Brenda Hanson, LSCSW, LISW

Brenda Hanson is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 41 years of experience helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and life changes. She uses a calm, direct style to help people sort out pressing concerns and develop clearer day-to-day coping skills. Brenda brings steady support for issues such as career strain, addictions, sleep and eating problems, and challenges around intimacy and relationships.

Her work focuses on practical steps clients can use between sessions. She listens for patterns that keep people stuck and offers small tools to shift those patterns. Brenda often blends approaches so people can try different ways of managing emotions and choices.

Brenda draws on several evidence-informed methods, including cognitive behavioral ideas, acceptance and commitment perspectives, attachment-focused work, client-centered care, and skills from dialectical behavior therapy. She tailors these to each person’s goals rather than using a single fixed method.

Her background includes long clinical practice in Kansas and a wide range of experience with issues such as caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, aging concerns, and parenting strain. Brenda also addresses topics like abandonment, body image, and codependency when those themes emerge in a person’s life.

She offers a respectful, person-focused approach that emphasizes emotional healing, clearer communication, and building everyday resilience. To begin, people typically complete a short questionnaire and schedule sessions according to available times.

How Brenda Uses Therapy Approaches Online

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts without getting ruled by them and focus on values-based action. It can be useful for anxiety, depression, and coping with health problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns, which often helps with mood, sleep, and stress. Attachment-based work explores how early relationship patterns shape current reactions and closeness, which can help with intimacy issues and communication.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Brenda treats therapy as a collaborative process and will help clients try different methods to see what fits best with their goals and preferences. She adjusts strategies over time based on what is helping and what feels manageable.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the session formats before booking so you know what is offered. Online options can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, allow shorter check-ins when schedules demand, and reduce travel time. Therapists can assign short practice exercises between visits and use session time for problem solving, skill-building, and planning next steps to manage stress, chronic illness, caregiving demands, or life transitions.