About Dr. Hannah Gilfix
Dr. Hannah Gilfix is a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Samantha Winton. Dr. Gilfix specializes in the treatment of children, teenagers, young adults, and adults struggling with depression and anxiety disorders, relationship concerns, and managing the middle school, high school, and college experience.
Dr. Gilfix has experience working in university counseling centers providing evidence-based treatments to college and graduate students who present with a variety of concerns (identity development, trauma, eating disorders, anxiety/depression, life transitions, grief), the Veteran Affairs Health Care Center working with individuals who have chronic pain, and outpatient medical centers providing behavioral family therapy and exposure therapy. Additionally, Dr. Gilfix has specialized experience working with children and teenagers going through middle and high school and helping both them and their families increase their social, emotional, and behavioral well-being.
Dr. Gilfix works to create a space that is both warm and collaborative, as well as inclusive of empathy and respect. She aims to form strong relationships with her clients and to work alongside them to set goals, identify strengths and resources, and learn new skills and strategies to decrease distress and increase happiness. While doing this, she also explores how each client’s life experience influence both their well-being and their understanding of the world.
Additionally, Dr. Gilfix works with couples who wish to enhance their relationship by learning skills to decrease conflict, increase their connection, and improve their communication with each other. Dr. Gilfix has specialized training in the Gottman Method and will help couples move their relationship from a “gridlocked” state to one that feels healthier for both partners.
Dr. Gilfix earned her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Oberlin College and her doctorate from the University of South Florida. She completed her predoctoral internship at the University of South Florida Counseling Center where she worked with college and graduate students dealing with the challenges of interpersonal concerns, mood disorders, anxiety/depression, identity development, trauma, eating concerns, and school transitions.
Dr. Hannah Gilfix: Specialties
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Couples Counseling
- Middle School Students
- High School Students
- College / Graduate Students
Worrying nonstop can often lead to a feeling of being “stuck”. This can impact our ability to function at work, school, and in relationships. We can work together to manage generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, or panic by exploring the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, learning how to challenge our thoughts, identifying “thinking traps” that our brain may be falling into, and utilizing mindfulness skills to be able to move through life with more confidence.
Sometimes feelings of sadness can creep out of nowhere and other times it may feel as though you cannot even remember a time when you were not depressed. It may feel like you are wearing “rose colored glasses” that perpetually influence how you see the world and increase sadness and loneliness. We can work together to help you learn how to move forward by bringing a sense of fulfillment back into your life.
Does it feel like you and your partner are having the same arguments over and over again? Are you and your partner struggling to meaningfully connect? Using the Gottman Method, an evidence-based couples therapy method, I will work with you and your partner to increase vulnerability with each other, learn conflict management skills, foster a better connection, and ultimately build the relationship that you both desire.
Middle school can be a time of great challenge for your child or preteen. You may have noticed that your child has had changes in their behavior, may be struggling or may be less interested in school, may be having trouble making friends, and may appear to have more anxiety or worry about things outside of their control. I can work alongside you and your child to learn ways to conquer the stressors that sometimes occur in middle school.
If your teenager is feeling overwhelmed at school, I can work with them to feel more confident in managing school stress, decrease anxiety or depression, and develop coping skills needed to succeed in school. I also work with high achieving students in AP and IB classes learn ways to manage the elevated stress that often comes with being in these programs in order to achieve success.
Adjusting to college can be challenging and stressful as you manage being away from home for the first time, navigate roommate situations, deal with self-esteem/confidence issues, address potential body image/eating concerns, or confront past trauma. We can work together to identify coping skills and foster empowerment in order to better succeed in college.
Treatment Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Gottman Method for Couples Therapy
- Exposure Therapy and Exposure and Response Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for many mental health concerns including anxiety disorders (social anxiety, generalized anxiety, panic disorder) and depression. I use CBT to help my clients understand the connection between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and learn skills to be able to reframe thoughts, make behavioral changes, and ultimately reduce anxiety and sadness.
Gottman Method for Couples Therapy
The Gottman Method is an evidence-based couples therapy approach that helps couples learn how to enhance their relationships, manage conflict, and stay more connected with each other. The main goals of the Gottman Method involve increasing friendship and intimacy, learning conflict management strategies, and building shared meaning together.
Exposure Therapy and Exposure and Response Therapy
Exposure Therapy is useful for treating a variety of anxiety disorders and involves gradually guiding a person through a real or imagined feared situation stimuli until their fear is eventually resolved. For those with obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) or certain phobias, Exposure and Response Prevention takes Exposure Therapy one step further by also learning how to resist urges to engage in certain behaviors when exposed to a stimulus (such as a repetitive behavior or an obsessive thought).
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based treatment for a variety of mental health concerns that involves reducing the struggle of attempting to control negative thoughts by increasing acceptance and engaging in behavior that is more in line with your personal values. ACT focuses on detaching from thoughts to reduce their power, increasing mindfulness, and identifying values to increase psychological flexibility, all while also committing to actions that will help a person reach their long-term goals.
