Therapy that meets you with compassion, helps you break painful cycles, and opens the door to real connection.

High-impact, trauma-informed counseling for high-functioning couples and individuals in Burke (Fairfax County), Virginia

Telehealth available throughout Virginia

START MAKING CHOICES THAT REFLECT

who you are.

Stop acting like someone you’re not.

Oh you have tried the breathing exercises…

✓The meditation apps and positive affirmations

✓That therapist guy on Instagram your friend told you about

✓ The hot baths with essential oils

✓Yoga, the gym, journaling…even talk therapy

You may have read the books, tuned into the podcasts, spent hours doom scrolling…researching.

You understand your trauma, your relationship, your anxiety, even all those tired and unyielding thoughts and reactions.

But you know what no one told you?

You can’t breathe your pain into the ether and that guy on Instagram isn’t cutting it.

There’s another way and it’s more powerful than you can imagine.

Reach out for a consultation

Close-up of a smiling woman with red hair, glasses, and a turquoise necklace, wearing a black blazer and a white top.

Hey - I’m Dawn and I am so glad you are here.

You may be here because you want to feel better, and you don't want to waste any more time figuring out how.

I get it.

This is a place for those who are:

  • Carrying shit that isn’t yours to carry (and maybe never was)

  • Exhausted by anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and proving your worth

  • Questioning if this relationship is ever going to work and the “what do we do now” spiral

  • Betrayal and Discernment for Couples that feels too much to manage alone.

  • For the strong one, the helper, the dependable one, the one who had it all figured out but is now completely burned out

  • Questioning if those old narratives need a system update. (Plot twist: If you need to ask, it likely does)

This is therapy that actually gets somewhere, and with someone who gets it.

This is the work that makes a difference. 

Let’s just call it; therapy can be really freaking hard…and yet so is living in a way that doesn’t serve you or your relationship.

Come as you are…your story matters. Your pain matters. Your relationship matters. I’m not here to analyze you, I’m here to equip you.

More about me

You’ve been holding it together -

But underneath this façade you’ve carefully built, there’s more going on than you know how to face alone.

It shows up in every part of your life. At work, in your relationships, in the way you speak to yourself, and yet the issues you’re dealing with seem like such a tangled mess that you’re not sure where to even start.

It’s time to live in a way that aligns with your goals so you can show up for yourself.

Like really show up. No apology. No invisibility. No expectations to meet.

Just genuine, authentic you.

Reach out here for consultation

Dawn Weiss Smith, LCSW, trauma and couples therapy in Northern Virginia

Are you ready to live like you mean it?

  • Schedule a free consultation here. We can discuss what’s bringing you to therapy and decide whether we’re a good fit to work together.

    Then we will schedule our first session, set goals, decide on frequency and start right where you are charting a course forward.

    I offer virtual sessions across Virginia and in person in Burke, VA.

    For Couples, we meet at an initial session, get some background and set some goals. I will then meet with each of you individually at the next session and then we regroup, set up a schedule and get busy.

    We stay focused, present and use the time to identify patterns, move with intention toward our goals and tweak along the way toward healing.

    More about Couples here.

  • In our sessions, the focus will be on recognizing the patterns in your life, how you show up and how you want to feel.

    You will begin to understand how to respond, recognize triggers, avoid shut down and painful conflict and identify what’s keeping you where you are. It may be unearthing some burdens that aren’t yours to carry anymore (and maybe never were) or untangling some of those old narratives that said you weren’t good enough - or safe.

    It’s important to me that you feel valued and comfortable. That’s why I’m intentional about the clients I work with and want you to feel the same. If I can’t be that person, I will make sure you have someone who can. Your wellness is vital to me.

    This isn’t therapy-as-usual. It’s therapy that respects your time, energy, and capacity—while helping you actually get somewhere, and I’m damn good at that.

    Reach out here to connect

  • It might be uncomfortable to confront the things you’ve been avoiding, but I’ll be here to remind you what’s on the other side of that discomfort:

    Confidence and Healing (like really healing)

    Healthy, thriving relationships

    Dynamic shifts and a deeper understanding of who you are.

    You can expect to feel heard, seen and motivated to dig in and live like you mean it.

    More about how - here