Parenting a neurodivergent child wasn’t in the manual.
Good thing you don’t need a manual; you just need someone who gets it.
I’m Dawn Van Berkel: therapist, certified parent coach, and a fellow human who knows what it’s like to be up at 2am Googling “how to stop meltdowns without losing your mind.”
If you're parenting a child with autism (diagnosed, maybe-diagnosed, or “we’re-figuring-it-out”), you're probably juggling therapies, emails from school, sensory overload (theirs and yours), and wondering if you're messing it all up.
You're not. You're just carrying more than most parents ever have to—and I’m here to help you carry it differently.
What I do
(besides drink too much coffee)
I help parents of autistic and neurodivergent kids:
Feel less overwhelmed and more confident
Understand what’s really going on behind the behavior
Respond in ways that build connection, not just compliance
Breathe again. Like, actually breathe.
This isn’t therapy for your child. It’s coaching for you.
Practical tools. Emotional support. A space that’s just yours.
You’re not “too much.”
You’re just in the middle of everything.I know what it’s like to hit midlife and wonder, “Whose life is this and where did I go?”
If you’re navigating anxiety, perimenopause, divorce, burnout, or just the general “what is happening to me?” feeling that hits in your 40s and 50s, you are not alone, and you are definitely not broken.
Credentials, Trainings, & Services
Licensed Professional Counselor, Virginia (LPC)
National Certified Counselor (NCC)
PCI® Certified Parent Coach
Additional certifications / trainings (trauma, relational therapy, hormonal health, etc.)
EDUCATION & LICENSURE
Trauma‑informed care
Internal Family Systems (IFS) / parts work
Emotionally Focused / Attachment-based theory
Somatic awareness / mind‑body integration
Parent coaching models
Hormonal & midlife women’s health awareness
KEY TRAININGS & APPROACHES
Women in midlife / perimenopause / hormonal transitions
Identity shifts after major life changes (empty nest, divorce, career pivot, loss)
Parenting children with neurodiversity, behavioral challenges, special needs
Couples & family relationships
Anxiety, depression, overwhelm, self‑esteem, boundary issues
AREAS OF FOCUS
Individual therapy for women
Parent coaching
Couples / relational work
Hormonal health & life transition support
Online therapy (across Virginia)
In‑person sessions (Leesburg, VA)
SERVICES OFFERED
Therapy for Women in the Middle Years
Take off the mask and say what you really feel
Untangle years (or decades) of doing what was expected
Grieve what never happened—and start dreaming again
Stop shrinking, apologizing, or second-guessing
Regulate your nervous system, your emotions, and your calendar
Midlife is not the end. It’s the messy, meaningful middle where you get to redefine everything.
And you don’t have to do it alone.
You might be thinking…
“I should have figured this out by now.”
“I’m tired of taking care of everyone but me.”
“I feel invisible, exhausted, and way too emotional.”
“Something has to change—but I don’t know what.”
That’s exactly where therapy can help.
I provide a compassionate, practical space for you to slow down, feel seen, and start reconnecting with yourself—one honest conversation at a time.
Therapy isn’t about fixing you.
It’s about coming home to yourself with clarity, calm, and maybe even joy.