About

Thanks for your interest! Learn more about my individual psychotherapy services (for residents of Washington & Oregon, as well as those in these 42 states) or view my current groups via Psychology Today.

Briefly, I’m a clinician and ecopsychologist with a passion for nature-based interventions, positive psychology practices, and green social prescriptions that help us cultivate resilience, especially in midlife. On a personal note, I’m a long-term Pacific Northwest resident (rural to densely urban), first-generation college student, and an adoptive mother with a neurodiverse, multi-ethnic, interfaith family.

When I’m not serving as a psychotherapist or teaching with community partners including Portland Community College and Seattle College, you’ll find me hanging at farmers markets, savoring local Nature, and growing in community.

Qualifications and education (prior to 2022, as Dr. Dawnn R. McWatters, Psy.D.):

• Licensed Psychologist – Washington State #PY00003711 & Oregon #2195, with Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology APIT #15052
• Pacific University School of Professional Psychology – Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology (2006); President’s Award of Academic Excellence

Professional experience highlights:

In the Portland-metro area, I maintained a full-time independent private practice from 2007 – 2019 as a licensed psychologist specializing in mindfulness-based interventions and Binge Eating Disorder treatment, before I began a sabbatical (extended by the COVID-19 pandemic) in the fields of therapeutic horticulture and ecopsychology while operating a multi-sensory herb micro nursery. Previously, I was contracted as the primary mental health services provider at Washington State University-Vancouver’s Student Counseling Center. Prior to graduate school, I provided supportive services to individuals in the justice system.

I’ve served as an adjunct instructor at colleges including Oregon State University and Pacific University School of Graduate Psychology, and facilitated a variety of professional presentations (most recently, a Therapeutic Gardening workshop at UW Botanic Gardens and at the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association’s annual conference), in addition to current teaching roles in Community Education at several local community colleges.

Over the past twenty-five years, I’ve participated in a variety of secular mindfulness programs, including intensive professional training from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), Dr. Jan Chozen Bays (Mindful Eating), and Dr. Christopher Germer & Dr. Kristin Neff (Mindful Self-Compassion). I am also deeply grateful for opportunities to explore Buddhist psychology and participate in sangha with a variety of vipassana, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhist communities.