Megan Hanson
Marriage & Family Therapist - LMFT
Increasingly in past years, my therapy work has focused on supporting adults in recovery and individuals and families dealing with relationship challenges or addiction issues.
Seeking therapy can feel daunting. Even when we know something has to change, it can feel more comfortable to stick with our old habits. Clients are often surprised to hear me say – we keep “bad” habits for good reasons. We develop predictable patterns to feel safe when we lack outside supports to help us feel grounded, connected, accomplished, or hopeful. I work with clients to carefully examine their patterns – thoughts, feelings and behaviors – to better understand what they may or may not be ready to change. Clients develop new understandings and patterns that allow them to feel more at ease with themselves and others and to build more satisfying lives.
My ongoing core training is in relational Gestalt, which focuses heavily on relational patterns in the present. In working with addiction, developmental trauma, relational challenges, and emotional regulation, I may also use DBT-informed skills, EMDR, Brainspotting, and Emotionally Focused Therapy/tapping techniques. And of course, I bring my humility, humor, and compassion to every session.
I’m driven by social justice. It’s at the core of my extensive background building community based health and nutrition programs in San Francisco and South Los Angeles. My work with incarcerated adults, high school students, and families living in underserved communities heavily influences my current work as a therapist – I believe that people more easily become healthy if the systems that surround them are healthy as well: www.rootdownla.org.
Skills and Expertise
Addiction
Anxiety
Attachment Issues
Peer Relationships
Relationship Issues
Self-Harming
Sexual Addiction
Spirituality
Suicidal Ideation
Substance Use
Teens
Trauma
Communication Problems
Depression
Treatment Orientation
Gestalt
Relational Therapy
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Modality
Individuals
Group
Family
Couples