Seattle Therapist Peter Hannah, MA LMHC

My name is Peter Hannah, and I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Seattle, Washington. I bring my own unique combination of professional training, personal skills, and life experience to doing therapy.

Before I became a therapist, I lived in Westchester County, New York (where I grew up) and had a career in technology, worked for IBM, and earned a Masters degree in Telecommunications. I moved to Seattle in 1999 to change my career. In 2002 I received my Masters in Applied Behavioral Science/Systems Counseling from the Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS), and I opened my private practice on Lake Union in 2003.

I’m now in my twentieth year of private practice. In that time, I’ve worked with hundreds of individuals and couples on all sorts of issues that affect their lives. I’ve also facilitated personal development classes for Discover U, the Center for Spiritual Living, and The Excellence Foundation (formerly Context Associated). My work on “The Seattle Freeze” and other issues has been featured on Q13 and KOMO4 TV news, and KOMO radio. I’ve appeared as a guest on the Dave Ross Show on KIRO radio as well as KUOW’s “The Conversation”.

While I tend to work mainly with healthy, high-functioning people, I also gained a familiarity with serious mental illness from a stint at Fairfax Psychiatric Hospital.

I think real-life experience deeply informs any therapist’s work. I’ve personally known the pressures of the high-tech world, layoffs, financial woes, moves, being away from family, office politics, career change, infertility, the death of a parent, a child with chronic illness, and many of the other stressors that can make modern life feel hard. I’m married and the father of a teenage boy, who we adopted at birth. I know both the joys and challenges of marriage and parenting.

I try to bring a practical mindset into our work, along with compassion, imagination and a sense of humor.

I keep adding to my skills, through additional trainings each year. You can find a list of some of those below.

Since 2015, I’ve both taken and staffed programs with The Mankind Project, and think their approach to men’s work is powerful and deeply needed in our world.

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts, Management Information Systems, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY – 1988
  • Masters of Science, Telecommunication, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY – 1998
  • Master of Arts, Applied Behavioral Science/Systems Counseling, LIOS/Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA – 2002

Some of my continuing education as a licensed mental health counselor has included:

  • “Scared Stiff: Fast, Effective Treatment for Anxiety Disorders” with David Burns, MD
  • “How Can I Forgive You” with Janis Abrahms Spring
  • “Affairs, Infidelity, Cybersex & the Internet” with Janis Abrahms Spring
  • “The Wise Heart & the Mindful Brain” with Dan Siegel MD & Jack Kornfield
  • “The Mindful Therapist” with Dan Siegel MD
  • LifeSpan Integration
  • Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples
  • Somatic Experiencing
  • Family Law for the Mental Health Professional
  • LifeSkills Parenting
  • The Mindful Couple Workshop
  • Working with Suicidal Clients
  • Neuroscience-Informed Psychotherapy