Clinical Experiences/Interests:
Dr. Gallenson approaches psychotherapy as a collaborative and deeply human endeavor. Across his work in university counseling centers, hospitals, residential treatment, and community clinics, he has been most drawn to the raw, unguarded moments where people grapple with who they are—and who they are becoming. His clinical work spans substance use, anxiety and mood struggles, identity exploration, trauma, relational wounds, and the quiet crises of transition.
With particular interest in peer support, LGBTQIA+ affirming care, and behavioral medicine, Ben is fascinated by how people heal not only through insight, but through connection and choice. He brings a client-centered sensibility to each encounter, drawing on cognitive-behavioral, acceptance and commitment therapy, and humanistic traditions—not as rigid models, but as tools for understanding the unique textures of each person’s experience.
Ben holds the therapeutic space with humility and curiosity. As a queer clinician and LMU alumnus, he believes therapy can be a space not just for symptom relief, but for integration—the weaving together of thoughts, feelings, history, and hopes into a more authentic and whole self.
About the Staff Member:
Ben identifies as queer and is a proud alumnus of LMU. He finds joy in meaningful conversation, theater that lingers in your bones, and the kind of laughter that makes you forget where you are. His heart is fullest when he's with loved ones, immersed in a good film, out on a sunny trail, or watching the ocean do what it’s always done: move forward, with rhythm and purpose.
Pronouns: he/him/his