Donald Jones (he/him)

We work collaboratively to understand where you are and to help move you forward in your life. We will also take into account the impact of the world you live in. Experiences of anxiety, depression, and social isolation aren't just about you; they come to us through intergenerational learning around trauma, and they're created and maintained by events in the world around us and by assumptions and values that permeate our social world. I combine understanding and approaches from modern analytic, existential, cognitive behavioral, relational, meditation (e.g., mindfulness), changing beliefs through cognitive and emotional restructuring, and an understanding that we are embedded in a world that impacts in ways that we often don't fully understand. We'll adjust what we do based upon your needs and where you are in your process. At times, we'll work on concrete skills that you can practice between sessions. Most of the time, we'll focus on experiential learning, especially in group.

People aren't broken, needing to be fixed. We've learned things, some of it works, some of it doesn't. We feel, act, and manage relationships as we've learned. I come from the perspective that everything people do has a purpose, even what's most problematic. To make successful, long-term changes it's important to understand and appreciate that purpose. It's essential to recognize the impact of the social environment as well as that of families, schools, institutions, and other places where we learned how to be in the world, whether it be the impact of racism or of cultural norms that hold up the dysfunctional ideal of the individual who isn't supposed to need or depend on others. It's also important to me that I acknowledge the impact that racism has had, and continues to have, upon BIPOC. As a white therapist, part of my work is to look and challenge the ways in which I've internalized racism and the values of whiteness.