About Me

Learn more about Alexandra Hattick, a licensed therapist based in Long Beach, CA — Specializing in helping individuals with anxiety, depression, and ADHD.

Alexandra Hattick

Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Therapist in Long Beach, CA

I help people who are feeling trapped by self criticism and those who are adult diagnosed (or suspect they are) ADHDers untangle the shame and unhelpful beliefs that keep us stuck. Therapy with me includes:

  • skills you’ll practice live in session

  • education about how the mind and body work together

  • and somatic and belief work to get at the root of our suffering and create lasting change

You’re here reading this because you’re getting ready to make a change, even if you don’t know exactly what that might look like yet. How it’s going right now doesn’t feel sustainable. I’m here to help you find your way, to make the changes you want to make to support you, to activate, and to feel genuine support and understanding along the way - both from another person and from yourself. 

You CAN do this and you don’t have to do it alone.

I love this work!

I do this work because I’ve been where you are - ready to make a change, but not sure how, and needing help from someone who won’t judge me in the process. Through my experiences and education, I’ve found tools that make my life feel more peaceful and joyful. As a therapist, I get to continually learn more about what helps sustain our wellbeing, balance our minds, and tend to our hearts.

Some of the coolest parts about being a therapist are experiencing the light in someone’s eyes when they try something new that actually works and witnessing people uncover their worthiness. Like Brené Brown says, “True belonging and self-worth are not goods; we don't negotiate their value with the world.”

I use the tools I teach because we don’t abandon the garden once it produces fruit — it needs regular tending-to so it can keep nourishing us. Future you will thank you for learning to tend to your garden.

Hi, I’m Alex

LET'S CHAT

My Philosophy

My philosophy is that in order to change our minds, we have to learn to be with our bodies.

In a cultural climate that benefits from the disconnection of our minds and bodies, I firmly believe that true healing and growth can only occur when we nurture the connection between our mind, body, and life force. There are multiple levels that make this connection hard - the impacts of our society (i.e. capitalism or systemic discrimination) on our abilities to listen and respond to our bodies all the way down to our genetics and the impact of ancestral trauma on our inherited genes and experiences.

We learn early on to ignore our bodies’ needs - You just ate, you shouldn’t be hungry. You have to go to the bathroom AGAIN? We also learn to ignore our bodies’ emotional needs early on too - You’re being too sensitive! It was just a joke. Don’t cry, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

So coming back to our bodies means we start to really listen to what our bodies are telling us, learn to stay in them even if it’s uncomfortable, and learn new ways to respond to them, as if we’re being a kind and wise caregiver to ourselves.

As a therapist and human, I believe…

1) We’re all doing the best we can at any given moment with whatever information we have available at the time. Sometimes we just need support in learning the skills and tools we need to succeed. Sometimes we have the skills and tools, but need support from someone who cares to help us trust we deserve to use them.

2) We all have the innate capacity to grow. Humans are resilient among even the most difficult of circumstances.

3) Curiosity is the opposite of judgement. My job is to be curious, not to judge.

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) #94498

  • MSW from California State University, Long Beach 2015

  • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Long Beach 2011

Education & Licensure

  • Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Level II

  • Childhood Emotional Neglect trained

  • Alternatives for Families Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT)

  • Aggression Replacement Training (ART)

Training & Modalities

Professional Affiliations

  • Member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

When I work with clients, I teach them foundational skills to help them actually do the work.

So what does a typical session with me look like?

  • For the first 5-15 minutes of each session, I will guide you in a skill practice. This might be a mindfulness, relaxation, breathing, self compassion, grounding, or freewrite journaling practice, depending on each client’s individual needs and what works for them. You’ll learn about why this is important and how to apply it outside of sessions.

  • Home practice assignments are offered at the end of each session and reviewed at the starts of sessions. We’ll discuss any insights coming from the home practice, explore any barriers, and offer you a chance to have accountability to yourself.

  • We’ll determine what topics are most important for us to talk about in the session, whether it’s a recent event, a theme you’re noticing, a broader piece of your growth you’re wanting to address, or picking up the thread from where we left off. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to talk about – we set up a treatment plan at the start of our work together detailing your goals, which serves as a compass for our work and I ask a lot of questions along the way to help us figure out direction.

  • Depending on what we’re working on, this might include education about the brain and body, live practice of regulation and compassion skills, inner child work, learning and applying ways to challenge our beliefs, exploring life histories to gain more perspective on current problems, creating supportive plans to address current symptoms, or creative therapeutic work. We’ll work on deeply understanding the meaning that your body and mind internalized about past experiences and re-seeing that meaning through the lens of compassion and wisdom.

  • I typically assign home practice at the end of each session. There are many varied options for home practice, but it typically includes journaling, skill practice, or engagement in outside pyschoeducational resources – targeted workbooks, podcasts, Youtube videos, etc). While home practice is always optional, many clients find it to be supportive in their growth - it gives them opportunities to apply what they’re learning.

  • At the end of sessions you will often hear me ask what is landing from the session and what we can do to better support you for next time. This is a great time to help me get to know you better. Breathing practice annoyed you? Let me know. The art activity opened something up for you? Let me know. It’s all useful information.