Donna’s study and training as a psychotherapist came from her long dedication, faith, and deep knowing of the capacity for healing and transformation. From early on, Donna cared about how we lived on the Earth and with each other. Her work as a psychotherapist is grounded in her years as a social activist and spiritual practitioner.

After many years of dedication on a spiritual path of Tibetan Buddhism, Donna’s life took a radical turn when she received a diagnosis of a life threatening illness. Her own early beginnings and all her imagined plans for the future collided and she concentrated her resources on preparation for her dying process infused with the blessings and support she had received from her Buddhist teachers and community.

As the immediacy of her own health condition subsided, she returned her attention more directly to what was calling from her own heart and soul and our relationship with the earth, the elements and our greater community of all beings.

Donna comes to this profession with years of attention on the impact of oppression and living out of balance with the earth as it impacts our soul and psyche. She has a long activist resume that includes many campaigns around peace and justice and sanity in our relationship with the earth.

CV

Education

  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California, 2005

  • Graduate of advanced training program in psychodynamic psychotherapy of The Psychotherapy Institute, 2004

  • Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, John F. Kennedy University, 2001

  • Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, State University of New York, Buffalo, 1982

Clinical Experience

  • Clinical advanced training in multiple approaches to trauma, 2009 to the present - Sensorimotor, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, and Hakomi, (mindfulness, body oriented and attachment focus), EMDR

  • Developed and implemented a mental health program at an Oakland based AIDS clinic, offering psychotherapy services within a multidiscipline team approach to people affected by HIV/AIDS

  • Adjunct faculty at JFK University, teaching and learning about multicultural issues in clinical counseling

  • Provided psychotherapy and supervision with The Pacific Center, a local LGBTQI community center

  • Offered home visits to isolated elders in the San Francisco area

  • Group facilitator for psychotherapy and creative art therapy in multiple community mental health settings including adolescents at an inpatient unit, adults struggling with depression and anxiety, and survivors of suicide

  • Twenty years of combined experience providing emotional and direct support for individuals living with life-threatening illnesses, the dying and the bereaved


She has worked as a massage therapist, a volunteer with the Zen Hospice project, a facilitator within the AIDS community, and a supervisor with interns working within the LGBT community. She made home visits in our Elder community in San Francisco and facilitated groups with adolescents in inpatient hospital settings.

Donna received her Master’s in Counseling Psychology at John Kennedy University in Orinda, CA in 2001 with a specialization in Holistic Studies. She has trained in psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy with the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and The Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley. In addition to working with individuals and couples, Donna has had extensive training and experience working with groups.

Her recent focus has been on Diana Fosha’s AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) that focuses on attachment issues and present felt experience with client and therapist. While working at an Oakland AIDS clinic, Donna’s intention to work with trauma in the body intensified and expanded into continuing training on developmental trauma.

Donna integrates early attachment and developmental trauma work with her clients.