has seen many therapists and is still stuck. Bring the case that's keeping you up at night. This is not supervision. Available virtually to licensed clinicians nationwide.
Group Consultation — ongoing consultation groups for therapists building skill and confidence in complex trauma work alongside peers.
Book a free 15-minute consultation as a therapist who wants to grow and learn →
Clients
I work with adults and teenagers in Maryland via telehealth statewide, in Virginia via telehealth, and in person in Rockville. I navigate and facilitate healing for complex trauma, cPTSD, attachment wounds, anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidality, and presentations that feel too layered to put into words on an intake form.
Teenagers hold a particular place in my practice. They are one of the most misunderstood populations in mental health — often labeled as resistant or difficult, when what they actually are is waiting to see if you're going to be another adult who doesn't follow through. I've spent years learning how to earn that trust, and I don't take it lightly.
I offer three ways to do this work together, depending on what you need:
Individual Trauma Therapy — weekly sessions using an integrated IFS and EMDR approach, in person in Rockville or via telehealth throughout Maryland and Virginia.
IFS-EMDR Intensives — for clients who are ready to move faster than a weekly hour allows. Half-day, full-day, and multi-day formats offer uninterrupted time to go deep and move through substantial trauma processing in a way weekly therapy often can't reach. Available in person in Rockville (non-Maryland residents are welcome to travel in) or virtually for Maryland and Virginia residents.
Ketamine-Assisted EMDR — for clients whose trauma, anxiety, or depression hasn't fully resolved through standard EMDR or talk therapy alone. KA-EMDR pairs EMDR reprocessing with a low, medically monitored dose of ketamine, offered in partnership with Avesta Ketamine and Wellness. Available in person in Rockville. See out-of-network cost estimates →
See all services → | Book a free 15-minute client consultation →
You're in the right place.
Whether you're a client who has been searching for the right therapist, or a therapist who has been searching for someone who actually gets it — I'm glad you're here.