Dawn O'Regan

Dawn O'Regan is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with 25 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, trauma, and other life challenges. Dawn aims to create a calm, practical space where people can talk through what matters to them and set workable goals.

She uses a client-centered style that treats each person as the expert on their own life. Sessions often begin by identifying strengths and practical steps that make daily life easier. Dawn draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to look at how thoughts, feelings, and actions link together. She also uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ideas to help people live by their values even when emotions are hard.

Dawn has worked in community mental health and in private practice, and she has run her own individual practice. She also spent four years as a bachelor-level social worker before graduate school and later earned her independent social work license, LISW. Her background includes work with people facing grief, addiction, parenting strain, compassion fatigue, and chronic illness.

In sessions she emphasizes clear communication, emotional regulation, and building self-worth. She offers practical skills for distress tolerance, mindfulness, and better interactions with others. Dawn also uses Attachment-Based Therapy ideas and trauma-focused work when it fits a person’s needs.

Outside of therapy she enjoys yoga, hiking, meditation, and time with her life partner and two dogs. Those interests inform a calm and grounded approach in her clinical work.

How these approaches translate to online work

Trauma-Focused Therapy aims to help people process difficult events and reduce their ongoing impact. In sessions this often means carefully paced conversations, grounding work, and learning ways to tolerate strong feelings while making sense of what happened.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, encourages people to notice hard emotions without getting stuck and to take actions that match their values. It is helpful for anxiety, depression, and coping with major life changes by focusing on meaningful behavior rather than only eliminating symptoms.

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns affect current connections. This work helps people identify needs, improve communication, and build more satisfying bonds in their lives.

Finding the right approach is part of the process and will be collaborative. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and day-to-day needs to decide which methods to use and how to blend them.

Confirm current session options before booking, since the biography does not list specific formats. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, allow shorter check-ins during a workday break, and reduce travel time. Talk with the therapist about what will work best for session length, timing, and whether video or phone is preferable.