Emily Francis, LCSW

I provide affirming, trauma-informed therapy for queer, neurodivergent, and emotionally sensitive adults seeking deeper healing and self-understanding.

Hi! I’m Emily (she/her), a queer and neurodivergent Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in Chicago. I started this practice because I believe therapy should be a space where you are not just analyzed or pathologized, but welcomed for all that you are. My hope is to create an environment of trust and safety where you can share parts of yourself that have felt unseen, silenced, or burdened by shame for too long.

My approach is rooted in relational healing, parts work (IFS-informed), attachment-focused therapy, and gentle mind-body awareness. Therapy with me is trauma-informed, emotionally focused, collaborative, and strengths-based. Together, we may explore childhood experiences, early relationships, emotional patterns, beliefs about yourself, and the protective parts that developed to help you survive painful experiences. We will compassionately work toward greater self-understanding, emotional balance, and more authentic connection with yourself and others.

I often work well with clients who identify as queer, neurodivergent, highly sensitive, introspective, creatively-minded, or spiritually curious. I also enjoy working with other therapists, helping professionals, and caregivers who spend much of their lives supporting others while struggling to make space for their own emotional needs. Many of my clients come to therapy feeling emotionally overwhelmed, disconnected from themselves, stuck in painful relationship patterns, or exhausted from masking, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or chronic self-criticism.

I earned my Master’s in Social Work from Erikson Institute, where I focused on trauma-informed care, child development, and attachment. Prior to starting my private practice, I supported children, teens, adults, and families across outpatient, school-based, and higher levels of care including PHP/IOP settings. Alongside my clinical work, I have also provided reflective supervision for provisionally licensed therapists.

Therapy is not about “fixing” who you are. It’s about creating enough safety, curiosity, and compassion to better understand yourself and move toward the life and relationships you want to build.