Compassionate Therapy for Social Difficulties in Santa Monica
You smile, you nod, you get through it, and then you spend hours replaying everything you said. Dr. Sally Hackman offers a place where connection finally feels safe instead of exhausting. Send a message today, and she responds within 24 hours.
First visit is free if you choose not to continue.
#1 | Trusted Santa Monica Practice for Social Difficulties
A Place Where Connection Stops Feeling So Exhausting
Connection is supposed to come naturally, yet for many people, it feels like a language everyone else learned, while they somehow missed it. Maybe you dread group settings, rehearse conversations before they happen, or leave gatherings convinced you said the wrong thing. You can be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone in the middle of them. That quiet ache of not fitting in wears on you more than anyone realizes.
For decades, Dr. Sally Hackman has helped Santa Monica adults and teens untangle the social difficulties that quietly shrink their world. She knows this struggle is rarely about lacking skills, and far more about feeling unsafe being truly seen. The people she works with are often the ones who hide their loneliness best.
With her psychoanalytic training and years of clinical work, she helps you trace where your social interaction difficulties first took root. Rather than handing you scripts to memorize, she helps the fear behind them slowly loosen its grip. Real change here looks like reaching for connection instead of bracing against it.
Thoughtful Support for the Social Struggles You Carry Quietly
Wherever the discomfort shows up in your day, there is room here to work through it gently.
Struggles at Work
Meetings, small talk by the coffee machine, the politics you never quite decode. When work relationships feel like a minefield, every day drains something out of you. Dr. Sally helps you understand the patterns underneath the tension so the office stops feeling like a test.
Making and Keeping Friends
Watching others form easy friendships while you stay on the edges is a particular kind of loneliness. Maybe you connect at first, then the closeness fades, and you are not sure why. The work here is noticing what keeps getting in the way so that closeness has room to grow.
Large Groups and Social Gatherings
Parties and crowded rooms can leave you counting the minutes until you can slip out. The noise, the eyes, the pressure to perform a version of yourself that feels nothing like you. Dr. Sally helps you feel steadier in these moments instead of simply enduring them.
Feeling Like an Outsider
There is a loneliness that has nothing to do with being alone and everything to do with feeling unseen. You can be in the middle of a conversation and still feel like you are watching from outside the glass. Here, that distance starts to make sense, and slowly begins to close.
Social Anxiety and Shyness
The racing heart before you speak, the replay loop after, the certainty that everyone noticed your nerves. Shyness can quietly decide which opportunities you take and which you let pass. Dr. Sally creates a calm space where being yourself stops feeling so risky.
Dr. Sally also helps teens and children who struggle with shyness, friendships, and finding their place among their peers.
One Message Is the Hardest Step & It Is Smaller Than It Feels
Starting is as simple as one message, and Dr. Sally replies to everyone within 24 hours.
The Quiet Changes Therapy Brings Into Daily Life
- You walk into a room without rehearsing every possible thing that could go wrong.
- Conversations begin to feel like exchanges rather than performances you have to pass.
- The exhausting replay after social events quietly fades away.
- You start reaching out to people instead of waiting to be included.
- Friendships feel less fragile and more like something you can actually trust.
- Work interactions stop draining you and start feeling almost ordinary.
- You feel comfortable enough to let people see the real you.
- The loneliness that followed you into crowded rooms begins to lift.
What Your Journey With Dr. Sally Looks Like
Step 1: Reach Out
Pick up the phone or fill out the form whenever you feel ready. Dr. Sally answers personally within 24 hours, with no pressure to find the right words. You only need to say that something feels hard.
Step 2: Your First Session
You sit down in a quiet, private space where nothing is rushed. She listens closely and lets you set the pace. If it does not feel right and you choose not to come back, that first visit is free.
Step 3: Your Personalized Plan
She looks at where your discomfort began and what keeps it going. From there, the work is shaped by her psychoanalytic training and decades of clinical experience, always fitted to you.
Step 4: Ongoing Sessions
Growing more comfortable around others happens gradually, not overnight. You meet in person or on Zoom, Monday through Friday, from 9 AM to 7:30 PM, as often as suits you.
Words From People Who Found Their Way Through
I lived with social anxiety for more than 10 years. It was absolute hell. I was terrified of what people thought of me, and it controlled every decision I made. Thanks to Dr. Sally Hackman and her methods, I finally learned to stop being afraid. She gave me my confidence back.
After almost twenty years of marriage, I didn’t think my relationship with my wife could recover. Everything I said felt like an insult to her. With last hopes, we visited Dr. Sally Hackman. She helped us realize we can only be happy when we’re truly together. She saved our marriage.
When I lost my mom, I didn’t know how to function. I smiled at work and cried alone at night. Dr. Sally Hackman gave me a safe space to grieve without judgment. She helped me understand that healing doesn’t mean forgetting. I finally feel like I can breathe again.
Grief hit me harder than I ever expected. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t see a future. Dr. Sally Hackman never rushed me. She walked beside me at my own pace and helped me find meaning again. I’m not the same person I was. I’m stronger.
Why So Many Quiet Strugglers Trust Dr. Sally
The right therapist makes being vulnerable feel less like a risk and more like a relief.
- PhD in Clinical Child Psychology
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (License #MFC29541)
- Certificate in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
- Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA Medical School
- More than 40 years in practice, serving Santa Monica since 1986
- A personalized approach drawn from several therapeutic methods
- Sessions available in person and via Zoom
- Strict confidentiality, with no email communication to protect your privacy
You Do Not Have T Keep Carrying This Quietly
The social difficulties weighing on you can begin to lift, and Dr. Sally is here whenever you are ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it normal to feel this anxious around other people?
Yes, and you are far from alone in it. Many people feel a deep dread around others that they hide well. Dr. Sally helps you understand where that anxiety comes from so it stops running the show.
Can therapy really help me make and keep friends?
It can. Often the issue is not effort but an old pattern that quietly pushes people away. Dr. Sally helps you notice those patterns and build the kind of closeness that actually lasts.
What causes social difficulties in the first place?
They usually trace back to early experiences that taught you that connection was not safe. Over time, that lesson hardens into avoidance, overthinking, or fear of being judged. Understanding the root is what allows real change to happen.
How is this different from just being introverted or shy?
Introversion is a preference, while social difficulties cause distress and get in the way of your life. If avoiding people is costing you relationships or peace, it is worth exploring. The difference is whether it limits you or simply describes you.
Will I have to do role-plays or forced social exercises?
No, Dr. Sally does not put you on the spot or hand you scripts to perform. The work happens through understanding and gentle, steady progress at a pace that feels safe for you.