Therapy specialties
Our clinicians are trained across the evidence-based approaches that work for kids, teens, and families.
Pick a specialty to learn how it works, when it's used, and what to expect.
Talk therapy & cognitive approaches
Work with thoughts, feelings, and behaviors directly.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Reframe unhelpful thoughts and build coping skills. Best for anxiety, depression, and behavior patterns your child can learn to interrupt.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness skills. Especially helpful for teens with intense emotions, mood swings, or self-harm risk.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Make space for hard feelings instead of fighting them, then act on what matters. Useful when anxiety or low mood is getting in the way of school, friendships, or sport.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Talk to the parts of you that need to be heard. Helps teens and young adults make peace with the protective and wounded parts of themselves.
Solution Focused
Short-term, solution-oriented work. Focuses on what's already working and what one small change could shift, instead of digging into the past.
Trauma-focused approaches
Process difficult experiences without re-living them.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
Process trauma using bilateral stimulation (eye movements or tapping). Effective for kids and teens with PTSD, single-event trauma, or persistent distressing memories.
Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT)
The gold-standard trauma protocol for kids. Combines parent and child sessions to process traumatic experiences and rebuild a sense of safety, gradually.
Brainspotting
Trauma processing through eye position cues. Bypasses the talking layer of the brain, works well when a memory feels too painful or hard to put into words.
Expressive & relational approaches
Connection and creativity as the path to healing.
Play Therapy
Kids process feelings through play, not words. For younger children who don't yet have the vocabulary or developmental capacity for talk therapy.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
Live coaching for parents during play sessions with their child. Designed for kids ages 2-7 with disruptive behaviors, attention challenges, or anxiety.
Family Therapy
Work on patterns and dynamics together. Helpful when the same issue keeps showing up, a teen's mood, a sibling conflict, a parenting tension, and the system needs the change.
Art Therapy
When words don't fit, the work is visual. For kids and teens who express themselves better through drawing, painting, or sculpting than through talking.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Anxiety, stress, sleep, and racing thoughts, built around mindfulness practices. Teaches kids to notice what's happening inside without getting overwhelmed by it.
Evidence-Based Treatment Methods
Our clinicians are trained in therapy methods proven to work for kids and teens, including CBT, Problem-Solving Therapy, and Behavioral Parent Training. When medication is part of the plan, we prescribe safe, non-controlled options like SSRIs and SNRIs. Care is goal-oriented, and families see clear progress along the way.
Every Emora clinician must demonstrate direct clinical experience working with children and adolescents in at least one of the following settings. This ensures providers understand the developmental, behavioral, and family dynamics unique to youth mental healthcare — not just adult therapy adapted for younger patients.
Why Our Vetting Process is Different
Credentials aren't enough. We select for specialization. Every provider has direct experience with kids, teens, or young adults. We look for advanced training in methods like EMDR, Play Therapy, DBT, and TF-CBT, and we pay certified providers more to keep the best ones on staff.
Supervision and clinical oversight are built in. Our Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners practice under the supervision of board-certified psychiatrists. Our treatment approach is evidence-based and goal-oriented — families receive clear progress tracking, not open-ended care with no benchmarks.
Independent verification, not marketing claims. Every credential listed on our platform can be independently verified through the state licensing boards linked below. Our LegitScript Healthcare Certification is validated by an independent third party. And our research partnership with the Child Mind Institute reflects our commitment to advancing the evidence base for youth mental healthcare.
Many of our therapists hold at least one advanced certification beyond their state licensure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions parents ask about therapy approaches.
You don't need to know, that's our job. During the first session, your clinician evaluates your child's needs, goals, and developmental stage, then recommends the approach (or combination) most likely to help. The right approach often shifts over time, and we adjust as we go.
Yes. Every modality we offer, CBT, DBT, PCIT, TF-CBT, EMDR, play therapy, family therapy, and the rest, has peer-reviewed research supporting its use for children, teens, and young adults. We don't offer modalities that lack clinical evidence.
Absolutely. If you've already been recommended a specific approach (by a pediatrician, school counselor, or previous provider), let us know during intake and we'll match you with a clinician trained in that modality. If you're not sure, we'll guide the choice together.
Yes, we offer TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused CBT, the gold-standard trauma approach for children), EMDR, and Brainspotting. Your clinician will recommend the right fit based on your child's age, the nature of the trauma, and what feels most comfortable.
Conditions are what your child is experiencing (anxiety, ADHD, depression). Approaches are how we help, the techniques and frameworks our clinicians use. Most conditions can be treated with multiple approaches; the right one depends on your child's age, preferences, and the specific challenge.
All approaches listed here are billed under standard mental-health CPT codes, which are covered by most major U.S. insurance plans. Run a real-time benefits check on your plan at /cost-estimate to see your exact copay and any prior-auth requirements before booking.
Find a clinician trained in the right approach.
Tell us what's going on. We'll match your child with a clinician trained in the modality that fits, usually within 48 hours, with insurance verified before your first session.
