Donna Ray, LCSW

Donna Ray is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in New Jersey with 35 years of experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, trauma, relationship concerns, grief, and other life changes. Donna also lists codependency among her focus areas and addresses issues related to intimacy and parenting.

Her work is grounded in practical approaches that help people identify patterns that no longer serve them. Sessions focus on clear goals, learning skills, and making small changes that add up. Donna uses tools that help with mood regulation, managing intense feelings, and improving communication.

She draws on Attachment-Based Therapy to look at how early relationships affect current behavior. Client-Centered Therapy informs the way she listens and follows each person’s lead. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy provide skills for changing unhelpful thoughts and responses.

Donna has long experience supporting people through addiction and recovery-related challenges. She also helps those coping with medical issues, aging concerns, adoption and foster-care histories, and neurodiversity-related needs. Practical problem solving is part of the work, as is addressing anger, self-esteem, and the impact of loss.

Sessions tend to be straightforward and focused on skills that can be used between meetings. People commonly come to address people-pleasing, boundary setting, and patterns that revolve around someone else’s moods or substance use. To begin, Donna asks about current concerns and what a reasonable first step would look like.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online work