Donna Rippelmeyer, LCSW

Donna Rippelmeyer is a licensed clinical social worker with 35 years of practice in Nevada. She helps people who are feeling stressed, anxious, or weighed down by past trauma. She also supports clients navigating LGBTQ concerns and sexual issues. Donna aims to make the first step feel a little easier by offering a calm, nonjudgmental place to talk.

Her approach is practical and straightforward. She uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people spot unhelpful thinking and try new behaviors. She also draws on client-centered therapy to keep sessions focused on each person's priorities and pace.

Sessions focus on clear goals and small, manageable steps. Donna works with clients to identify what gets in the way of feeling better and practices skills in the session that can be used between visits. This can include strategies for managing panic, obsessive thoughts, mood shifts, and stress reactions.

She has worked across many concern areas, including aging and geriatric issues, gender dysphoria, infidelity, men's issues, personality disorders, postpartum depression, SAD, and sexual assault and abuse. Donna brings long experience to complex and sensitive topics and aims to respond with practical suggestions and steady attention.

Dona encourages people to move at their own speed. She helps clients set realistic steps, tracks progress, and adjusts the plan when something isn’t working. The goal is clearer thinking and better day-to-day coping, reached together.

Approaches and what online sessions can do

Donna uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors; this approach is often used for anxiety, panic, obsessive thinking, and mood concerns. She also practices client-centered therapy, which prioritizes the client's own goals and pace and focuses on listening and understanding rather than directing the conversation.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work itself. Donna collaborates with each person to test what helps most, adjusts methods as needed, and balances skill-building with open listening. The process is shared so treatment fits the client's goals and preferences.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation for skill practice, phone sessions can be a simpler option with lower bandwidth, live chat works for shorter check-ins, and messaging supports ongoing notes and brief updates between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules, manage energy on difficult days, and keep momentum between meetings.