Teresa 'Terri" Dawe

Teresa "Terri" Dawe, LCSW helps people who feel stuck, isolated, or overwhelmed by relationship strain. She brings a calm, direct style and decades of experience to conversations about self-worth, work stress, and feeling alone.

Terri uses a family systems framework to look at how past patterns shape current life. She combines that with practical tools from cognitive behavioral approaches and motivational interviewing. Sessions include straightforward psychoeducation and hands-on strategies people can try between meetings.

Her background includes a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University and a Post Master’s Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy from the Family Institute. She has 34 years of clinical experience in outpatient settings and has supervised clinicians in training. Terri also spent 16 years managing Employee Assistance Programs and consulting with unions and human resources.

She has worked with people dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, mood disorders, and common relationship problems like communication breakdown and commitment concerns. Terri has experience with domestic violence-related work through the Duluth Model training she completed while at the Family Institute.

In sessions she focuses on clear, collaborative steps that help people gain insight and make change. She aims to hold space without judgment while helping clients build skills for better relationships, clearer life purpose, and greater self-love.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work

Terri commonly uses family systems thinking to map how early relationships shape current patterns. This approach helps identify recurring roles and interaction styles that contribute to feeling alone or stuck, and it guides practical changes in how people relate to others.

She also draws on cognitive behavioral techniques, which focus on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing small behavior changes. Motivational interviewing is used to help people notice what matters most to them and build motivation for steps toward those values.

Choosing the right approach is a shared process. Terri will discuss goals, preferences, and everyday constraints, and then recommend ways to work together that feel sensible and doable. Clients and therapist adjust methods as progress unfolds.

If you are considering online sessions, confirm the current session options before booking since formats are not specified here. Online work can make therapy easier to fit into busy schedules, allow for shorter check-ins when time is limited, and let people meet without commuting. It can also support steady work on relationship patterns and feelings of isolation across weeks of focused conversations.