01 · Who Paula works with

Paula works with stress, Anxiety, relationship issues and grief

Paula lists 19 specialisms and 25 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Paula chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

02 · In Paula's own words

What Paula says about the work

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

Hello there and thank you for clicking on my profile. If we meet, the first thing you will notice after my well earned wrinkles, is that I have an Irish accent! I came to the USA over 40 years ago to work at the World Bank . Then I retrained as a clinical therapist so I could focus on supporting individuals and couples using all my training and life experience around the world and in the US. I deeply believe that YOU are the best expert on your life so far. So the self knowledge that you decide to share with me can allow us to work together to ease and energize your "here and now", as well as your next steps. Together we can identify and reinforce the strengths, relationships, patterns and practices that support your resilience and well being. I can draw on many different clinical approaches in our work. There is no magic. The basic ingredient is a trusting relationship -- sometimes even with some laughter! Life can be deeply unfair. Losses and disappointments bring grief, isolation and loneliness. Traumatic events and recurring stress leave our bodies and spirits intensely vigilant and exhausted. Relationships wound us, sometimes seemingly beyond repair. Illnesses -- our own, or of loved ones, sap our vitality and hope. Life can feel stuck and meaningless. And still, you are here, now, and about to explore a new opportunity! I hope you try it. All best wishes, take great care, Paula

Paula Donovan, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Paula works

The 8 approaches Paula lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Paula lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Paula'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 Paula 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.

Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT

A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.

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.

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.

Also listed

• Somatic Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Paula 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 Paula'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 Paula at this point.

2. Naming Paula specifically

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

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 Paula

Built from what Paula actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Paula's - Paula 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 20 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

Virginia

Licence

VA LCSW 0904007247

Licence number

0904007247

Licence expires

30 Jun 2027

NPI

1619204419

Years in practice

20

Gender

Female

Languages

English

International clients

Not accepted

Listed since

15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Paula'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 Paula. 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.