Not too long ago, I thought I had my life pretty figured out. Then, like a flash of lightning, life handed me my real training. 

Before becoming a therapist, I spent 14 years in Early Childhood Education — teaching, leading, guiding tiny humans through big feelings — and I loved it. I didn’t know it then, but helping preschoolers advocate for themselves and resolve conflict with their peers was foreshadowing: the early roots of the therapist I would eventually become. 

And then life handed me my real training.

Motherhood cracked me open in ways I never saw coming — the highest highs braided with postpartum depression, anxiety, identity whiplash, and the realization that love can stretch you paper-thin. Not long after, I found myself raising a brilliant, highly-spirited, neurodivergent kiddo alongside my spouse. Learning about neurodivergence was like putting on glasses for the first time; suddenly the dynamics between my son, my partner, and myself came into sharp focus.

That clarity changed me. It humbled me. And it called me forward.

Eventually, I felt the pull: I wanted to help other families, other couples, other humans walking through the same storms. So I did the terrifying thing — I left the career I’d built and began again.

In July 2023, I started my Marriage and Family Therapy training at the Denver Family Institute. There, I sat with clients whose stories reminded me of my own… and with clients whose stories were nothing like mine. And through it all, I discovered something important:
I don’t show up as an expert above people — I show up as a human beside them.

I’ve lived the intensity of relationships, identity shifts, grief, parenting, neurodiversity, and the beautifully messy spectrum of emotions we all carry. That humanity isn’t baggage — it’s the ground I stand on. It’s what lets me meet my clients with empathy, curiosity, and respect for their whole story.

This space is about you, not me — but my lived experience means I don’t sit across from you pretending to be untouched by life. I sit with you as a fellow traveler, someone who knows what it feels like to unravel… and rebuild.

I’m Emma Lewallen, MA, MFTC (she/her), and I’m honored you’re here.