What's therapy with Dr. Hart like?

Dr. Allison Hart is a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY34109), Maine (2595), and Colorado (6477). She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University, her Master’s in Experimental Psychology from St. John's University, and her Bachelor’s from Saint Mary's College of California. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Northern California VA Health Care System, where she trained across PTSD, inpatient rehabilitation (CREC), and general mental health settings.

Dr. Hart’s approach to therapy balances insight-oriented work—understanding why you are the way you are and how you got there—with practical, action-oriented strategies focused on how to create meaningful change in your life.

Her clinical work focuses on trauma and PTSD, perinatal and postpartum mental health, addiction and harm reduction, depression and anxiety, perfectionism, life transitions, grief and loss, religious and spiritual struggles, borderline personality dynamics, men's mental health, relationship patterns (including codependency and boundary challenges), parenting, and professional identity and performance concerns.

She takes an integrative, relational approach grounded in the belief that healing is dynamic and multifaceted. Therapy often involves working in the present moment, making space for complexity and uncertainty, and engaging both compassion and challenge to support deep, lasting change. Dr. Hart meets clients where they feel most authentically themselves, helping them build awareness, flexibility, and a more grounded sense of self.

Her therapeutic work draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). For trauma, she specializes in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure Therapy. She is also in the final stages of certification in Perinatal and Postpartum Mental Health and incorporates Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) in this work. For clients who value spirituality, she offers Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy.

Sessions often include mindfulness, somatic awareness, nervous system regulation, behavioral analysis, values clarification, and skills for distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and relational effectiveness. In work with individuals and couples, Dr. Hart emphasizes communication, boundaries, attachment, and building more sustainable and connected relationships.

At the core of her work is the belief that therapy is not about eliminating all suffering, but about freeing you from the patterns that keep you stuck—while helping you build the capacity to move through life with intention, resilience, and alignment with your values.

Clients often describe Dr. Hart as direct, collaborative, warm, and compassionately challenging. Her style is conversational and semi-structured, with an emphasis on active engagement both in and between sessions, including reflection, skill-building, and meaningful behavior change.

Her training emphasizes cultural humility and systemic awareness, recognizing that individuals are shaped by—and exist within—broader social, cultural, and relational systems. She is committed to providing affirming, inclusive care and supporting clients from diverse and marginalized backgrounds.