Donna Hahn, LMSW

A lot of the people I work with are high-functioning, self-aware, and genuinely trying, and underneath that, often carrying a quiet sense of distance from themselves. Certain patterns keep repeating, or the life they've built, however successful, doesn't feel entirely like theirs.

That's not hard for me to understand. I spent a decade in tech as a product manager before my own experience in therapy changed the direction of my career. Growing up as a first-generation Asian American, the path felt prescribed enough that developing a real sense of what I actually wanted came late. It's part of why I do this work, and why I'm particularly drawn to people navigating cultural and family expectations, perfectionism, identity, and the kind of life transitions that force the question of what you actually want.

I'm drawn to psychodynamic work because I'm interested in how our sense of who we are — and who others are — gets shaped by histories we often can't see directly from the inside. In my experience, the therapeutic relationship itself is where the deepest work happens: it tends to surface the very patterns we're trying to understand, which is what makes it useful. I also know that people need to feel progress in their daily lives while that slower work is underway, and I draw on DBT, CBT, and ACT to help build a sense of agency and momentum alongside it.

In my couples work, I'm especially interested in how unspoken expectations and differences in communication develop over time, and how partners can learn to feel safer, more understood, and more genuinely connected. I draw on Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gottman-informed approaches to help couples move out of painful cycles toward more honest, secure ways of relating.

Whatever brings you in, one thing I believe strongly: you're doing the best you can with what you have. Underneath the patterns, the protection, the performance, there's something more essentially you that's trying to come through. Real change tends to become possible not through pressure or self-criticism, but when that part of you feels fully seen and accepted as it is right now.