About Dawn

I’m a therapist who believes that healing happens in relationship. I became a therapist because I know what it's like to spend years feeling like something is fundamentally wrong with you and to discover, slowly, that what you were carrying had a name and a way through.

I grew up a Gen-X military brat, moving every 2-3 years and living in multiple countries. My early years forged me into a person who was curious, adaptable, and attuned to other people. And unfortunately, rootless. I spent a long time in roles that didn't quite fit.  Finally, I found my way into therapy. First as a client untangling my own generational trauma, and eventually as a therapist drawn to sit with others in this same kind of work.

This journey is what brought me here and it shapes everything about how I work.

What I Believe

I believe that suffering is part of life. What changes through therapy is not whether hard things happen, but what we have available inside of us when they do.

I believe the therapeutic relationship is vital. The experience of being genuinely seen, not managed or analyzed, is often the most reparative thing that can happen in a session.

I believe your parts and your survival strategies, all deserve curiosity, not pathology. You unconsciously adapted. This work is about bringing the unconscious into awareness and then expanding what's available to you without dismantling who you are.

I believe in moving slowly and checking in. In following your pace, not some protocol's pace.

What I Bring

I have specialized training and experience in developmental trauma and dissociation, including working with DID and OSDD systems. I work integratively, drawing from parts work (IFS and Ego States Therapy informed), EMDR, Mindfulness, and Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB). I train and consult with lived experience educators, which means my understanding of dissociation is grounded in what it's actually like to live it.

I am passionate about educating other therapists about dissociation because most clinicians don't receive adequate training.

My practice is affirming for neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, and ethically non-monogamous clients. I see clients in person in Austin and across Texas via telehealth.

A Bit About Me

I'm a pine tree lover, an avid reader, and snuggler of dogs and cats. I'm drawn to Buddhist ideas about impermanence and the nature of suffering, frameworks that show up quietly in how I think about this work and what's actually possible within it.

I'm committed to ongoing anti-oppression work and to staying mindful of power and privilege in the therapy room.