Meet Dana Hartman-Ngaloafe, LMFT
About Dana Hartman-Ngaloafe, LMFT
Finding the right therapist is an important and deeply personal decision. You may be looking for someone who can understand the complexity of your experiences without reducing you to a diagnosis. You may also want a therapist who can offer thoughtful guidance while respecting your insight, autonomy, and individual pace.
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist providing trauma-informed therapy in Palo Alto and online throughout California. I work with adults, couples, high performers, technology professionals, engineers, and athletes who are navigating complex trauma, relationship difficulties, anxiety, perfectionism, burnout, identity, and significant life transitions.
Many of my clients are accomplished, thoughtful, and capable people who have learned how to function at a high level while carrying experiences that continue to affect their relationships, self-worth, and emotional well-being. You may appear successful and composed while privately feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, self-critical, or uncertain about how to create meaningful change.
My Approach to Therapy
My approach is client-centered, trauma-informed, and attachment-based. I believe therapy should be collaborative and grounded in respect for your experiences, strengths, culture, and goals.
Our work may include exploring how earlier relationships and experiences influence the way you respond to stress, understand yourself, and connect with others today. Together, we can identify patterns that may once have helped you survive but are now contributing to anxiety, disconnection, perfectionism, or relationship difficulties.
You can expect me to bring curiosity, warmth, honesty, and a nonjudgmental presence to our work. You will have an active voice in determining the direction and pace of therapy, and you will not be pressured to revisit experiences before you feel ready.
I also believe that humor can be an important part of connection and healing. Therapy can hold difficult emotions while still making room for moments of lightness, humanity, and joy.
My Professional Background
For more than 15 years, I have supported individuals, couples, and families in community mental health clinics, schools, recovery and treatment programs, correctional settings, and private practice.
My perspective on healing has also been shaped by my work as an educator, critical-literacy program developer, and facilitator with incarcerated adults and their families. I am a co-founder of Peacemakers’ Alliance, a critical-literacy and nonviolent-communication program serving incarcerated individuals in California. This work has deepened my understanding of trauma, resilience, identity, systemic inequity, and the healing power of relationships and community.
In my private practice, I have expanded my work to include trauma-informed therapy for athletes. I support student-athletes and adult athletes who are navigating performance pressure, injury, burnout, perfectionism, team dynamics, athletic identity, and transitions within or beyond sport.
I also work with couples seeking to understand recurring patterns, improve communication, restore trust, and develop greater emotional connection. My couples work is informed by training with the Gottman Institute and The Couples Institute’s Developmental Model of Couples Therapy.
Working Together
Therapy is not about becoming someone entirely different. It can be an opportunity to understand the experiences that shaped you, develop greater compassion for the ways you learned to survive, and make choices that reflect who you are now.
Whether you are seeking trauma therapy, couples therapy, or support related to the emotional demands of high performance or athletics, our work will honor the whole person you bring into the room.
I provide in-person therapy in Palo Alto and online therapy for clients throughout California. If my approach resonates with you, I invite you to schedule a free 20-minute consultation to explore whether we may be a good fit.
Education
MA in Counseling Psychology, The Wright Institute
MA in Education, San Francisco State University
BS in Criminal Justice, Northeastern University
Advanced Training and Certifications
Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, Phase I
Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, Phase II
Gottman Institute: 10 Core Principles for Effective Couples Therapy
Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, Level I