About Megan
Megan Hougardy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in California. She has nine years of clinical experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and challenges tied to work and self-esteem. She focuses on practical steps people can use right away to feel steadier day to day.
Her sessions are conversational and down-to-earth. She aims to build a nonjudgmental space where people can talk about grief, life changes, and career frustration.
How Megan works
She listens for what matters most and helps clients sort priorities and next steps. Megan uses a mix of approaches depending on the person and the issue. She draws on acceptance and commitment ideas to clarify values, cognitive behavioral tools to adjust unhelpful thinking, and mindfulness techniques to reduce overwhelm.
She also uses client-centered work to follow the client’s pace and hypnotherapy when suitable. She commonly addresses relationship strain, family problems, attachment concerns, codependency, and communication difficulties. She also supports people dealing with chronic illness or pain, seasonal mood shifts, and compassion fatigue.
Goals often include clearer boundaries, fewer sleepless nights, and steadier mood. Megan encourages steady progress rather than quick fixes. She helps people set small, realistic goals and track what changes.
Her style is calm, practical, and focused on skills people can use outside sessions.
Megan lists 8 ways of working on the entry:
What Megan works with
The areas below are the ones Megan selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Career difficulties
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 9 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | California |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Approaches that guide online sessions
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on clarifying what matters most and taking small steps that align with those values. It can help with anxiety, depression, life transitions, and finding direction. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behavior and teaches concrete strategies to change unhelpful patterns. It is often used for anxiety, low mood, and sleep problems. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening, empathy, and following the client’s lead to build trust and understanding.Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic work. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what feels comfortable, then adapt methods over time. This is a collaborative process where the client’s experience guides choices about which tools to use.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video allows face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat or text messaging can support quick reflections, ongoing coaching, or times when writing feels easier. These options make it simpler to keep therapy consistent around work, caregiving, or other commitments.
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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