But whose standard?

Maybe you've spent years trying to "be normal" and do what you're supposed to do, only to end up anxious, exhausted, or wondering whose life you're actually living. Maybe your ADHD brain doesn't work the way you've been told it should. You're queer or questioning. You're navigating polyamory or ethical non-monogamy. You're struggling with food or your body. Your relationship isn't working, but you don't know whether you want to leave. Or maybe you've built a perfectly reasonable life that just...doesn't feel like yours.

There's often a question underneath all of it:

What do I actually want—and what have I just learned I'm supposed to want?

Therapy isn't about squeezing yourself into a better-fitting box. It's about understanding yourself, your patterns, and your needs well enough to build a life that actually works for you.

nor·mal /ˈnôrm(ə)l/ adjective

1. conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.

What does “normal” even mean?

Finding a therapist is weirdly personal.

You can read someone's credentials, specialties, and long list of therapy modalities and still wonder: Will this person actually understand me? Can I tell them the stuff I don't tell everyone else? Are they going to think I'm weird? Those questions matter.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent 15 years as a hairstylist in Los Angeles—which means I've had thousands of conversations with people about identity, bodies, relationships, sexuality, insecurity, reinvention, heartbreak, and who they were becoming. Eventually, I became more interested in the human experience than in hair alone, and therapy gave me a way to follow that curiosity further—helping people understand themselves, navigate change, and figure out what they actually want from their lives.

In eating disorders and body image therapy, we can untangle the ways food, restriction, appearance, control, identity, shame, and self-worth have become connected in a HAES-informed space where we'll get curious about what your relationship with food and your body is doing for you—not just what you want to stop doing—and work toward more trust, flexibility, and space to live your life without your body constantly being a problem to solve.

I also work with people navigating polyamory and ethical non-monogamy (ENM), kink, attachment, codependency, boundaries, intimacy, and relationships that don't follow a conventional script. The structure of your relationship isn't automatically the problem.

Sometimes the question isn't how to make a relationship work, but whether you still want it. I offer Discernment Counseling for couples seriously considering separation or divorce who aren't sure which direction to take, as well as therapy for individuals navigating divorce and relationship transitions.

Maybe you've spent years wondering why things seem easy for everyone else but feel ridiculously hard for you—or blaming yourself for not being more organized, consistent, motivated, or “disciplined.”

In ADHD and neurodivergent therapy, we can look at how your brain impacts everything from executive functioning and emotional regulation to relationships, work, and self-esteem. Rather than trying to make your brain work more “normally,” we'll figure out what actually works for your brain—and start separating years of shame from the areas where you genuinely want support.

You're be exploring your sexuality or gender, coming out (or deciding whether you even want to), questioning old labels, or figuring out how all the different parts of you fit together. I offer LGBTQ+ and queer-affirming therapy where you don't have to explain, defend, or make your identity easier for someone else to understand.

Identity can also be bigger than gender or sexuality. We can explore presentation, belonging, self-expression, family expectations, and the complicated question of who you are when you're not performing who you're “supposed” to be.

You might be in the right place if...

Who wore it better?

My niece and I with matching pixies

Why me?

Before becoming a therapist, I spent 15 years as a hairstylist in Los Angeles. I learned a lot during those years—not just about appearance and self-expression, but about the human experience across the lifespan regarding bodies, relationships, sexuality, identity, heartbreak, insecurity, fear, breakthroughs, and lessons learned.

My own life hasn't exactly followed the standard script either. I've changed careers, divorced a life partner, come out, and had to wrestle with the difference between building the life I thought I should want and figuring out what actually feels like mine. I know how liberating—and terrifying—it can be to question a life you've already invested in.

I don't expect you to make yourself more conventional, polished, or easily explained. I bring curiosity, humor, honesty, and humanity into the room—and I'm pretty hard to shock. All of you is welcome here.

Person-centered doesn't mean passive

You are the expert on your own life. I'm not here to tell you who to date, what kind of relationship to have, what your body should look like, whether you should stay or leave, or what a "successful" life is supposed to be. But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and nod.

I'm an attachment-based, person-centered therapist with an active approach. We'll get curious about the patterns underneath what's happening, where they came from, and whether they're still serving you. I'll help you challenge beliefs that don't hold up anymore, build practical skills for the things that do, and notice when you're getting pulled back into familiar patterns. I draw heavily from CBT, DBT, and ACT, along with attachment- and relationship-focused approaches. Depending on what we're working on, I may offer exercises, experiments, or homework between sessions—because insight is useful, but eventually it has to come with you into your actual life.

I won't make your decisions for you. But I will help you slow down, ask harder questions, tolerate some uncertainty, and get clearer about what you actually want.

Sometimes growth is a dumpster fire

We like to talk about growth as if it's a beautiful transformation—shed the old, find yourself, emerge as a butterfly.

Sometimes it is...And sometimes it's more like a blazing dumpster fire that keeps reigniting.

When you start questioning the beliefs, roles, relationships, and expectations that once gave your life structure, changing one thing can shake everything built around it. Even when the change is right for you, it can still bring grief, uncertainty, fear, and the occasional what the hell am I doing? The goal of therapy isn't to eliminate that discomfort or turn you into a perfectly healed version of yourself. It's to help you understand what's happening, learn how to take care of yourself when things get messy, and build enough trust in yourself to keep moving without needing every answer first.

You don't have to wait until you've figured yourself out to start.

Therapy Can Also Move With You

Most sessions are offered online throughout Colorado, making it easier to fit therapy into your actual life.

For clients who think, process, or talk more easily while moving, I also offer limited in-person walking and hiking therapy in the Denver area.

Ready to See If We Click?

Finding a therapist is personal. You can check all the right boxes on paper and still need to know whether talking to someone actually feels right.

I offer a free consultation so we can talk a little about what you're looking for, you can ask questions, and we can get a feel for whether working together makes sense.

You don't need to have the perfect explanation for why you're reaching out. "I don't really know, but something isn't working" is a perfectly good place to start.

Have a question before scheduling? Email me.

© 2026. All rights reserved.

Michelle Hansen, MSW, LSW
Colorado Licensed Social Worker
Clinical supervision: Becky Zal-Sanchez, LCSW (CSW.09923198)
Specialized training in Discernment Counseling and divorce recovery