Areas of Specialty
Dr. Hancock-Smith’s areas of clinical expertise include Affirmative Psychotherapy with Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning+ (LGBTQ+) youth in need of mental health services, implementation of evidenced-based family therapy in a variety of settings and treatment of anxiety disorders.
Dr. Hancock-Smith specializes in the treatment of mental health concerns related to the negative impact homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism have on the lives of LGBTQ+ youth, including transgender and gender non-conforming youth. Dr. Hancock-Smith takes an LGBTQ affirmative stance in her therapeutic approach, which focuses on helping individuals work toward self-acceptance and authentic expression of their LGBTQ+ identities. Please see some specific areas of treatment below.
- Affirmative Psychotherapy
- Consultations for pediatric patients with Disorders of Sexual Development
- Evaluations for medical readiness to begin gender affirming hormone therapy
- Family Therapy focused on difficulties experienced by LGBTQ+ families related to stigma and discrimination
- Navigation of Coming Out Process
Family therapy is designed to help members make changes within their structure that will enable them to communicate and interact in healthy and productive ways. Dr. Hancock-Smith utilizes a systems approach to family therapy by targeting disruptions and crises within the unit, from a multisystemic perspective (e.g. school, work, and home). See some specific areas of specialization below.
- Co-Parenting
- Behavioral Planning
- Functional Family Therapy
- Parent Child-Interaction Therapy
- Parent Training
- Separation and divorce
Approximately 1/3 of individuals within the U.S. will experience an Anxiety Disorder within their lifetime. Dr. Hancock-Smith has specialized training in behavioral treatments targeting multiple anxiety disorders. Specialized training treatments include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). See some of her specific disorders of specialization below.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Panic Disorder
- Phobias
- Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Social Anxiety Disorder
