Brett Hammond (he/him/his)

I have a wealth of experience with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and have been trained in some of the newer "third wave" of CBTs, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT). The principles behind Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) guide my practice. I try and balance the older model of challenging one's thoughts with some of the newer ideas about decentering from one's thoughts and emotions.

I believe that one of the greatest minds psychology has ever seen was Carl Rogers, the developer of person-centered therapy and one of the leading minds of the humanistic movement in the middle of the 20th century. I try hard to practice unconditional positive regard, congruence, and accurate empathy with each of my clients.

I utilize existential, narrative, and humanistic methods to start and build a dialogue alongside the men with whom I work. Men have to manage unique sociocultural stressors throughout their lives, including the balance between work and home life, raising children, responding to our own fathers being absent or ambivalent during our childhoods, and retirement. I believe that masculinity has an important place in the world and I thoroughly enjoy promoting a modern perspective.

At their root, I view any personality disorder as behaviors that worked for us at one time but don’t work anymore. Employing a combination of methods, including Functional Analytic Psychotherapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy, I enjoy helping others recognize their inherent value.

A strong relationship between a therapist and their client is one of the signatories of growth, potential, and healing. I leverage the evidence-based principles behind therapeutic teamwork and draw from psychodynamic, relational, and behavioral modalities, specifically including the research surrounding Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). I also employ the research of Peter Fonagy and others to assist clients with considering a reflective or mindful approach to their lives.

I see Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy as a wide therapeutic tradition from which I can draw from to apply research-supported means of change. I’ve received advanced training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) and the principles behind Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) guide my work. I try blend the older cognitive model of challenging your thoughts with the newer research on decentering from our ideas, beliefs, and emotions.

Attachment theory is one of the bedrocks upon which I have built my own approach and skill set. Just as we can be grievously injured in relationship, we can grow and heal in one too. I know that our earliest experiences are the legs upon which our more mature lives stand on and sometimes we need a helping hand to explore areas of life that remain untested or parts of ourselves that we’d prefer not to know about.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a way of doing therapy that leverages the empirical information we have about what works for whom on the therapist/client relationship. I like to balance the approach of challenging one's thoughts from the older cognitive-behavioral models with the newer approaches of "third wave" CBTs, like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT).

Anxiety is the most common behavioral health condition and can be one of the most disabling. Thankfully, there’s no need to feel trapped in avoidance, fear, and resentment. I treat most forms of anxious thoughts and feelings, including diagnoses of PTSD and OCD, and I’m trained in multiple research-informed treatments. That includes Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Inference-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (ICBT).

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder can be a disabling condition and, sadly, there is a dearth of providers adequately trained to manage the problems it causes. I've learned from both personal and professional experience that generic talk therapy doesn't help OCD. In contrast, I'm trained in evidence-based treatments for it, including Inference-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

I've worked with individuals that have experienced trauma for the entirety of my career and that has allowed me a wealth of knowledge and experience with which to help others. No matter the gravity of the difficult experience you've dealt with, it can be overcome through the use of skills and guidance from an experienced therapist. I focus on the "trance of unworthiness," a term coined by Tara Brach, that refers to the deep wounds of not being good enough or strong enough that we all carry.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is built on a unique approach to suffering, in which we aim to pursue our values and the things that are important to us even when we're anxious or stressed. ACT informs much of my approach to therapy and I've received numerous years of supervision and education focused on it. ACT is a transdiagnostic approach and can be helpful for a range of human problems.

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is a humanistic and experiential model of therapy that engages the idiosyncratic nature of our emotions and their importance to our functioning. EFT provides a therapist with unique skills to both guide and follow an individual through their primary emotions and their unfinished business. I've received advanced training in EFT and am involved in ongoing supervision in the model.

Inference-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (ICBT) is an evidence-informed way to assist with OCD symptoms that doesn't involve exposures. Instead, ICBT allows for an individualized approach to the "upstream" of your symptoms of OCD (i.e., your thoughts and mental life). I've been engaged with the growing ICBT professional community in the United States and have been trained by some of the thought leaders in the field.