Dr. Emily Brown is an Assistant Professor and serves as the Associate Chair of the Department of Education Sciences and Professional Programs. She also is the Director of the Play Therapy Institute @ UMSL. She received her bachelor's degree in English and Religion from Wake Forest University and her Master's in School Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She obtained her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has a graduate certificate in Grief, Loss, and Trauma.

Dr. Brown has six years of experience as a professional school counselor in urban elementary schools. While completing her doctoral work, she served as project manager for an NIH-SEPA funded grant that provided postsecondary education and STEMM awareness interventions to rural Appalachian high school students. She has been a licensed professional counselor since 2010 and a National Certified Counselor since 2008. She is also credentialed as a Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor from the Association for Play Therapy.

At UMSL, Dr. Brown teaches courses in the Counseling Program including Foundations of School Counseling, Counseling for Loss, Crisis, & Trauma, Introduction to Play Therapy, Advanced Play Therapy, and Advanced Theories and Practice of Counseling. She was recognized in 2017 as she received The Gerald and Deanne Gitner Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Brown's research interests include counseling services connected to loss, crisis, and trauma, with a particular focus on children of incarcerated parents, and child-centered play therapy.