Dr. Dawn has been working with children, adolescents, and young adults for over 30 years in outpatient, residential, and juvenile detention settings.  She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.  She has extensive experience in providing detailed psychological assessments and can provide diagnostic clarity in confusing cases as well as more standard evaluations for ADHD, learning disabilities, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.  

As a therapist, she seeks to create a supportive, safe, and non-judgmental environment where individuals can explore and gain insight about themselves, their potential, and their goals.  She strives to understand each individual's unique needs and abilities and chooses the best combination of strategies to address them.  She places a strong emphasis on finding techniques that will provide more immediate relief while continuing to delve deeper and gain insight into possible causes of the current difficulties.  Dr. Dawn helps clients identify and change unhealthy behaviors to better provide longer-term healing and prevent relapse.  

In session, she utilizes many different mind-body approaches that include strategies and techniques form Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) including CBT play therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), psychodynamic therapy, parent-child interaction therapy, parent training, solution focused tools, motivational interviewing skills, and mindfulness-based interventions.  She also enjoys sharing interesting tools such as apps or podcasts for clients to use outside of session to supplement the work in sessions.