About Dawn
One of the founding principles of how I live and work is that the stories we tell about ourselves are powerful.
They’re so powerful they inform our self worth, our behaviour, our interactions with others – pretty much everything. Yet no story can ever give the whole picture. In ACT we look for what the most helpful stories are, and the ones getting in our way.
Here are three stories about me. All of these stories are true – in that I haven’t lied about my qualifications, experience or interests! Equally, they are also just aspects of a whole. I hope they are helpful.
Story 1: Professional Me
Dawn Johnson works as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice, offering therapy, supervision, training, and consultation. She previously had a long career in the NHS and has extensive experience of adapting and differentiating ACT and other contextual behavioural interventions to work with people with intellectual disabilities, neuro-diverse populations, and adults with severe and enduring mental health problems.
Story 2: Personal Me
Dawn lives in Birmingham with her partner and enormous puppy (a wriggly collie cross). When she needs to reset her body and mind she dives into the nearest lake for a swim, and loves how full of life, accepting and welcoming the open water swimming community is.
Her kitchen is full of distilling jars of potent plum gin, that she never drinks, but hates to see the glut from her garden go to waste, and there’s only so much jam you can make. Apostrophes confuse her and she’s not afraid to say it.
Story 3: Being Human!
Dawn uses ACT every day of her life: in work, in the kitchen, with family, with herself. It’s not a model or a blueprint to tick a goal off a list. It’s a way of living. She sees so many people who beat themselves up for the thoughts they have, or consider themselves broken, and she wishes they knew that they’re not broken, they’re human! And, what’s more, all those painful thoughts and feelings are trying to tell them something really important (they’re just going about it in a less-than-pleasant way!).
She’d like to get ACT into the water supply, so it becomes part of how we all go about life. She’s on her way to doing this through her therapy, supervision and training work, and the publication of her first book, but she knows there’s a way to go yet!
My Services
Click on the boxes below to see the services I offer, and how we can work together
