Therapists in Minneapolis, MN

Hi. I know you're ready for this. I see most everyone for most everything. I enjoy working with a wide variety of clients and specialize in healing trauma and helping people with many types of issues, including post-traumatic stress, attachment/connection, sexual/physical/emotional abuse, anxiety, depression, and relationship issues. I am most passionate about helping people overcome relationships involving narcissistic abuse and strengthening parent-child relationships. I also have a special place in my heart for people suffering with fertility issues.

Depression and anxiety can impede our careers, relationships, self confidence, success and happiness. If you feel unmotivated, disappointed in self or others, envious, or unsure of yourself, there may be powerful root causes lying just outside your awareness. Often I can help, even if other attempts have failed. How do you choose a therapist? Training and experience matter. I trained at Stanford and Columbia, finished 2 postdoctoral fellowships, completed full psychoanalytic training, and have practiced for 25+ years. While therapy is never a quick fix, it can lead to greater success and happiness. Offering teletherapy nationwide.

Hi! I’m an inter-section theorist. I’m a mixed race person. I come from a social justice lens and work from a diversity, race, cultural and also non-binary foundation. I work with all ages, individuals, families and couples. I treat anxiety & depression, behavior/defiance issues, offer parenting support, holistic health, nutrition planning, eating disorders, chemical dependency, intelligence/gifted/sensitivity issues, and personality disorders. I have experience in attachment/adoption and autism in women. I have an efficient, compassionate approach and sense of humor. I’m passionate and interested in your story.

My passion is helping individuals, couples and families live the lives they deserve. I am a straightforward, innovative therapist with an outstanding track record for helping my clients live healthy productive lives. My personal commitment to you as your therapist is to provide counseling and psychoeducation using Cognitive Behavior Therapy to promote healthy thinking and positive outcomes. I am a firm believer that in order to change behavior we have to gain insight into underlying beliefs that have developed over time through experiences.

Whether clients are looking for support and encouragement to maximize strengths or need assistance in dealing with a wide variety of psychological issues, effective therapy begins with the formation of a relationship. I place an emphasis on meeting patients where they are, which includes taking into account environmental factors, culture, ethnicity, and family/interpersonal history. Then, collaborating together to understand goals, assets, and challenges in order to create a plan to solve problems and increase understanding. By integrating various theoretical approaches and utilizing current research from psychology and neuroscience, my goal is to provide effective individualized treatment.

I have practiced for 36 years in Minnesota, seeing children, adults, couples and families. My practice currently is primarily with adults and couples (and teens) who are seeking a therapist who is collaborative, offers guidance and new perspectives, and believes the client is ultimately in charge of change. I value awareness, mindfulness and the process of living out a personal story that is based on strengths and hopefulness. Above all, I believe that if people feel respected and cared for they are capable of growth and moving through even the most difficult times.

Life and change is hard and sometimes and it can lead us to our lowest point. I acknowledge that you are the expert in your life, and I am an expert in guiding you through your most vulnerable and painful moments while challenging you to expand your skills to assist you in creating the change you want to see in your life. Therapy helps you learn how your own mind works and create the change you are looking for in your life. Have you ever wondered " why am I like this" or " why do I react this way"? Then we should talk! Im here to support you in finding happiness and stability again.

I have a strong interest in working with people who have a history of trauma and mood disorders. I use a variety of techniques especially tailored to the individual including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, EMDR, and exposure therapy, as well as mindfulness and cognitive techniques (CBT). I am also certified by the Linehan Board for Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Stressors in our lives often become overwhelming and confusing. They challenge our ability to cope. In collaboration with you, I provide practical guidance, support, and compassion to understand what might be helpful. I will gently and consistently challenge you to effectively change and move towards a meaningful and purposeful life.

I work with adults facing a variety of challenges who desire to make meaningful changes in the ways they understand and work with emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and relationships. I draw from psychodynamic and existential perspectives and use an empathic, relationship-based approach to tailor our therapy process to your unique needs, circumstances, and goals. By looking together intensively at the historic roots of problems, insights can develop into ways that old solutions get perpetuated in the present and new possibilities for more satisfying ways of being can emerge.

I've been a psychotherapist for over 40 years. What I have found is the most powerfull tool is the relationships I develop with my clients which are often deeply meaningful, based on understanding the depth of the person, often extending to the inclusion of spiritual experience. I am a fully trained marriage and family therapist, and I have graduated from the Minnesota Psychoanalytic Institute as a certified Psychoanalyst. The American Psychoanalytic Institute has awarded me the status of a Training and Supervising Analyst, the highest level of certification awarded. I want to help people find their own sense of truth.

In my 30 plus years in a helping profession, I am still energized by the bravery and strength of clients and their struggles that life can create. It is my privilege to encourage clients to look at life and themselves from a more balanced and productive place. I facilitate this by active listening and a nonjudgmental stance. I meet clients where they are within their emotional process.

Helping those experiencing personal, emotional, relationship, family, traumatic experiences or psychological struggles. Therapy is a journey of growth and self discovery. Let's embark on that life journey together. It takes courage to seek for a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change. As you get ready to start this journey, I will be there to support and empower you. My counseling style is warm, patient, kind and interactive. I believe in treating anyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion, and I don't believe in stigmatizing labels.

Psychotherapy is a collaborative treatment based on the relationship between you and Dr. Sandra Smith-Hanen. Dr. Sandra will help you to navigate life’s challenges in a supportive environment. It is her goal to help you to verbalize openly in a nonjudgmental atmosphere. Together you will work collaboratively to determine, adapt and develop a new mindset and behavioral actions to help you develop the needs and goals you want.

The therapists at Emerge Therapy can help you understand and transform long-standing patterns that no longer serve you well. This includes being curious about early and current relationships, exploring unacceptable or difficult emotions, and increasing awareness of the relationship between mind and body. We have a holistic perspective on mental health and seek lasting change through in-depth and integrative work.

We all have times when we run out of ideas about how to deal with problems in our lives. It can help to involve a new set of eyes and ears to see things from a different angle. We work to gain new skills and insights, and tap into our forgotten strengths, to create independence and lasting positive change. We look at the rigid and unhelpful patterns we have, and work together to form new ways of thinking and doing. While this process unfolds you are free to be your authentic self, without feeling judgment, powerlessness, or shame, in a safe and trusting atmosphere.

Life hands us many experiences, why walk through it alone. Things beyond your control, struggling with internal experiences, or have a desire for self growth? Together we can identify what's contributing to things as they currently are and work to shift beyond barriers and develop aspects that build a greater sense of life satisfaction. How can we grow if we do not have new experiences and possibilities? Therapy can provide just that.

I enjoy seeing a wide variety of clients as I am able to offer them some unique perspectives to improve and change their current situation. It is my hope that our work together will challenge you to grow in ways you imagined and in some you do not. I have been a pastor in the Lutheran church and that gives me some unique abilities to help you utilize your faith as a strength. Although faith is not a prerequisite to counseling, I offer faith based counseling for those who have spirituality as one of their resources. I also see the value of animals in the lives of my clients and we offer a pet friendly environment.

Why do you seem to grow irritable and frustrated with other people? Is there something that keeps you from being able to communicate with your partner? Something that keeps you from doing well at work? Why is it so hard to talk to that family member, to trust other people--to trust even your own judgment? You know just what you want to do in life (growth, stability, security, find a supportive romantic relationship), yet, so many of your goals have never been realized.