I
was born smack dab in the middle of a post World War II “father knows
best” reality that was soon to be upended by a fiercely loving and fiercely
rebellious new generation. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s planted the seeds of change within me, and I decided to become part of the solution to a world I saw in great chaos.
When my third child went to school, so did I---and graduated from Columbia U School of Social Work in 1989. I had found my calling, and initially worked in psychiatric hospitals and as a hospice social worker. I began my private practice in 1992, when the new wave of brain research was beginning to influence psychotherapy, and psychopharmaceutical medication began to look like a "solution" to the increasing depression and anxiety in the culture.
I took a different path, and began to integrate spirituality into my practice, as well as EMDR, psychodrama, an eventually Imago therapy. I have presented at professional conferences and have facilitated countless groups over the years. My work is based on weaving the essential
wisdom of the great spiritual traditions with scientific knowledge, and down-to-earth good clinical skills, beginning with compassion.
During the course of my career, I have integrated many skills into my work, including hypnosis, Brainspotting (https://brainspotting.pro/page/what-brainspotting) and Biofield Tuning (https://biofieldtuning.com/). Always my commitment is to create a warm, non-judgmental space in which people can show up authentically.
I have been a champion of women (I am the oldest of six girls!), and continue to run women's groups that help participants fully claim their power and gifts. I believe that when women are powerful, significant change happens. Over the years, I have also worked with many amazing men who are willing to do their own grief work so that they can show up powerfully as men liberated from the chains of patriarchal conditioning.
I believe that committed partnership is a powerful path of personal growth when both people are willing to take full ownership of their part (no 50/50---always 100% from each person.) I have helped many couples end their relationship with love so that each person is whole as they leave the relationship and move on. Helping parents be the best parents they can be is a passion of mine---and my own three children have been my greatest teachers. I have also helped many people claim their gifts and purpose and make big changes in their work lives, that allow them to be more aligned with their deeper values.
My book, Activating Your Loveseed: Revealing The Blueprint For A Better World, is a blend of memoir, science, spirituality, mythology, and case studies from my years as a psychotherapist. In it, I show you how to create miracles through
shifts in your perception, that allow you to trance-end the fear that creates
personal and collective pain.
There
isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wonder at the magnificence of the dance
of creation in both my personal life and in the world. I also have thoughts
like these, which are based on my feelings about the world:
- How isolated people are and how there is this illusion
of being connected via technology that is creating a sense of
disembodiment. We need to come home to our own bodies and one another. I
am doing that more myself.
- How important it is that we all receive enough
nurturing, from the very beginning of life.
- How essential it is that the older generation of
“boomers” remain awake and fully engaged at this time.
- How key it is that the younger generation now stepping
into the forefront be open to receive guidance, and at the same time be
brave enough to show a new way.
- I keep noticing the power of innocence. My second book
is about that topic, inspired by my grandson, Jack Henry.
I
have accumulated a great deal of wisdom over the years, from my own
inner work and from my mis-takes, which have been profound teachers. I
bring that wisdom, experience, and compassion to every session. I feel blessed to have a career which is really a calling, and in which getting older and wiser is a plus.
Kathleen Hanagan Reaches
Alexandria VA