Donda Goodson
Practical support for parents and individuals
- Credentials
- LMHC, LPC
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed in
- Alabama, Florida, Virginia
- Languages
- English
- Format
- Online sessions
About Donda
Donda Goodson is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor who helps parents and individuals manage everyday struggles. She draws on more than three decades of clinical experience to guide people facing stress, anxiety, grief, depression, addiction concerns, ADHD, bipolar symptoms, and parenting challenges.
Her style is straightforward and practical, aimed at helping a worried parent figure out next steps and cope in the moment. She holds a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and studied Vocational Rehabilitation at Auburn University.
Background and approach
Donda earned her counseling license in 1992 through the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling and carries credentials as LMHC and LPC. Much of her background comes from work in mental health agencies and independent practice. In sessions she uses client-centered approaches and cognitive behavioral techniques.
That means she listens closely, helps people spot unhelpful thoughts, and practices small behavior changes that can make daily life easier. She also draws on acceptance and commitment, mindfulness, and dialectical behavior methods when useful.
Donda has worked with a wide age range, from children to older adults, and has helped people dealing with trauma, parenting stress, addiction recovery, autism spectrum concerns, blended family issues, and chronic illness. Her focus is on clear steps a person can try between sessions.
People seeking practical, experienced support in Alabama often find her steady, calm presence helpful when navigating life changes, improving communication, or managing intense emotions.
Therapeutic approaches and online options
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening without judgment and helping people feel understood, which can be helpful for parents and individuals who need a steady, accepting space to talk. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps identify unhelpful thoughts and practice small behavior changes that reduce anxiety, manage mood, and improve daily routines.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences and then try techniques that fit those needs. Sessions are collaborative, and methods can be adjusted as progress is made.
Online therapy using video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging offers practical flexibility for busy families and individuals. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions work when video is not possible, and chat or text can provide shorter, frequent check-ins or support between longer meetings. These options make it easier to fit care into a parent's schedule or to continue work during life transitions.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.
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.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed
- Alabama, Florida, Virginia
- Languages
- English
Next step
Talk to Donda
- Takes a few minutes
- Nothing to set up just to look
- Stop at any point