Emily Hardcastle, LCSW

Director of Therapy and Assessment Services

Meet Emily Hardcastle, LCSW

Director of Therapy and Assessment Services 

Emily Hardcastle, LCSW, is a master’s level clinician providing therapy to children, adolescents, adults, and families. Emily has practiced at NCFWC since 2014 and in 2017 partnered with NCFWC Founder Susanna Quasem, MD to help build the practice and direct the therapy and assessment services. 

A native of Nashville, Emily completed her Master of Science in Social Work at Columbia University and a year of post-graduate training in Family Therapy at Ackerman Institute in New York City in her training to become a therapist. Prior to graduate school she attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and Belmont University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Business. Before her work at NCFWC Emily worked in a clinical and research capacity with the National Development and Research Institute of New York City and then for ten years with Vanderbilt University’s Psychology and Human Development Department while also doing part-time private practice. She has co-written numerous psychotherapy interventions and published in academic journals with experts in the fields of depression, parenting, stress and coping, and substance/alcohol recovery. 

Emily is a Certified Therapist and Within Agency Trainer in  Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), which is an evidence-based treatment for young children, ages 2 to 7 years-old, with emotional and behavioral problems that places emphasis on improving the quality of the parent-child relationship and changing parent-child interaction patterns. She is also trained in the Adaptation for Older Children (ages 7-10). Her other main focus is providing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to adolescents, parents, and families, having been intensively trained through Level 4 with Btech and recently trained by Alan Fruzzetti in DBT for Families. As a therapist Emily’s evidence-based approaches include (but are not limited to) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Behavioral Activation (BA), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Motivational Interviewing, and Harm Reduction.  

With a passion for connecting with her clients and helping them identify and realize their goals, Emily spends time building rapport and assessing her clients experience and goals on the front end of therapy. She especially enjoys helping parents and children come together to support one another and values collaborating with other professionals to ensure the highest quality of care. 

Licenses, Certifications, and Memberships: