About Donald
Donald McRae is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) based in North Carolina. He brings 25 years of clinical experience to sessions and helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, and challenges like sleep problems and low self-esteem. He keeps sessions straightforward and practical.
He listens without judgment and helps clients set small, doable goals. He uses skills practice and coaching to help people manage anger, improve communication, and cope with life changes like career shifts or caregiving demands.
Background and approach
Donald draws on cognitive behavioral approaches to identify unhelpful thinking and build new habits. He also uses Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills to teach emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy methods are used to increase present-moment awareness and clarify values.
Clients often work on concrete tasks between sessions, such as behavior experiments, thought records, or brief exposure to reduce avoidance. Motivational interviewing helps when people feel stuck or ambivalent about change. Sessions can also focus on grief, trauma recovery strategies, or relapse prevention for addictions.
Donald’s style is calm, direct, and compassionate. He values collaboration and tailors his approach to each person’s needs. He has provided care in clinics, on military bases, and with nonprofit agencies, and he uses that experience to inform practical, results-oriented work.
How ACT, CBT, and DBT translate to online therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on clarifying what matters to a person and building small, values-based steps toward those goals. Online sessions can use short exercises and home practice to help people notice what matters and move toward it. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, targets unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns by using practical tools like thought records and behavior experiments; these tasks work well across video or messaging formats. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, teaches skills for managing strong emotions and improving relationships, with coaching-style practice that can be reinforced between sessions.Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work together with the client to choose methods that fit their goals, needs, and daily life. That may mean combining elements of ACT, CBT, DBT, mindfulness, or motivational interviewing and adjusting as progress is made.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect. Video calls let people use visual cues and practice skills in real time. Phone sessions require less bandwidth and can be easier during a work break. Live chat or text-based messaging can provide brief check-ins, skill coaching, or support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule while keeping the work focused and practical.
Questions people ask
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- South Carolina, North Carolina
- Languages
- English