Caring for the people who care for everyone else.

About me

Emily R Kelly, PhD, RN

My name is Emily (she/her pronouns). My professional journey began in 2006 when I got my first job as a registered nurse, working in oncology at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). I worked the night shift caring for people going through hematopoietic stem cell transplant. I loved that job. Don't get me wrong, it was also really hard - at times soul-crushingly so. Despite the challenges, I felt that the work I was doing was important, in a way that transcended the paycheck. I listened as people told me their life story, including their greatest accomplishments and deepest fears. I advocated for people who struggled to navigate the complex healthcare environment. I literally held people's hands as they took their last breath. It was beautiful, it was hard, it was meaningful.

As time progressed, I began to feel tired, emotionally. Sometimes it took a few days following my last string of shifts to fully recover my energy. I started to dread going to work and felt like I was just trying to make it to the end of shift. I still cared deeply about my work and the colleagues I worked with, but it started to feel different. I noticed that it felt as if I didn't have the capacity to care in the same way that I did previously, I just didn't have as much to give. In retrospect, I can see that toward the end of my time working there I was likely experiencing some amount of what would now be called burnout.

I eventually left my role at UWMC and continued my professional journey, including a stint as a school nurse at an international school in Europe, obtaining a master's degree in nursing education, becoming certified as a healthcare simulation educator, and working in a university health clinic.

In all these spaces I continued to observe my healthcare colleagues struggle to maintain their own health while caring for others, often working in systems that prioritized efficiency and cost savings over and above employee wellbeing. I was curious about what contributed to this dynamic and what, if anything, could be done about it.

This curiosity eventually led to me to clinical psychology. Throughout my doctorate I relentlessly tailored my education to focus on the wellbeing of people working in healthcare and human-service professions, while also training in health and rehabilitation psychology settings. I completed practicum training in a family medicine residency primary care clinic doing primary care behavioral health, at an inpatient and outpatient physical rehabilitation unit, and an outpatient neuropsychology practice. I then completed my doctoral internship in the Behavioral Medicine track within the University of Washington School of Medicine, where I completed rotations at Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Medical Center - Montlake. My dissertation examined the relationships between recovery, sleep quality, and burnout among acute care nurses and pilot-tested an intervention to reduce burnout among this same population.

With my experience as a nurse and my training in clinical psychology, my singular goal is to empower people - especially healthcare clinicians - to cultivate their own wellbeing and confidently engage in meaningful, values-aligned living.

Services & Fees

Practical support, shaped around you.

I currently offer two pathways for working with me. The first is a more traditional psychotherapy approach, and the second is a more preventative, health-promotion approach. Both pathways begin with a 90-minute intake, in which we both get to know one another and assess if there is a good fit, and I learn more about your goals, background, and current concerns. We will collaboratively decide which pathway is most appropriate for your individual needs and goals.

I primarily use cognitive behavioral strategies, grounded in the evidence-based treatments of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I lean toward a more brief, solution- or problem-oriented approach in which we collaboratively work on progress toward specific goals, while leaving open the option to extend or elaborate our work as needed. My hope for our time together is that at some point you feel you no longer need to work with me because you are seeing the growth and change that you were looking for. I also firmly respect your time and financial commitment, which motivates me to be as efficient with our time as possible, while allowing you the time and space that feels right for you on this journey.

Contact

Let's see if we're a good fit.