Staff

Emily T. Palmieri, Ph.D., M.S., Ed.S., LPC

Director

Education

I earned a B.S. in Psychology with minor in Industrial Design from N.C. State University followed by dual M.S. Ed.S. degrees in Couple and Family Therapy and Community Mental Health from UNC-Greensboro. After working as a mental health provider in community settings for years, I returned to school and earned my Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from UNC-Charlotte, focusing my dissertation work on the relationships between resilience, burnout, and gratitude practices in mental health counselors.

Office Role

As the Director of the Office of Respect, I provide holistic and comprehensive strategic leadership to ending sexual violence, including caring for our staff members, providing clinical direction and supervision, guiding educational approaches, and integrating prevention frameworks at Emory University. I also provide direct crisis support care to our community along with clinical consultation.

My Approach

While my primary role is no longer providing direct therapy or teaching in grad programs, over a decade of full-time experience as a therapist in community and higher education settings heavily informs my leadership of a confidential comprehensive sexual violence office, as well as a tried-and-true belief that joy and hope can exist alongside pain and suffering. I am a family systems and relational-cultural theorist, which means that I see everything as connected, with systems of power and oppression deeply interwoven into the human experience- as is hope and beauty. I have extensive training and experience in trauma therapy, including brainspotting as an intervention. I am also a preventionist at heart, a trained researcher and educator, and an intellectual optimist who believes whole-heartedly that we are always better when we provide sustainable support to one another as community members, and that, collectively, we can make the world a more compassionate and safer place in which all can thrive. This is the worldview that guides my strategic leadership of the Office of Respect.

Personal Interest

My cup is filled by playing with family (including my incredibly supportive husband of over a decade, pre-teen daughter, and two dogs), outdoor activities (mountain biking, trail running, kayaking, swimming, softball), DIY home projects, and listening to music.

Micaela Harris, MSW

Assistant Director for Sexual and Relationship Harm Prevention

Education

I am a master's level Social Worker who earned my MSW at the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor and my bachelor's in arts at Spelman College. I started my career in Kansas City, Missouri as sexual assault hospital/police advocate and sexual assault crisis line operator. After receiving my MSW, I led various prevention-based programs for k-12 youth. Since then, I transferred by skillset of working with k-12 youth to higher education institutes such as Spelman College and Emory University working with undergraduate and graduate populations.

Role

I currently serve as the Assistant Director of Sexual and Relationship Harm Prevention in the Office of Respect. In this role, I provide leadership to prevention education, working directly with student groups and campus partners who build and implement educational programming.

Approach

I care about providing students and community members with the information they need to create the change that they want to see in the world. I believe that creating a world free of sexual and relationship harm is a means to creating equity and dismantling oppression.

Personal

In her free time, Micaela enjoys reading, working on puzzles, and hiking with her beloved pup Hanna Banana.

Bethany Miller, MSW, LCSW

Counselor/Advocate

Education

I earned a B.A. in Psychology with honors and a double major in History from Wake Forest University followed by a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Violence and Injury Prevention and a specialization in System Dynamics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Office Role

I provide trauma-informed, direct support to students who have experienced sexual and/or relationship harm through crisis intervention and safety planning, options for counseling and advocacy to navigate campus and community systems and resources, and ongoing therapy.

Approach to Therapy

I approach therapy with attention to polyvagal, family systems, and relational-cultural theories. A proud social worker, I am always considering clients' experiences through systems theory, which acknowledges that no symptoms exist in a vacuum, and therapy can only be effective when it acknowledges the interplay of influences and circumstances in a person's life. Most of all, I enjoy building meaningful relationships in which clients feel truly seen, respected, and able to be present with all parts of themselves. I am trained in EMDR and brainspotting, two evidenced-based interventions for the treatment of trauma symptoms.

Louise Turner, MA, LPC

Counselor/Advocate

Education

I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Lincoln University of Missouri. While working for a multiservice nonprofit agency supporting youth and families, I pursued and completed a dual Master's degree in Professional Counseling and School Counseling from Lindenwood University.

Role

In the Office of Respect I'm a Counselor Advocate, providing trauma informed support through advocacy, education, outreach & counseling services.

Approach

My clinical approach is person-centered, holistic, and rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, with an emphasis on the belief that we are not defined by our traumatic experiences. I incorporate somatic therapeutic techniques, storytelling through trauma narrative interventions, and an understanding of the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This integrative approach allows clients to process and reframe their experiences while fostering resilience, healing, and personal growth—often incorporating spirituality as a source of strength and grounding.

By providing counseling and advocacy services to individuals impacted by relationship harm and trauma, I believe that having compassionate support along the healing journey—someone to assist with skill-building and emotional processing—can be the difference between simply surviving and truly thriving.

Personal

Being in nature is my ultimate form of self-care. Whether I'm walking, listening to music or a podcast, or simply sitting on the deck with a good book, being outdoors—especially in the sunlight—always lifts my energy and helps me feel more grounded.

Mimi Kuehn, MA

Clinical Administrative Assistant

Education

I earned a master's in counseling psychology concentrating in Community Mental Health from the California Institute of Integral Studies. I am a registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor in the state of California. I earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and played on the women's lacrosse team at U of M—go Blue!

Role

As a Clinical Administrative Assistant in the Office Respect, I am often the first point of contact for students during the day and take on administrative and operational tasks supporting the office, clinicians, and student needs. I apply a clinical perspective if (and when) the situation calls for it to ensure students get connected appropriately.

Approach

My approach to supporting student needs is relational and student-centered, and you will often find me sitting with students offering Respect Lounge library book recommendations or working on an art project with a student.

Personal

Outside of work at Emory, I love a good coffee shop, listening to music, hanging out with my dog, and trying Atlanta yoga studios.