About Donna
Donna Smith is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) based in New York with 35 years of experience. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, depression, relationship and intimacy concerns, and complications from trauma and addiction. She also supports those dealing with parenting strain, anger, low self-esteem, bipolar mood challenges, and ADHD.
Donna takes a collaborative, down-to-earth approach. She listens first, and then works with each person to set clear, manageable goals.
How Donna works
Sessions focus on practical steps rather than jargon. Creative writing is one personal interest she sometimes weaves into sessions when it fits a person’s goals. Her style draws on several well-known approaches, including acceptance and commitment methods, client-centered listening, cognitive behavior techniques, dialectical behavior skills, and emotionally focused work.
Those tools are used to build coping skills, improve communication, and process difficult feelings. Donna aims to match methods to what feels right for each visitor. Clients describe a steady, guiding presence rather than a directive style.
She frames therapy as a partnership and emphasizes small, achievable changes. Over her career she has worked in a variety of mental health settings, which shaped a flexible way of responding to different life challenges. Sessions can address a broad set of concerns such as compassion fatigue, family of origin issues, attachment and codependency, gender dysphoria, abandonment, aging challenges, and forgiveness work.
Donna offers an empathic, practical path toward clearer thinking and steadier coping.
Donna lists 10 ways of working on the entry:
What Donna works with
The areas below are the ones Donna selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LMHC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 35 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | New York |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How her approaches translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts without getting stuck in them and then act on values that matter. It is useful for anxiety, stress, and navigating life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches practical exercises to change patterns of thinking and behavior that keep problems going, often helpful for depression and anxiety. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) focuses on understanding and reshaping emotional responses in relationships and close connections.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Donna will talk with each person about goals and preferences and suggest methods to try. The plan is collaborative - she adjusts techniques based on what helps the person make steady progress.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can fit into a short break or be easier when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief check-ins, skill practice, or ongoing support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, family, or other demands.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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