Meghan Hargaden, LMHC
Specialized in couples therapy, trauma, anger management in Tampa
Licensed Mental Health Counselor trauma therapist in Tampa
Advanced training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Motivational Interviewing
About Meghan
Meghan Hargaden is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who works with adolescents and adults navigating addiction, compulsive behavior, trauma, and anger. Her approach is holistic and directive, conceptualizing each person as a physical, social, emotional, developmental, cultural, and spiritual being. With advanced training in EMDR, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and CBT, Meghan helps clients move from compulsion toward freedom, from reactivity toward regulation, and from isolation toward connection.
Meghan works with couples, particularly partners where unresolved trauma, anger, or compulsive behavior has damaged the relationship. Her trauma work draws on advanced EMDR training with both adults and adolescents. She also works extensively with men on anger, trauma, and the patterns that strain their closest relationships. Christian counseling and faith-integrated therapy are available for clients who want them, supported by her theological training at Denver Seminary.
Credentials & Education
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Florida, License #MH28135
Master of Arts in Counseling, Denver Seminary
Trained in evidence-based models including:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) trained for PTSD and complex PTSD
Motivational Interviewing
Advanced anger management training
Who Meghan Supports
Meghan works with:
Couples and partners where trauma, anger, addiction, or compulsive behavior has strained the relationship, including: rebuilding trust, interrupting escalation, and establishing agreements that hold outside the therapy room
Adults and adolescents living with addiction or compulsive behavior, including substance use, pornography, food, exercise, gambling, and anger, building the freedom and self-control that make daily life feel manageable again
Adults and adolescents carrying trauma or PTSD, using EMDR and trauma-informed care to process what happened and loosen the hold it has on the present
Men and women struggling with anger, learning to recognize escalation early, regulate intense emotion, and show up differently in their closest relationships
Adolescents and adults facing body image concerns, addressing the shame, comparison, and somatic distress that keep people at war with their own bodies
Families caught in codependency or enmeshment, establishing healthier boundaries without severing connection
Survivors of human trafficking and complex trauma, working from safety and stabilization before deeper processing begins
Adults navigating existential questions, spiritual struggle, or faith transitions, exploring meaning and belief at whatever depth the client invites
Clients value Meghan’s directness, her warmth, and her willingness to advocate fiercely on their behalf, even when that advocacy takes the form of a compassionate confrontation.
Meghan’s Approach to Therapy
Meghan integrates evidence-based clinical models with a whole-person framework that accounts for the physical, social, emotional, developmental, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of a life. Her style is relational, collaborative, authentic, and directive. She takes a strengths and values based approach, helping you capitalize on what already exists within you rather than starting from deficit.
She focuses on:
Treating addiction and compulsive behavior with harm reduction and Motivational Interviewing, meeting ambivalence with curiosity rather than pressure and building motivation that holds up outside the therapy room
Processing trauma with EMDR and trauma-informed care, reducing the intensity of traumatic memory and interrupting the patterns it creates in present-day relationships
Building emotional regulation with Dialectical Behavior Therapy, teaching distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and the concrete skills that make anger and anxiety workable
Working with the body through somatic and movement-based practice, drawing on her training as a Registered Yoga Teacher to address the physical residue of trauma, anxiety, and body image distress
Facilitating therapeutic groups, drawing on more than seven years of group work across wilderness, multi-family, life skills, and stabilization settings
Integrating faith and existential exploration when a client requests it, supported by theological training through Denver Seminary and formal philosophy training at the University of Colorado Boulder
What Meghan Helps Clients With
Meghan supports Tampa couples, adults, adolescents, and families experiencing:
Couples therapy for addiction and compulsive behavior
Trauma, PTSD, and complex PTSD
Anger and emotional dysregulation
Substance use and addiction
Compulsive behavior, including pornography, food, exercise, and gambling
Codependency and enmeshed family dynamics
Body image concerns
Adoption and adoptive family dynamics
Disability and chronic illness
Harm reduction and early recovery
Existential crisis and spiritual struggle
Men's therapy for anger, trauma, and compulsive behavior
Christian counseling and faith-based therapy (on request)
Meghan’s Background & Training
Meghan brings a wide clinical range, extensive group therapy experience, and training that spans counseling, theology, philosophy, and somatic practice.
