Are you breathing and calling it living?
I’m Lindsay Hanson, this quote is one I come back to many times. To really reflect on how we are living our life, experiencing our life and our loved ones. I work with individuals and couples, walking beside them as they learn to inhabit their own hearts, to feel what it is to be truly alive to the moment and one another.
My initial Journey to Therapy
I grew up knowing that there were some emotions that were not easily talked about or felt in my household. Feeling a sense of closeness or belonging was hard in my family growing up. I was always well cared for, but I did not have a feeling of emotional closeness.
During my teenage and college years, I felt a deep sense of loneliness, which manifested into anxiety and depression. These feelings of sadness and a sense of being lost in the world, motivated me to seek my own therapy. I thought, “I need to talk about this stuff.“ In the safe space created by my therapist, I was able to explore, grow and heal.
I was able to share deep fears with the security of knowing that I would not be judged but rather supported and encouraged. Taking this journey with my therapist and learning how to lean in to someone for support has fundamentally changed my life. I became a therapist to provide the healing space that my therapist provided for me.
That is why I became a therapist—not to fix, not to teach, but to witness, to hold the space so you can experience feeling held in a safe space.
My initial Journey to Therapy
I grew up knowing that there were some emotions that were not easily talked about or felt in my household. Feeling a sense of closeness or belonging was hard in my family growing up. I was always well cared for, but I did not have a feeling of emotional closeness.
During my teenage and college years, I felt a deep sense of loneliness, which manifested itself into anxiety and depression. These feelings of sadness and a sense of being “lost in the world,” motivated me to seek my own therapy. I thought, “I need to talk about this stuff. “ In the safe space created by my therapist, I was able to explore, grow and heal.
I was able to share deep fears with the security of knowing that I would not be judged but rather supported and encouraged. Taking this journey with my therapist and learning how to lean in to someone for support has fundamentally changed my life. I became a therapist to provide the healing space that my therapist provided for me.
That is why I became a therapist—not to fix, not to teach, but to witness, to hold the space so you can experience feeling held in a safe space.
Colorado and all its wildness & beauty
I fell in love with Colorado as a child, at a summer camp in Estes Park—campfires, hiking trails. I really felt like I belonged in the wildness. After college in Vermont, a brief stop in Chicago, then Boulder, I finally settled in Denver.
Though my family is in New York, my friends have become my chosen family. Weekends are spent with them, my dog, Bitsy, and my partner. I enjoy sharing meals, yoga, backpacking with friends and I am never ever not in awe of the mountains around me.
Why Psilocybin?
I came to psilocybin at a time in my life when I was feeling very burnt out. Burnt out by the work I was so passionate about. I was navigating the challenges of relationships and dating, I was looking for more in my life.
I was in a great career that I loved, I was stable, had a close group of friends. But carrying the hurts that I had worked through in therapy still felt heavy to carry.
My therapist first suggested that I try psychedelics, specifically psilocybin to get in and around some of my more defended places, some of my anxiety and lingering depression that talk therapy couldn’t quite reach.
My first journey cracked me open. I’d never felt more connected to myself and the depth of my hurt, sadness, pain and actually even joy. I felt lighter and freer than I ever had. This first journey convinced me of the healing power of this medicine and propelled me into years of deeper work with it.
Over the years I’ve had hard, difficult journeys which showed me my strength and how I’m capable of holding deep fear with courage. These journeys have showed me the depths of my imagination and creativity. They’ve allowed me to see and experience the wholeness of who I am with love and pride. This stage of my growth was hard at times, confusing, and uncertain but ultimately exactly what I needed.
I have felt firsthand that sometimes it is not about working harder but working differently, and if you are curious about that different way, I would love to guide you in your own experience. If you are ready to stop merely breathing and begin living, I would be honored to walk with you, side by side, through whatever is yours to meet.
Education and Credentials
Certified Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapist and Supervisor
Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist and Supervisor
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, CO LCSW 2094
Licensed Clinical Psychedelic Facilitator, CO NMCF 0066
Canopy Collective, Psychedelic Training and Consultation, 2024-Present
IPI, Integrative Psychiatric Institute, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training Program 2024-2025
Right to Heal, Facilitator Training, 2023
PRATI, Psychedelic Research and Training Institute, Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Training Program, 2023
Advanced Trainings in Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy, AEDP, IFS, EMDR, Somatic Therapy, 2010-Present
Denver Family Institute, Post-Graduate Training, Marriage and Family Therapy, 2011-2013
University of Denver, Masters in Social Work, 2007-2009
University of Vermont, Bachelors of Art, 1999-2003