01 · Who Donald works with

Donald works with stress, Anxiety, addictions and LGBT

Donald lists 15 specialisms and 44 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Donald chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Donald's own words

What Donald says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

(Falo português também.)

Hello, my name is Don. I have both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Social Work, and I have over forty years of experience in the field of mental health and addictions treatment, both in direct services and in program management , even longer if you count the foster children I grew up with and the community work that I did as a teenager.

I am endlessly curious and have lived abroad in Africa and South America, and in the North, South, East and West of the United States, and am fluent in Portuguese and have studied a few other languages. I love meeting people and learning their stories, and helping my clients to find their joy again -- or to find out what it might be for the first time.

I believe in doing my part to make this a world that works for everyone, and doing what I can to help others feel happy and satisfied in their lives, whatever that might mean for them.

Throughout the years I have been employed or volunteered in private and public-benefit ("non-profit") corporations and in government agencies, and have worked in various clinical settings ranging from outpatient treatment facilities and private practice to inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, community agencies and employee assistance programs.

I have worked in direct services as well as case management and program management, design and evaluation. My experience encompasses an incredibly diverse range of client populations and problems, and includes individual, couple, family and group psychotherapy. My areas of clinical expertise include but are not limited to: depression and anxiety; communication and relationships; solution-focused therapy; workplace and organizational issues; addictions and unhealthy dependencies; intercultural issues/racism; sex and sexuality, and LGBTQI+ issues; children, youth, families and parenting; HIV/AIDS (and chronic illness), and more.

My bachelor's degree specialization was Child and Adolescent Welfare, and I earned a Certificate in International/Intercultural Studies after doing independent studies in Kenya during those studies as well. My master's degree specializations were Employee Assistance Programs (EAP's) and Addictions, with a dual concentration Clinical Services and Administration. I am a firm believer in life-long professional development and have attended countless conferences and continuing education programs and would keep studying even if my licensure requirements didn't demand it.

I have served on several non-profit and government planning boards, and also have managed a number of programs in the public-benefit sector. In addition, I helped facilitate and manage personal/spiritual growth intensives called The Evolution Training, and have published guest and relationship advice columns in newspapers and magazines.

My educational and professional experiences have been broad and wide-ranging, but beyond that I have extensive life experience which I consider equally significant in terms of how it informs my approach with clients. I have lived in small-town and middle-sized city Michigan, Chicago, Nairobi, Austin (Texas), Washington DC, Atlanta, New York City (as a "second home"), San Francisco, and Rio de Janeiro. Who knows if I have made my last stop yet?!

As a therapist, my goal is to support, encourage and challenge you to find your joy. Your life is your own and you have your own dreams, wishes and desires. I want to help you achieve them, and to assist you in taking whatever positive steps it takes for you to get there. I don't believe that there is any particular road that you have to take, as people are not made from cookie-cutters and what works for one person might not work for another. I want you to discover or find what it takes to pursue your path forward, and to explore with you new options for thinking, feeling, doing things or simply "being" along the way.

Thank you for checking me out!

Donald Bliss, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Donald works

The 7 approaches Donald lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Donald lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Donald's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Donald runs a session.

Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian

The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.

Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT

Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.

Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT

Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.

Motivational InterviewingMI

A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.

Narrative Therapy

Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Works on the assumption that current patterns - in relationships, at work, in how you treat yourself - have a history, and that seeing the history loosens the pattern. Less structured than CBT, usually longer, and more interested in what comes up unbidden than in a weekly agenda.

Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT

Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Donald practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Donald's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

   BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Donald at this point.

2. Naming Donald specifically

   BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Donald is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Donald.

3. If the caseload is full

   You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

4. The first conversation

   A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

5. If the fit is wrong

   Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Donald

Built from what Donald actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Donald's - Donald has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

• “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Client-Centred Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

  Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

• “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

  Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

• “With 40 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

  Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

• “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

  On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential

LCSW

Licensed in

California

Licence

CA LCSW 22042

Licence number

22042

Licence expires

30 Jun 2027

NPI

1730454661

Years in practice

40

Gender

Male

Languages

English, Portuguese

International clients

Accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Donald's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Donald. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.