Danielle McDonald
Practical, compassionate support for parents and adults
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Experience
- 17 years
- Licensed in
- New York
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Danielle
Danielle McDonald is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 17 years of experience in mental health and substance use settings. She trained at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work and has held roles in inpatient and outpatient treatment. Danielle takes a straightforward, down-to-earth approach that puts people at ease right away.
She is easy-going and collaborative in sessions. Danielle listens with empathy and uses plain language to talk through problems.
Background and approach
She draws on humor and warmth while staying focused on practical steps parents and individuals can try between meetings. Danielle often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Client-Centered Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy, and adapts methods to fit each person. Sessions begin with a clear conversation about what brought someone in and what they hope to change.
From there she helps set short-term, realistic goals that feel achievable. Her work covers common parenting and family concerns as well as stress, anxiety, addictions, depression, grief, trauma, ADHD, and issues around identity. She also addresses attachment, blended family dynamics, communication problems, and fatherhood issues among other related topics.
Danielle offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to match different needs and schedules. She encourages people to take the first step by completing a brief match questionnaire and setting up sessions that fit their life.
Therapeutic approaches adapted for online care
Client-Centered Therapy focuses on building a trusting relationship and putting the person's priorities first. It helps when someone needs a calm space to be heard and to explore what matters most to them.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and actions connect. It offers clear tools and small exercises to change unhelpful patterns and is often used for anxiety, depression, and stress-related problems.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Danielle will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and will tailor methods to match what feels most helpful. That decision is made together and can shift as progress is made.
Online care using video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging gives flexibility for busy families or people with tight schedules. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent, try techniques in daily life, and fit sessions around school or work. Licensed professionals can use these formats to deliver the same therapeutic techniques they would in person while adjusting activities and homework to the online setting.
Client-Centered Therapy
The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the link between what you think, how you feel, and what you do. You work on noticing unhelpful patterns and practising steadier responses. It suits online sessions well, because much of the work happens between appointments and can be talked through from anywhere.
Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Attends to the emotions underneath a recurring argument or distance, and to the attachment needs driving them. Often used where a relationship keeps returning to the same painful loop.
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Danielle commonly address?
What is her general therapy style?
What kinds of settings has she worked in?
Where is Danielle licensed to practice?
Which languages are supported for sessions?
What session formats are available online?
How are fees and payment handled?
How do I start working with her?
Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- LGBT
- Men's issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 17 years
- Licensed
- New York
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Danielle
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point