About Donna
Donna Jeane Pappas is a licensed clinical mental health counselor in North Carolina with 32 years of experience. She supports people who feel stuck during life change, grief, or persistent stress. Her work often appeals to those who want practical steps rather than long, deep dives into the past.
Pappas helps clients clarify priorities and set achievable goals. She uses coaching-style conversations alongside counseling tools to build day-to-day habits that matter.
Background and approach
Conversations focus on what a person wants now and the next small moves toward that life. She has worked extensively with people facing major health concerns, caregiving challenges, and end-of-life issues. That background also includes helping people through career shifts, retirement planning, and changes in parenting roles.
These experiences shape a steady, experienced perspective in sessions. Her clinical approach draws from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and client-centered methods, among others. Sessions emphasize values, practical skills, and clear steps that support resilience and meaning.
Clients leave with tools they can use between meetings. Pappas describes her role as a collaborator who listens without judgment and helps people create a more intentional life. The style is forward-focused and action oriented, with room to name grief, loss, or uncertainty along the way.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match personal values. ACT can be useful for stress, anxiety, and situations where clarity about what matters is needed.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thought patterns and testing new behaviors to change how someone feels. It is practical and skills-based, which fits well with focused online sessions for mood, anxiety, and coping with ADHD-related challenges.
Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening, empathy, and supporting a person’s own goals. That approach creates a respectful space to name losses, rethink priorities, and build confidence during life change.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences. That choice may shift over time as goals evolve and progress is reviewed.
Online sessions offer flexibility for different needs. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when visual connection helps. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier during a busy day. Live chat and text-based messaging support quick check-ins, ongoing coaching-style guidance, or shorter conversations between sessions.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Blended family issues
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 32 years
- Licensed
- North Carolina
- Languages
- English
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