About Donna
Donna Iverson is a licensed clinical social worker in Illinois with more than three decades of practice. She brings a steady, compassionate presence to conversations about stress, anxiety, family strain, grief, and parenting. Donna approaches clients as the experts on their own lives and looks for strengths to build on.
Over 36 years she has helped people cope with loss and major life changes. Her background includes work related to adoption and foster care, hospice and end-of-life counseling, first responder and veteran issues, and disaster-related recovery.
Background and approach
She also supports people facing personality challenges or wanting coaching to improve self-esteem and daily functioning. Donna uses straightforward methods in sessions. She leans on client-centered work to follow what matters most to each person.
She draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to identify unhelpful thoughts and try different ways of thinking and behaving. Mindfulness practices and motivational interviewing are tools she uses when they fit a person’s goals. These approaches can help people manage strong feelings, strengthen motivation for change, and practice small skills between sessions.
She has experience providing therapy online and finds it can make help easier to reach. Donna aims to make the first step less intimidating and to support people as they sort through changes and pursue a more satisfying life.
Practical approaches for online therapy
Donna uses client-centered therapy to follow what matters most to each person. That means sessions begin by asking about priorities, listening closely, and shaping work around the client’s goals. This approach helps when someone needs space to tell their story and identify what to change.She also draws on cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions. CBT offers clear exercises and small experiments to test new ways of thinking. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and shifting patterns that get in the way of daily life.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. Donna will talk with clients about goals and preferences, and try methods that fit each person. Together they adjust the plan as progress and priorities become clearer.
Online formats add practical benefits. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and nonverbal cues. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a quicker check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging suit short check-ins, written reflection, or people who prefer typing. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into busy schedules, while still allowing the therapist and client to do meaningful work.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Grief
Also works with
- Adoption and foster care
- Coaching
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- First responder issues
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Self esteem
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 36 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English