Dr. Brett Murphy-Dawson

was raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and attended Newcomb College, Tulane University where she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in sociology in 1993.  She continued her education in New Orleans by attending Tulane University School of Medicine.  After marrying her best friend, Gary Dawson, MD, she and her husband moved to Pittsburgh, PA where Dr. Murphy-Dawson completed her adult psychiatry residency and child psychiatry fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. 

Since residing in Columbus, GA as of 2004, Dr. Murphy-Dawson dutifully served this community through her time at New Horizons Behavioral Health (NHBH) for ten years as a psychiatrist for both children and adults.  After retiring as medical director from NHBH in March of 2015 to spend more time with her family, she has become passionate about educating her community on the prevention of child sexual abuse. She has had the privilege of training hundreds of adults in how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse through the Stewards of Children training.  She is humbled by God calling her to be actively involved in primary prevention medicine as she works diligently in the community and surrounding areas to protect all children from such trauma.  This work has largely been done through the Building Toward Wellness Community Coalition in which she is a board member.  In addition, she is excited to be on the board of Micah’s Promise, an organization that promotes education, prevention and restoration of stolen childhoods from the devastation of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.  Dr. Murphy-Dawson is also passionate about educating the community on the unique opportunities afforded to young men at the Emanuel Preparatory School of Math and Science where she serves on their school board.  In 2020, Dr. Murphy-Dawson became an associate professor at Morehouse School of Medicine and is looking forward to sharing her knowledge of human trafficking with medical students such that they can identify such patients who unfortunately are often invisible to the naked eye