01 · Who Dawn works with

Dawn works with stress, Anxiety, self esteem and bipolar disorder

Dawn lists 15 specialisms and 28 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Dawn chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Dawn's own words

What Dawn says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Hello! My name is Dawn and I am a Licensed Independent Social Worker. I have 26 years of experience Working in Community Mental Health Organizations and in Private Practice settings. I live in Iowa and also travel frequently with my life partner. I work with clients affected by depression, anxiety, communication, inter and intrapersonal relationship difficulties. My expertise that I bring you includes building blocks of healthy relationships: 1. Clear communication 2. Emotional regulation 3. Self-worth 4. Compassion 5. Insight 6. Ability to acknowledge and verbalize others strengths and emotions. I worked as a bachelor’s level social worker for 4 years prior to Graduate School, achieving my independent license in Social Work, I have worked in private group practice, started my own individual practice and currently work in a community mental health setting. My approach to therapy is client centered: clients are the experts of their lives, and we work together on the direction an individual determines. Through a strengths-based and solutions-focused lens, I draw on multiple treatment modalities to guide clients in identifying strengths and developing treatment plans that accomplish their goals. Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), I assist clients in exploring relationships among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to aid in discovering dysfunctional thought patterns leading to self-destructive behaviors and beliefs. Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), I support clients through developing skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation with the goal of moving clients towards a life involving the capacity for experiencing joy and freedom. If clients are open to it, we also work using an internal family systems approach. This work goes inside your own system and identifies different parts that can be helpful or may need updating as you grow and develop. Outside of my work as a therapist, I enjoy exercise, yoga, walking and hiking and meditation practice in the beautiful outdoors. I also enjoy my life partner and our two dogs. Izzy is the newest member to our family and is a sweet, sassy handful!I am incredibly grateful for my precious support system of family, friends and colleagues. SPECIALTIES Stress, Anxiety Relationship issues Self esteem Depression Intra and Interpersonal Communication Coping with life changes Bipolar disorder, emotional intensity disorder, anger management and self-care. Years of Experience: 26 years

Dawn O'Regan, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Dawn works

The 7 approaches Dawn lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Dawn lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Dawn's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Dawn runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT

Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed

CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Dawn practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Dawn's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Dawn at this point.

2. Naming Dawn specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Dawn is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Dawn.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Dawn

Built from what Dawn actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Dawn's - Dawn has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 25 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LISW

Licensed in

Iowa

Licence

IA LISW 06148

Licence number

06148

Licence expires

31 Dec 2026

NPI

1255397865

Years in practice

25

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Dawn's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Dawn. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.