About Donna
Education
I earned my Master of Science (MS) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1999. UNCG’s Counselor Education Graduate Program, a highly clinical program, is consistently ranked among the top 5 Counselor Education programs in the country.
It was there, in my late 20s, that I knew I’d finally discovered my life’s mission and purpose ⎯ and my sincere dedication to and love for my work has continued to grow since that time. Now, more than 20 years into my Counseling career, I find myself looking forward to each day that’s filled with client sessions ⎯ and I believe my enthusiasm, commitment, and ability to connect easily and quickly with clients shines through.
I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor (LCMHCS*), a National Certified Counselor (NCC), and an EMDR-Certified Therapist.
*Effective January 1, 2020, Senate Bill 537 was passed in the NC Senate and House and was signed into law by NC Governor Roy Cooper on November 6, 2019. This Bill changed the name of my profession from LPCS (Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor) to LCMHCS (Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor).
Experience
Since 1998, I have specialized in grief and loss; caregiving; life transitions; depression; anxiety; relationship challenges; and trauma. In addition to ‘traditional’ counseling approaches, I am trained and Certified in EMDR and use it daily, finding it to be immensely effective, powerful, efficient, and all-around amazing ⎯ particularly when combined with my natural ability to develop strong rapport and trusting relationships with clients.
I have supervised graduate students and other counselors since 2000 and, as an LPCS, continue to provide Clinical Supervision to provisionally-licensed counselors (LPCAs) working toward full licensure and to other fully-licensed clinicians seeking to advance, broaden, and strengthen their counseling skills.
After many years as a clinician and clinical director, I took a leap of faith in summer 2016 to leave the familiarity of an organization I loved in order to pursue a different dream: opening my own Private Counseling Practice! So much of my encouragement in making this enormous career transition was inspired by the thousands and thousands of courageous, determined, and resilient clients I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with throughout my career.
Shortly after making this immense transition, I knew it was the right move at this stage in my career - and I’ve remained immensely grateful and busy, seeing 30-40 clients weekly and continuing to intensely value this meaningful work with such insightful, brave, tenacious, and dedicated clients.
Counseling Approach
I bring my natural warmth, collaborative approach, many years as a therapist and as a supervisor, commitment to professional growth, and many sessions provided (nearly 9,000 individual counseling sessions and more than 700 group counseling sessions between Fall 2000 and Spring 2016 at Hospice & Palliative CareCenter and nearly 6,000 additional individual counseling sessions since opening my private practice) to my daily work with clients.
People and their stories never cease to amaze, challenge, and inspire… I never tire of listening - of hearing; of seeking a broader understanding; and of helping clients process trauma, loss, and grief as they work to live their healthiest and most fulfilling lives. I continue to learn something valuable and meaningful every single day from the insightful and courageous clients with whom I’m fortunate enough to collaborate.
My extensive experience with death-related grief and loss and with both complicated grief and complex trauma enables me to help clients with many other types of losses, as well ⎯ and I bring that perspective, understanding, and insight to my private practice. Because death-related grief knows no boundaries, the population with whom I have worked is extremely diverse on many levels: age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental health history, physical health, spiritual/religious affiliation, etc. Since 1998, I have worked with clients who are at the most vulnerable points in their lives ⎯ and I remain inspired by the bravery and determination exhibited every day. I am grateful for the privilege of helping clients discover or rekindle their own resilience and strength.
I believe counseling is a process that empowers clients to identify strengths, coping skills, patterns, and themes ⎯ and to make changes in their lives enabling them to live more fully and to find relief, meaning, and purpose.
I welcome the opportunity to discover if we might work well together in the safe, non-judgmental, and trusting space of counseling.
“Donna is a kind, compassionate and caring counselor. In a difficult situation, she does not tell you what to do, but gently opens your eyes to the different possible options and walks you through them.”
#lovewins #socialjustice #civilrights
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned - everywhere is war.”
“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.”
