About Donda
Donda Goodson is a licensed counselor practicing in Alabama. She brings more than three decades of experience helping people who feel overwhelmed, stuck, or unsure how to manage everyday life. She speaks plainly and focuses on practical steps people can use between sessions to feel steadier.
She earned an undergraduate degree from Auburn University in Vocational Rehabilitation and a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Background and approach
She holds a Licensed Mental Health Counselor credential and also lists Licensed Professional Counselor, reflecting long experience in clinical settings. Most of her work has been in mental health agencies and independent practice. Over the years she has supported people with anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, anger, and substance use concerns.
She has helped people managing ADHD, autism spectrum challenges, chronic illness, and grief related to loss or life changes. Her style mixes client-centered listening with practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy. Sessions often include talking through current problems, identifying unhelpful patterns, and trying simple exercises to reduce distress.
She aims to help people set realistic goals and build skills they can use every day. People who choose her tend to want straightforward help and clear steps. She works with parents who feel frustrated, adults coping with life transitions, and those trying to maintain sobriety.
Her approach is steady, experienced, and focused on small changes that add up.
How online therapy and practical approaches work together
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts while choosing actions that match their values; it can be useful for anxiety, depression, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying thinking patterns that feed distress and testing new behaviors to reduce symptoms and improve daily functioning. Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to lower reactivity and build calm during stressful moments.Choosing the right approach is part of the process, and the therapist works collaboratively to find the best fit. She will discuss goals, try techniques, and adjust the plan based on what helps. That shared process means techniques can be mixed and tailored to the person's needs and preferences.
Online therapy formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for face-to-face conversation and skill practice. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a camera is not desirable. Live chat and text messaging allow shorter check-ins, quick skill reminders, and flexible contact between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and different day-to-day needs.
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