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 social prescriptions that help us all cultivate community. 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 family.

When I’m not serving as a psychotherapist or teaching, you’ll find me hanging at farmers markets, savoring local Nature, and growing in multiple greater Seattle gardens.

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 field of therapeutic horticulture. 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 Community Education classes through Portland Community College.

Leadership positions include volunteer roles with the American Psychologist Association, Washington State Psychologist Association, Oregon Psychological Association, and Columbia River Eating Disorder Network.

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 participate in sangha with a variety of vipassana, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhist communities.