Donna Smith, LMHC

Donna Smith is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with 35 years of experience based in New York. She helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, depression, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, and a range of life transitions. She also supports those coping with ADHD, compassion fatigue, and identity questions such as LGBT or gender dysphoria concerns.

Donna uses straightforward, person-focused work in sessions. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and client-centered skills to help people notice patterns, test new behaviors, and clarify values. Sessions are conversational and practical, with an emphasis on small, doable changes.

Her background includes long experience across mental health settings and a masters-level education in counseling. Donna describes herself as a partner who walks alongside people while they work toward the life they imagine. She blends therapeutic skills with a creative interest in writing to help people tell and reshape their personal story.

In therapy she offers a calm, open approach and aims to build trust and hope. She helps people set clear goals and create steps to reach them, whether improving communication, managing mood, or coping with loss. She invites clients to match therapy to their pace and priorities.

Sessions focus on practical tools and reflective conversation. Donna encourages clients to experiment with new strategies between sessions and brings experience in several evidence-based methods to guide that work.

How Donna’s Approaches Work Online

Donna often draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. CBT is practical and action-oriented, and it can help with anxiety, depression, and stress by breaking problems into small steps.

She also uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people clarify what matters most and take values-driven action despite difficult thoughts or feelings. ACT supports coping with life changes and ongoing emotional pain by building psychological flexibility.

Client-centered methods are part of her way of working too, focusing on listening, empathy, and partnering with each person to set the pace. That approach is useful when someone needs a trusting space to sort through identity, grief, or relationship worries.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences, and what feels most useful. Together they decide which methods to try and adjust the plan over time based on what helps.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video helps keep visual cues and deeper conversation, phone can be easier when internet bandwidth is low, live chat works for brief check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to continue work across changes in schedule.