Connie Dawson, LMHC, RPT-S, CAS

Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor
Certified Autism Specialist
Brainspotting Certified
Qualified Supervisor for Mental Health and Marriage and Family Therapy

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