- Years in practice
- 31
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- California
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Trauma and abuse
- Focus
- Grief
About Dona
Dona Abbinante is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 31 years of experience working in California. She helps people manage stress, anxiety, grief, trauma and abuse, and challenges related to parenting and depression. Dona approaches each person as the expert on their own life and looks for strengths to build on.
She listens for practical patterns that get in the way of daily functioning. Dona offers down-to-earth guidance and helps people develop simple skills to cope with panic, low mood, and social anxiety.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on clear steps clients can try between meetings to test what works for them. Dona also supports people dealing with the fallout of divorce and separation, isolation and loneliness, and post-traumatic stress. She uses straightforward talk and goal-driven problem solving to address mood disorders and women's issues.
The emphasis is on manageable changes rather than jargon or lengthy theory. Over three decades of practice have given her experience with a wide range of life transitions and losses. That background helps her tailor suggestions to the moment someone is facing.
She respects that each person moves at their own pace. Clients can expect an empathetic, calm presence combined with practical tools. Dona frames the work as a partnership: she offers options and people choose what feels useful.
Her focus is on helping people find clearer routines, steadier moods, and more confidence in parenting choices.
What Dona works with
Everything Dona lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Dona helps people with.
Practical approaches and online care that fit a parent’s life
Many clients respond well to brief, skill-based approaches that focus on what to try next. For example, behavior-focused work concentrates on identifying small routine changes and new coping strategies that reduce anxiety, panic, and low mood. It helps people build habits that improve daily functioning.Another helpful method focuses on processing difficult events and emotions tied to trauma and grief. This work pairs steady support with step-by-step methods to reduce overwhelm and strengthen coping over time. It is useful for people facing loss, post-traumatic stress, or the emotional strain of separation.
Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist listens to goals and offers options, then adjusts based on what feels most helpful. Clients and the therapist decide together which strategies to try and when to change course.
Online therapy makes it easier to fit sessions into a busy life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversations without travel, phone sessions need less bandwidth and can work when video is difficult, and live chat or text-based messaging are useful for quick check-ins or when typing out thoughts feels easier. These options offer flexibility so people can keep momentum between sessions and use tools that match their daily routine.
Questions people ask about Dona
What concerns does Dona commonly help with?
Dona works with stress, anxiety, grief, trauma and abuse, parenting challenges, and depression. She also addresses divorce and separation, isolation, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress, social anxiety, mood disorders, and women's issues.
What is her approach to therapy sessions?
She listens for strengths and helps people build practical coping skills. Sessions emphasize clear, manageable steps to try between meetings.
How much professional experience does she have?
She has 31 years of professional work experience providing mental health support in California.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is a LCSW, which stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and practices in California.
Can sessions be held in other languages or for international clients?
Sessions are offered in English. She is not currently accepting international clients.
Which session formats are available?
People may meet by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging depending on what fits their needs.
How does cost and billing work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability. Sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
What is the process to get started?
Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button and completing a short matching questionnaire. Then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
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