Dr. Dennett John Hanssmann, MD

Pare find as most Psychiatrists prescribe meds and then send you to another therapist. Dr. Hanssman has helped me to become self aware and and has helped me "slay some dragons". He is the best therapist I have worked with..and he is clear that he offers insight but the client does the work. Thank you for helping me off the edge..am grounded again.

Dr. Hanssmann is the best among all the psychotherapists and psychiatrists I've seen or heard about. He is very personable, always punctual, a reliable, thoughtful, and sincere doctor/therapist. He didn't seem to be "in network" with my insurance company, but he helped me get the insurance company to reimburse me for "out-of-network" coverage. I saw four psychiatrists throughout my life. The first psychiatrist I saw (over 10 years ago) said (within the first 15 minutes of seeing me) that I didn't need meds but gave me a sample packet of a medical. When I researched side effects and decided not to try it, he was so upset I hadn't listen to him that he refused to see me again. The next two psychiatrists I saw (at very big-name medical centers) each instantly gave me a different (and incorrect) diagnosis within the first initial 15-20 minute appointment and prescribed an enormous dosage of unnecessary psych meds (which were quickly determined to be ineffective and counter-productive).… The latest psychiatrist I've seen has been Dr. Hanssmann. Dr. Hanssmann was a whole 180 degrees different from the other doctors I've seen. He was very helpful, very knowledgeable, very patient, and very skilled. Dr. Hanssmann took a number of sessions to get a clear picture of my overall health and my psych and medical history before giving me any initial diagnosis. He also gave me the choice of having him talk with another medical specialist I was seeing for a related physical disability(because of the functional effects and medication overlap). He allowed me to choose whether I wanted him to talk with the other doctor and share information, and respected my decision. Dr. Hanssmann didn't over-medicate me. At first I thought that was a bad thing because I wanted an instant cure. We tried some medications when I expressed I needed one. And we discussed my thoughts, feelings, and questions about each medication before we decided I might try it. In the end I agreed with him that therapy worked much better than medication, and I've been doing really well with out medications since then. He was always on time, never ran late. I could always rely on him. And he would be quickly responsive to emergencies on-call. I thought a ton of stuff was an emergency and called him a lot at first, but he helped me develop some boundaries, and develop the ability to calm down and wait until my next appointment. Plus just knowing he would respond helped. Many counselors or therapists spend the majority of a session over-empathizing and comforting, like a friend. But Dr. Hanssmann has very clear boundaries; he is very straight-to-the-point, address-the-issue, get-to-the-bottom of things type of therapist. In other words, his technique is to identify the cause of and resolve problems at the core, rather than glance over them and find a temporary superficial Band-Aid for a current complaint. In the past, I had seen counselors/therapists for specific problems; I saw one for depression, another to work through some destructive behaviors of mine, and another one for trauma. But after seeing Dr. Hanssmann, I understand how these problems relate to each other, which has helped me resolve some core issues, change my frame of mind, and change my future. He is very attentive and a good listener. He seemed well read in psychology and therapy, especially classic in-depth psychotherapy (getting to the bottom of things). He wasn't into teaching quick distress techniques like in dialectical behavioral therapy. I tried to not overanalyze the diagnoses he listed because what really matters in the end is that I felt better. I definitely recommend him, especially if you want more than medication alone.

Caring and knowledgeable. Interested. Makes suggestions. Great insight. Pushes when I need it! Everything I'd want in a psychiatrist.

He is always reliable, on time, prompt at responding. He is very attentive and perceptive. He seems to truly care, yet doesn't get so emotionally involved to where he oversteps his role as an analyst (psychotherapy analyst). He delves deeply into our past experiences and perception of the world to interpret (and have us understand) the reasons for our current problems in life and in our relationships with others (from strangers, co-workers, friends, to family and partner). If you are looking for quick periodic medication management appts. then I recommend a "medication management" psychiatrist. But if you are interested in therapy we well as psychiatric diagnosis and medications then he is great. He doesn't jump on the bandwagon and prescribe cocktails of medications. He is minimizes drugs when possible to resolve the issue through therapy, but will prescribe drugs when needed (or when I expressed I felt they were needed). I would research psychoanalytic psychodynamic psychotherapy and… give him a call to see if this is the right type of therapy for you. Some may prefer a different approach like behavioral or EMDR. He's the best therapist I've ever had (out of many). He is so skilled and experienced that he far exceeds my expectations. I would recommend him to anyone.

Dr. Hanssmann is a very good therapist. He is very knowledgeable and a great listener. He is very perceptive and focused on getting to the root of the patient's problem rather than giving a superficial band-aid.

Dr. Hanssmann is the best choice for a psychiatrist in the Greater Sacramento area. He is tucked away in a small building, not an oversized glamorous expensive-looking office or medical center. But that's just as well, because he doesn't need to charge extremely high prices for his service. His prices are very reasonable and well worth the care. Most importantly, the quality of care he provides is superb all others I've seen or can imagine. He was always on time. He was very easy to reach by phone, and always responded at any hour. He is very attentive and good at reading non-verbal cues...so good that he seemed to know me much better than I knew myself. He could read me when I couldn't really describe how I was feeling or what I was thinking. He is very attentive and throughout the sessions he would constantly watch, listen, and psychoanalyze. This is far better to the other therapists I have met who seem to drift off or half-listen like the average (non-therapist) listener. I would… recommend him to others. After all the years of being misdiagnosed one thing or another, Dr. Hanssmann was able to find the needle in the haystack and identify the problem, and then help me through it...which brought about great relief to me.