meet our clinical director

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Meet Birdsong's clinical director Denise Duke, LCSW (formerly Denise Hansen). Denise founded Birdsong Counseling in 2024, paying homage to the distinctive gift birds have of sharing their unique and beautiful songs freely when feeling safe in their environment. Several studies, like one published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, have correlated hearing bird’s sounds and interactions in nature with stress recovery and other mental health benefits. 

With a lifelong passion for creating and maintaining healthy relationships with self and others, Denise pursued a decades long dream of becoming a therapist after overcoming relationship trauma and its complex impacts. In 2015, Denise, an interior designer and single mother of three teens, left the East coast following a divorce. She relocated to Utah to attend Brigham Young University where she completed a B.S. in Family Life and a Master's in Social Work, a program then ranked the third most competitive social work graduate program in the country. She is a published peer-reviewed author who studied mindfulness and its positive impact on couples in conflict.

Over the last 7 years, Denise has dedicated her time, energy, and passion for mental health and relationships to work with clients in a variety of settings. She began her clinical practice working in community mental health on Utah’s only prevention and recovery from early psychosis (PREP) team. She also worked with Family Services, a faith based counseling agency, and as a FEMA trained crisis counselor for Utah Department of Human Services. 

After relocating to Sacramento, CA in 2020, Denise worked as a clinical social worker in a nonprofit job training program. Collaborating and supporting the staff on-site, she taught mental health and trauma-informed principals. Denise also provided counseling to a diverse clientele to help them overcome extreme challenges such as physical and mental disabilities, refugee and war trauma, domestic violence, immigrant resettlement, personality disorders, ADHD, eating disorders, homelessness, addiction, and complex trauma. She spent two years working as a therapist for faith-based agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Fayetteville, AR where she has helped numerous clients create acceptance and peace in their lives.

Denise believes in the power of personal accountability and self-compassion. She is a certified trauma professional and a somatic practitioner. She expertly utilizes evidence-based treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness based treatments, Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples, EMDR, and others to identify and treat the root of clients’ distress and empower them with curiosity, care, and compassion. 

Denise is married to the love of her life; they have eight children, five grandchildren, and one grand-dog in their blended family. In her spare time, Denise loves reading mystery novels, enjoying the great outdoors, traveling, and practicing yoga and meditation. She couldn't live without sushi, chocolate, and frequent trips to Trader Joe's.