Richard "Rick" Dawson, LCSW

Richard "Rick" Dawson is an Oregon-based LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) with 33 years of clinical experience. After a period of retirement beginning just before the pandemic, he chose to return to active practice in 2023, driven by a long-standing passion for therapeutic work and a desire to respond to growing community need.

Before entering the helping professions, he spent his 20s and 30s as a working musician. His counseling career began in 1992 at age 39, initially serving in the inpatient psychiatric department of a general hospital in Nevada while completing his counseling degree. He remained in that inpatient setting for about 15 years, providing individual, family, and group therapy.

In 2004 he launched a private practice while continuing hospital work. Around 2009 he transitioned to a stand-alone psychiatric hospital and later practiced in a community mental health clinic and in hospice care. For the decade prior to his brief retirement he worked as a private-practice outpatient therapist embedded in a family medical clinic in suburban Portland, Oregon.

He has substantial experience helping men and women of varying ages with depression, stress and anxiety, addictions, relationship challenges, and grief and loss. His approach emphasizes creating an open, nonjudgmental environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared freely. He aims to build a collaborative therapeutic partnership focused on problem-solving, with the goal of supporting clients toward a more rewarding and fulfilling life. Taking the first step toward change requires courage, and he offers steady support throughout that process.