Meet Dawn
Dawn M. Breikss, PhD, LMHC, NCC
A little about me...
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to look around my site. I want to tell you a little about myself, my educational background, and my beliefs in relation to therapy. I was raised in San Diego, CA and moved to Washington in 2006. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from San Diego State University and then continued my education in Seattle at Argosy University, where I earned my Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. I graduated from Argosy in 2009 and began to work as a therapist in community mental health. I graduated in 2018 from Walden University with my PhD in Psychology. I completed a doctoral internship at an all male prison, working with severe and chronically mentally ill inmates. I have found that I truly enjoy learning and continuing my education. My experiences in both the educational arena and the clinical arena have definitely helped to shape who I am as a therapist.
Previous Work Experience…
Previous to working as a therapist I worked in medical offices and hospitals. I have always found myself drawn to helping others and that is what led me to becoming a therapist. I have volunteered in the past working with at-risk youth through a mentorship program. Through this program I was a mentor to teenagers who did not have many positive role-models in their lives. While working at the community mental health agency my experiences have focused on children and families, mainly ones who have severe emotional and behavioral problems. I have worked with the children and also the parents of the children in how to reduce these problems and strategies for more positive and effective parenting. I have completed training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and currently utilize these techniques with many of my clients. I have treated many children who have been the victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. My training also includes working with youth who have experienced displacement due to being in foster care. I have worked with these children and their families on the feelings associated with this huge transition and also towards the reunification of the youth with their families.
My thoughts on therapy…
My views of therapy are based on the experiences I have been through and what I have observed throughout those experiences. I view therapy as being a collaborative effort between myself and my client to make changes in life. Every person is unique and will take their own path to reaching whatever goals they have for therapy. I want to work with my client in helping to achieve these goals. I do not see myself as an expert here to give advice and directions on how to change. Rather I see myself as someone here to help guide and work with my client to develop strategies that can be used throughout their entire life. I believe that by being able to have a better understanding of your thoughts and feelings that you will then be able to change the way you think when it is not productive. I also believe that family can play large role in the person you have evolved into and continue to become. I believe that it is important to discuss how family relationships may be impacting your life and how past experiences with your family may have helped shape who you are.
During therapy I will draw on many techniques and strategies that I have found to be useful for my clients. I tend to use many cognitive-behavioral therapy based techniques; meaning that they involve looking at your thought processes and how to change the ones that are negatively impacting your life. I am attentive to each of my individual clients and realize that there is not a ‘one-size fits all’ approach that can be taken with therapy. I will take each client’s unique persona and situation into consideration when discussing the goals and strategies of therapy.