Connie Dawson, M.A., LMHC, RPT-S, CAS
Connie believes the counseling process begins with the idea that each person wants to work past current challenges and has the ability to grow and change given a helpful provider and appropriate intervention. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Registered Play Therapy-Supervisor, a Qualified Supervisor in Mental Health and Family Therapy and and a Certified Brainspotting Therapist. She has more than 20 years of experience working with clients in a variety of settings including advocacy work and community education, and founded The Hazel Counseling Center for Families and Children, PLLC in 2008. She is dedicated to providing quality mental health interventions using integrative treatment methods and pursues current training and knowledge in the mental health field in order to provide the Oviedo/Winter Springs area with dynamic care in a group practice setting.
Connie gets to know each person in order to understand their story, and then applies the most relevant technique while using more comprehensive interventions as needed. Connie believes in the client’s right to guide their own counseling experience.
Connie emphasizes the use of Interpersonal Neurobiology in order to use what we know and understand about the mind and body working together to offer the most complete resolution and sense of well being with presenting problems. She supplements this with her training in Play Therapy, Coherence Therapy, Brainspotting Therapy, and Sand Tray Therapy. It is often a combination of these interventions that helps a client move past and through challenges.
As a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, Connie provides a dedicated space within the counseling offices in order to provide play therapy as well as offering play therapy training for other therapists.
When Connie has free time, you will often find her out on the bike trails and elsewhere taking in nature. Watch for some photos of those adventures when you come in for a visit!
Please contact Connie to discuss your counseling needs.
Education:
- Master’s Degree in Counselor Education-University of South Dakota
- Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor-Association for Play Therapy
- Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology-Purdue University
Yemanja Krasnow, MSW, LCSW
I believe in creating a safe, compassionate, and trustworthy environment where my clients feel heard, not judged, and empowered to choose their own path to healing. I believe in providing a holistic approach for each individual client to help them develop their own toolbox with skills that not only will guide them through their healing process, but also maintain their treatment gains in the days to come.
I have twenty years of direct experience designing, managing, and implementing programs that address sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, parenting education, and life coping skills. I work with individuals, couples, families, groups, veterans, first responders, and the military community.
As a fulltime employee at Hazel Counseling Center, I continue to focus my clinical efforts on treating individuals struggling with complex issues including trauma, anxiety, dual-diagnosis, and other mood disorders. I have been a longtime advocate for many underrepresented populations including the Latino, survivors of sexual violence, and the LGBTQ+ community. I am fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and am available to provide services in both languages.
When not working, I spend time advocating for my community and enjoy having fun in the water with my three children.
I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and a Master of Clinical Social Work degree with a sub-concentration in military social work and veteran services from the University of Southern California.
Nicholas Hundley, MSW, RCSWI
I would love to talk with you about how we can work together! My goal is to create a very relaxed and comfortable environment to help you find both the barriers and solutions to the challenges you are experiencing.
I work with all ages and have a passion for working with younger children and teens. I will support and assist your child to find their own solutions through both talk and play therapies, resulting in your child enhancing their problem-solving skills and the relationship between themselves and you as their parent.
When working with adults, I will strive to help you enhance your relationship with yourself, and develop problem-solving skills. I take a person-centered approach to identify your challenges and take a personalized approach to help you create solutions to those challenges.
I am a registered clinical social work intern and received my Masters in Social Work from the University of Central Florida along with a graduate certificate in Military Social Work. I have experience working with clients with anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD, trauma, and individuals from the LGBTQ+ community. I utilize many modalities of treatment from talk centered therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to play based interventions such as Child Centered Play Therapy (CCPT), allowing me to fit each person’s specific needs.
Everyone is unique and so are the challenges you face. I will work with you to discover your own path through whatever is holding you back. The office has a play therapy room available for children’s sessions and parent involvement.
In my free time you can find me out on the water fishing, in the mountains rock climbing, or out playing sports with friends.
Courtney Ullah, MSW, Registered Social Work Intern
Courtney believes in meeting you where you are, and creating a safe and supportive environment to overcome obstacles and promote growth. She prioritizes individualizing treatment of children and adolescents, and views therapy as a collaboration between therapist, parent, and child as a way to navigate emotional challenges. Her mission is to empower clients to discover their own coping language and techniques, and together create the tools to be flexible and adaptive to ever-changing stressors.
Courtney is a registered clinical social work intern who received her bachelor’s degree in Family and Child Studies from Montclair State University, and her Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California. For the past 10 years, she has been dedicated to providing psychosocial support to children and families experiencing illness, injury, and loss in the hospital setting as a child life specialist.
Courtney works with children and teens who are struggling with their behavior, expressing and handling their emotions, or having difficulty with life stressors such as school-related issues, adjustment challenges, anger, chronic illness, grief and loss, and anxiety disorders. She incorporates a variety of psychodynamic modalities, such as play therapy and cognitive behavior therapy to help connect, build therapeutic relationships, and allow open expression. She employs playful and creative interventions to keep children and teens motivated and engaged.
In her free time, Courtney likes to travel and explore different cultures. She is an avid dog lover, and cherishes time with her pups.
