Kristine Donaldson, LCSW

Kristine Donaldson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in Illinois with 14 years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, and a wide range of life challenges. Kristine aims to build a respectful relationship that makes it easier to talk about hard things.

She works with practical approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and mindfulness-based methods. In sessions she helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, practice new coping skills, and learn ways to respond differently to strong emotions. Sessions often include skill-building and straightforward strategies to manage day-to-day struggles.

Kristine also addresses issues such as burnout and compassion fatigue, addictions, grief, parenting strain, relationship and communication problems, and workplace stress. She supports people dealing with obsessive thoughts, panic, mood challenges, and questions about life purpose and self-worth. Her approach is practical and focused on what clients want to change.

She uses collaborative planning to set goals and choose which methods to try first. Kristine explains options clearly and adjusts plans as people make progress or face setbacks. The work is paced to match each person’s needs and comfort.

Sessions are offered through video, phone, live chat, and text-based messaging, and are arranged to suit clients in Illinois. She conducts therapy in English and follows a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Kristine commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help people identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviors. CBT sessions online often include homework, thought records, and step-by-step skill practice that translate well to video or messaging formats.

She also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) strategies to teach emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. DBT skills can be taught and practiced in short phone check-ins or through text-based reminders to support use between sessions.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Kristine collaborates with each person to pick methods that match their goals, comfort, and daily life. Plans are adjusted over time based on what helps and what doesn’t, so the approach evolves with the client.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and screen sharing for worksheets. Phone sessions can be a better fit when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging make brief check-ins, skill coaching, and ongoing support easier to fit into a busy day. These options make it possible to keep continuity of care while working around work, family, and travel.