meet CHRIS

About Chris

Chris Hanessian earned his Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. While working towards completing his masters degree, Chris worked in a nonprofit community mental health setting to provide affordable care for individuals and couples within the Santa Barbara community. Currently, Chris works in a college counseling center setting focusing on a range of topics and concerns such as relational issues, anxiety, depression, life transitions, and identity development. Chris also coaches cross country and track and field where he has experience working with issues like pre-performance anxiety and stress management while helping build confidence, focus, and resilience within athletes. Chris’s style uses empathy, genuineness, curiosity, and gentle confrontation. He also has experience working with identity exploration and identity conflict specifically regarding religious and LGBTQ+ identities and how they intersect. Chris works with individual adults and adolescents along with couples.

Chris’s statement on his clinical work: “I greatly enjoy the opportunity to walk alongside others through life’s difficulties with a curious and encouraging presence. Through my work as a therapist, I have seen the positive impact of holding space for people’s worries, fears, and struggles. Through my work as a coach, I have experienced how working towards goals requires an individualized approach that includes empowering and gentle challenging. All I could hope for is that this process inspires awareness and meaningful change. I am deeply appreciative of the process, however it may look.”

Chris’s approach is informed by an integration of Person-Centered, Psychodynamic, Attachment, and Acceptance and Commitment principles. Chris provides sessions via in-person in Santa Barbara and telehealth for clients in California. He can be reached directly at chrismft@gmail.com.