Practitioner record · Checked 7 Oct 2026

Dr. Donald Strauss has been in practice 52 years and is licensed in South Carolina. Dr. lists stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and grief among 73 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Dr.'s own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

52years in practice
73subjects listed
10approaches listed

01 · Who Dr. works with

Dr. works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and grief

Dr. lists 19 specialisms and 54 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Dr. chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Relationship issues
  • Grief
  • Intimacy-related issues
  • Depression
  • Addictions
  • LGBT
  • Family conflicts
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Eating disorders
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Parenting issues
  • Anger management
  • Self esteem
  • Career difficulties
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Coping with life changes
  • Compassion fatigue
  • ADHD
Also experienced with
  • Abandonment
  • Attachment issues
  • Avoidant personality
  • Blended family issues
  • Body image
  • Cancer
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Chronic pain, illness, and disability
  • Co-morbidity
  • Codependency
  • Commitment issues
  • Communication problems
  • Control issues
  • Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
  • Dependent personality
  • Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
  • Divorce and separation
  • Domestic violence
  • Emptiness
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • First responder issues
  • Forgiveness
  • Guilt and shame
  • Impulsivity
  • Infidelity
  • Isolation / loneliness
  • Life purpose
  • Men's issues
  • Midlife crisis
  • Mood disorders
  • Multicultural concerns
  • Narcissism
  • Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
  • Panic disorder and panic attacks
  • Personality disorders
  • Phobias
  • Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
  • Postpartum depression
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
  • Self-harm
  • Self-love
  • Sex addiction
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Sexuality
  • Social anxiety and phobia
  • Somatization
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Women's issues
  • Workplace issues
  • Young adult issues

02 · In Dr.'s own words

What Dr. says about the work

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

I have had the opportunity to practice with clients with a wide variety of issues. In recent years my primary focus has been with clients with deteriorative neurodegenerative disorders( ALS and MS) life altering burns,bipolar disorders and chronic mental health issues. In addition I have treated helping professionals suffering from compassion fatigue. I have a MSW from Florida State University and a Ph.D from The University of Maryland in Clinical Social work. I am a member of the Academy of Clinical SocialWork( ACSW) and a Board Certified Diplomat in Social Work(BCD). My primary treatment modalities are Cognitive Behavioral, Behavioral Health Intervention guided by Evidence Based findings. I employ a process that provides alternatives to life approaches and strategies that no longer serve the individual by offering new ways to address life issues within the safety of a helping relationship.The approach includes problem solving and adopting new cognitive approaches to guide thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Evidence-Based generated findings add specific interventions that are productive in helping with issue resolution.

Dr. Donald Strauss, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Dr. works

The 8 approaches Dr. lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Dr. lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Dr.'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 Dr. runs a session.

Attachment-Based Therapy
Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.
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.
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.
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.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.
Internal Family SystemsIFS
Treats the mind as made up of parts - the critic, the one who withdraws, the one that keeps everything running - each of which is trying to protect you. The work is getting to know them rather than overruling them.

Also listed

  • Somatic Therapy
  • Systemic Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Dr. 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 Dr.'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 Dr. at this point.

  2. Naming Dr. specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Dr. 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 Dr..

  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 Dr.

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

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based 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 52 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-C
Licensed in
South Carolina
Licence
MD LCSW-C 02805, SC LISW 11121
Licence number
11121
Licence expires
31 Dec 2026
NPI
1285629378
Years in practice
52
Gender
Male
Languages
English
International clients
Accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Dr.'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 Dr.. 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.

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