Kristine Donaldson

Kristine Donaldson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Illinois. She brings 14 years of direct clinical experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, depression, anger, and other life challenges. She aims to build a respectful, trusting relationship so clients feel heard and understood from the first session.

Kristine uses practical therapy methods to address real-life problems. She focuses on skills that help with emotion regulation, communication, and coping with change. Sessions tend to emphasize clear steps, home practice, and feedback so people notice progress between meetings.

Her background includes work with trauma, grief, compassion fatigue, addictions, and workplace-related concerns. She also supports people managing mood disorders such as bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder. Kristine attends to patterns like control issues, guilt and shame, and difficulties with self-esteem.

Therapeutic approaches she uses include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Mindfulness Therapy. Those methods are applied in simple, step-by-step ways rather than abstract theory.

Kristine describes the first session as a collaborative meeting to set priorities and practical goals. She encourages small experiments and skill practice between sessions. Her style is straightforward, compassionate, and focused on helping people regain balance in day-to-day life.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Kristine commonly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in her work. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and trying different behaviors to change mood and reactions. DBT teaches concrete skills for managing intense emotions, reducing impulsive behaviors, and improving relationships.

She also incorporates elements of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to address traumatic memories when that fits a client's needs. EMDR involves structured processing of distressing memories to reduce their emotional impact and make them easier to manage in daily life.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and symptom patterns and then recommend methods to try. Clients are invited to give feedback so the plan can be adjusted over time.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the current session options before booking since the biography does not list formats. Online work can make scheduling easier and help therapy fit into a busy week. It can also allow for shorter check-ins, sessions without video, or easier access when travel or work makes in-person visits hard. Licensed professionals will help you pick a format that matches your needs and daily routine.