Dr. Nicole Donato

Greetings! My name is Dr. Nicole Donato. However, please feel free to call me Nicole. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a life-long lover of knowledge evident by my two Master degrees and PhD in Psychology. Additionally, I knew as a teenage girl that I wanted to become a therapist. Thus, since 2006 I have been licensed in the state of New Jersey as a Licensed Professional Counselor. My career has taken many twists and turns. I have worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital as well as provided therapy services on an outpatient basis. Also, I have been employed as a social worker for a foster family agency. Currently I am a college professor. I absolutely love teaching! It is extremely gratifying to see students have a lightbulb moment of understanding occur. When I started college, I never dreamed of a day that technology would offer a conduit upon which effective therapy services could be provided. Thus, I look forward to working collaboratively with clients through the online platform to heal from their emotional disturbances. How therapy works is often times shrouded in mystery. Thus, I would like to demystify the therapy process. From the person-centered therapy perspective, I aim to create a therapeutic alliance with my clients. This means that clients can expect for me to be genuine and empathetic. “Walk a mile in my shoes” is an apt saying that expresses how I work to understand my client’s life experiences. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is another theoretical orientation that I use to assist clients. The premise of CBT entails identifying activating events. These activating events may cause negative feelings when there are negative self-talk messages that a person tells themselves about the events. Thus, I work with clients to help them identify their negative self-talk messages that may be contributing to their emotional disturbances. Additionally, I draw therapeutic techniques from motivational interviewing and the psychodynamic approach. I look forward to working with you! Nicole