Her professional experience includes:
Facilitating group therapy for more than seven years across wilderness programs, multi-family groups for families affected by addiction, life skills groups for emerging adults, DBT groups, and gender-specific process groups
Leading wilderness therapy programs for adolescents and high-conflict families in Utah
Providing safety and stabilization services within a partial hospitalization program serving survivors of human trafficking
Facilitating movement and yoga groups for clients living with physical and emotional pain
Writing and implementing counseling curricula for six to twelve week treatment programs
Developing and directing a summer enrichment program for Hispanic immigrant elementary school students
Her advanced training and expertise include:
EMDR for adults and adolescents living with PTSD and complex PTSD
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and anxiety and depressive symptoms
Motivational Interviewing for ambivalence and readiness for change
Advanced anger management training for emotional and behavioral self-regulation
Psychological First Aid for acute psychological crisis, including substance-induced psychosis and trauma-related psychotic episodes
Registered Yoga Teacher training for relaxation, somatic regulation, body image work, and anxiety
Theological training through Denver Seminary for spiritual integration and faith exploration when requested by the client
A Message From Meghan
“I believe that people’s greatest pain and greatest healing both happen in relationship, and I am committed to creating a space where my clients experience what a healthy, redemptive relationship actually feels like. I advocate fiercely for the people I work with, which sometimes looks like a compassionate carefrontation. My hope is that you discover who you uniquely are, and that you leave with the resources to live that out.”
Ready to work with Meghan?
We invite you to schedule a FREE CONSULTATION with us to begin your healing journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is EMDR therapy and how does it help with trauma
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a structured, evidence-based therapy developed specifically for traumatic memory. Rather than requiring you to talk through every detail of what happened, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess a memory that has remained stuck in a raw, unresolved state. Over time the memory becomes something you can recall without the same physical and emotional flood. Meghan is EMDR trained and works with adults and adolescents living with PTSD and complex PTSD, including survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. Many clients find that symptoms such as hypervigilance, intrusive memories, and emotional reactivity begin to loosen once reprocessing is underway.
Do I have to be sober before starting therapy for addiction
No. Meghan practices from a harm reduction framework, which means therapy can begin wherever you actually are rather than where you think you are supposed to be. Requiring abstinence as a precondition often keeps people out of treatment at the exact moment they need it most. Using Motivational Interviewing, Meghan works with ambivalence directly, exploring what change would mean for you without pressure or judgment. Some clients move toward abstinence. Others focus first on reducing risk, stabilizing daily functioning, or understanding what the behavior is doing for them. Both paths are legitimate starting points.
Can therapy actually help with anger
Yes. Anger is rarely the whole story. It usually sits on top of something else, such as fear, shame, grief, or a nervous system that has learned to move quickly into threat. Meghan has advanced anger management training and works with men and women on recognizing escalation earlier, tolerating intense emotion without acting on it, and repairing the relationships that anger has strained. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills are often central to this work because they provide concrete, practiceable tools rather than general advice. The goal is not suppression. The goal is genuine self-regulation and a sense of autonomy in how you show up with the people who matter to you.
Does Meghan work with teenagers
Yes. Meghan works extensively with adolescents, particularly those facing substance use, trauma, anger, and body image concerns. Her background includes wilderness therapy programs for adolescents and high-conflict families, adolescent DBT groups, and life skills work with emerging adults. She is direct with teens in a way that most find refreshing rather than off-putting, and she works collaboratively with parents while protecting the trust that makes adolescent therapy effective in the first place.
Does Meghan work with couples?
Yes. Meghan works with couples, with a particular focus on relationships where unresolved trauma, anger, addiction, or compulsive behavior is the presenting issue rather than communication alone. That includes partners rebuilding after substance use or compulsive behavior, couples caught in escalating conflict, and relationships tangled in codependency or enmeshment. Her approach draws on EMDR for the trauma underneath, Motivational Interviewing and harm reduction for the behavior itself, and DBT interpersonal effectiveness skills for what happens between the two people. She works with the relationship and the underlying issue together, because addressing one without the other rarely holds. Meghan is direct, and she advocates for both partners — sometimes in the form of a compassionate confrontation.
Can faith or spirituality be part of my therapy
If you want it to be. Meghan holds theological training through Denver Seminary alongside her counseling degree, and she has formal philosophy training as well, which means she is equipped to sit with existential and spiritual questions rather than redirecting away from them. This work is entirely client-led. Some clients want faith explicitly integrated. Others are processing spiritual injury, doubt, or a transition in belief. Many never raise it at all, and that is equally welcome. Therapy with Meghan does not require any particular belief system.
Locations Served
Meghan offers in-person therapy in Tampa and surrounding areas.