Donna Avant , LICSW

Donna Avant is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) with 32 years of experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, grief, relationship challenges, and major life changes. She draws on a solution-focused framework that combines exploration of thoughts and feelings with practical coping skills to help clients build awareness, resilience, and self-confidence. Donna pays attention to how past experiences, current circumstances, and future expectations shape responses to life transitions, and she supports clients in learning from those experiences to move forward with greater clarity.

Her clinical work addresses a broad range of concerns including depression, trauma, caregiver stress, codependency, family and communication problems, hospice and end-of-life issues, workplace difficulties, and questions about life purpose. She incorporates cognitive approaches to identify and reframe dysfunctional thinking alongside client-centered strategies that honor each person’s values and faith when relevant. The aim is to identify sources of distress, strengthen coping resources, and explore meaningful solutions tailored to each situation.

Donna approaches therapy with respect and humility, seeing it as a collaborative process of discovery and growth. She supports clients through transitions, helps them develop healthier patterns of thinking and behavior, and encourages ongoing self-awareness and personal development.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Donna Avant uses client-centered therapy to focus on each person as an individual, creating space for people to express their values, beliefs, and goals while the therapist listens and reflects without judgment. This approach helps with relationship concerns, life transitions, and building self-esteem by centering the client's perspective and priorities.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify patterns of thinking and behavior that contribute to anxiety, depression, or stress. CBT provides practical tools for recognizing unhelpful thoughts, testing them against reality, and developing healthier responses that reduce distress and improve everyday functioning.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey. Donna works collaboratively with clients to determine which methods best match their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting strategies as progress is made and circumstances change.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to engage in that collaboration - through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to schedule sessions around work, caregiving responsibilities, or travel, and they allow individuals to receive support from home or another convenient location while maintaining regular contact with licensed professionals and therapists.