MEET CARA DONAHUE, MA, LCSW, LICSW
EMDR trained therapist & Grief care specialist

I promise, I won’t just hand you a worksheet & bobble my head.

I’ll be an engaged mentor, so we can uncover what better means to you & find your way to get there.

This thing called therapy can feel vulnerable but also comforting.

It’s a container for every aspect of you … the silly, the sarcastic, the tender, the frustrated, the explorer … each has an invitation to show up.

Let’s Chat & Begin Our Collaboration.

Virtual comfort dog, Leo

If you’re in need of relief & support in the deep end, you’re in the right place.

I’m here to help you, because...

I believe your sensitivity and depth are your strengths, not your kryptonite. I also believe that you’re far more than your symptoms and what’s happened to you. But I know they cause pain and disconnection. You deserve relief, a refuge and access to the moments of joy that also live inside your story.

You don’t have to continue alone, or in the same ways. I will help you to decide what to make out all of the messy and unexpected stuff life throws at you.

  • I help you become steadier within your experience - more supported and equipped to live with the complexity of life as a human.

  • We honor your needs and capacity by setting boundaries, so you hold onto your compassion without taking responsibility for other people’s emotions.

  • I assist you to use your inner compass, so you can better trust in your ability to decide what you want and need, and how you live it.

  • With a dash of comic relief, you will nurture something precious - your distinctive voice and the means to express it.

Let’s start the process together to find your clarity & confidence,
so you can live a life that serves you.

how we work together

Lean in & breathe life into your intentions.

In a nutshell, I help to you:

  • Feel safe & ease distress

  • Stop spinning your wheels trying to change thoughts & feelings and…

  • …Instead experiment with new boundaries and scripts, and play with fresh insights

  • Prep and then take action, despite uncertainty

  • Attain great outcomes, as you define them

    Carry the richness & complexity of your life more easily & while connected to support that isn’t trying to “cure” you of being human - don’t settle for cheap “transformation” or a dismissal of your pain as “pathology.”

  • Instead, connect with the therapist that helps you lessen your suffering while building your trust in your own wisdom and ability to define your boundaries, needs and to create your community of love and kindness.

MY STORY

Why should you trust me?

I hope to earn it, but no matter what, I’m committed to helping you trust yourself.

Trusting myself more has seen me through so much.

I want to help you to do the same.

DOCTORS ARE TOLD TO “TAKE THEIR OWN MEDICINE.”

SO I ASK OF MYSELF WHAT I ASK OF MY CLIENTS…

…Because trying to be “perfect,” jumping to meet other people’s expectations, and pushing down my pain didn’t work.

Listen, I don’t pretend to have summited Everest, so that I can dispense my brand of wisdom to the world. Who could stand that person? We all know one or two (insert wink emoji here).

  • Instead, I live to bring new sources of support and creativity into our sessions, as I encourage your self-confidence and self-compassion to bloom.

As I tend to my flame, I hope to help you reignite yours.

Damn, you’re worth it.

WRITERS ARE TOLD TO “WRITE WHAT THEY KNOW.”

I TAKE THE SAME APPROACH TO THERAPY.

I help people worn out from constantly hustling and pleasing, from the pain of death and cumulative, unacknowledged losses, and who find themselves confronting a crisis of faith. I empathize.

My own plans detoured far from the expected path. I intended to successfully tick off the boxes of achievements plotted out on a timeline. It didn’t occur to me to look inwards and let the answers I found dictate my choices. 

  • Instead, I cast about for the accomplishments that would lead to “success,” without knowing what success really meant to me.

  • No matter what, I never felt quite “good enough.” Sound familiar?

My script sailed out the window when grief ripped into my life. Like a tornado tearing through my twenties, it sucked me up and spat me out. I wandered for a long time on wobbly legs, longing to feel steady and whole.

  • Thankfully, under my surface, a determined current still flowed.

  • And that intuitive voice? Just like Dorothy’s way home, it lived inside me, and I turned to her for directions.

  • So now, I can taste fulfillment more often - nourishing even when bittersweet.

I have become more comfortable with myself, so I can live with my grief with less friction. Today, I still follow glints of hope and put my values and passions into practice - imperfectly, with grit, grace and humor.

My guiding principles

Connection

Positive outcomes in therapy spring from a sense of safety and connection with your therapist. With that, my clients define for themselves what outcomes they need, and they become our goals. I consider creating that connection with my clients both vitally important and a sacred vocation.

Practice

The fools gold of perfection traps us in the false belief of unworthiness. Constantly striving for it keeps the focus off what truly matters - self-love and -compassion. This takes practice and what Practice Makes Possible™ is You - your vibrant, more fulfilled self, living with an on purpose.

Co-creation

With deep respect for my clients, I look at the art of therapy as a co-creation. Yes, I bring a knowledge base and skill-set that I continue to cultivate, and you bring your tremendous resources to the process, too. Melding the two and providing one another feedback results in something truly special.

Possibility

In the bleakest moments, I found tiny ways forward by finding places for refuge, the right people to support me, and by looking for glimmers of possibility. I found that these movements forward gained momentum, in my own time. So I offer my clients the safety and opportunity to find clarity and embrace endless possibility at their pace.

QUALIFICATIONS & RESOURCES

    • MSW - Fordham University

    • MA in Religious Studies - Yale University

    • BA in History - Georgetown University

    • Post-Master’s in School Counseling - CCSU

    • CT LCSW (#10781)

    • MA LICSW (#000123442)

    • FL out-of-state telehealth provider (#TPSW2612, http://www.flhealthsource.ce.gov/telehealth)

    • ME LICSW (LC22728)

    • EMDRIA trained EMDR therapist

    • Certified Grief Informed Specialist - trained by Megan Devine

    • Certification in EFT (Tapping) - Watkin’s method

    • CT Certified School Social Worker (#071)

    • CT Certified School Counselor (#068)

    • 30 non-degree graduate credits

    • Expert advisor, Webinar presenter & eGuide author for Torchlight Parenting & Caregiving

    • Consultant for UCONN Transitioning Emotionally & Academically to Middle School (TEAMSS) program development & pilot

    • Level III Reiki Practitioner

    • Certified Soul Alignment Energy Healing Practitioner

CONNECT WITH CARA