- Years in practice
- 35
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- New Jersey, New York
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Addictions
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
About Donna
Donna Ray is a licensed clinical social worker with 35 years of experience in New Jersey. She uses straightforward, practical therapy to help people handle stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, and parenting challenges. Donna listens with curiosity and focuses on realistic steps clients can take between sessions.
Her work often centers on improving relationships and communication. She helps people manage mood conditions such as bipolar disorder and disruptive mood dysregulation, and supports those coping with grief or major life changes.
Background and approach
She also addresses trauma, abuse, and intimacy-related concerns in a calm, steady way. Donna draws on approaches that fit each person’s needs, including attachment-based work to understand relationship patterns. She uses client-centered methods to make sessions feel collaborative and CBT to help people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors.
Motivational interviewing and DBT skills are used when decision-making or emotion regulation is a focus. Clients who have experience with adoption, foster care, aging and caregiver stress, autism spectrum concerns, body image, or addiction will find practical, goal-oriented support. She also works with people facing cancer, divorce, or recovery from domestic violence and substance use challenges.
Sessions are offered by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and communication preferences. Getting started involves a short questionnaire and scheduling a first appointment that matches the client’s needs.
What Donna works with
Everything Donna lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Donna helps people with.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Trauma and abuse
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Coping with life changes
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Approaches Donna lists
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Therapeutic approaches for online parenting and life challenges
Donna commonly uses attachment-based work to look at how early relationships shape current patterns. That approach helps people notice how they connect with others and find new ways to repair or change recurring dynamics.She also uses client-centered therapy, which focuses on listening and shaping sessions around the person's goals. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is used to identify unhelpful thoughts and practice concrete behavior changes when managing anxiety, depression, or parenting stress.
Finding the right approach is part of the therapy process. Donna works collaboratively to choose or combine methods based on each person’s goals, needs, and what feels most useful. Together they test what works and adjust over time.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video lets people use visual cues for deeper conversation. Phone can be easier when bandwidth or multitasking is a concern. Live chat or text messaging can provide shorter check-ins or ongoing support between longer sessions. These options help fit therapy into busy schedules and different communication preferences.
Questions people ask about Donna
What concerns does Donna address?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief, anger, self-esteem, and parenting challenges among other issues.
How would you describe her therapy style?
Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth, combining client-centered listening with practical tools from CBT, DBT, and motivational interviewing.
How long has she worked in the field?
Donna brings 35 years of clinical experience working with people on mood, relationship, trauma, and life transition concerns.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an LCSW licensed in New York and New Jersey and practices from New Jersey.
Which languages are supported for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English.
What session formats are available?
Sessions can take place via video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to match different needs and schedules.
How is cost handled for sessions?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
What are the first steps to begin therapy?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a session based on the therapist's availability.
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