Courage • Compassion • Connection
Donna Marie Gold, LCSW | LCS 28494 | Phone (858) 227-9182 | Fax (858) 227-9477
11835 Carmel Mountain Road | Suite 1304, PMB 153 | San Diego, CA 92128
© 2023 Donna Marie Gold, LCSW.
All Rights Reserved.
Psychotherapist Specializing in Trauma Survivors
San Diego Access & Crisis Line: 1-888-724-7240
For a life-threatening emergency, dial 911.
LCS
28494
858.227.9182
Beyond Trauma
For adult women – Not currently scheduled
A Healing Journey for Women – Created by Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, Beyond Trauma is an en evidenced-based program for women experiencing trauma. While the materials are designed for trauma treatment, the connection between trauma and substance abuse in women's lives is a theme throughout. Beyond Trauma has a psycho-educational component that teaches women what trauma is, its process, and its impact on both the inner self (thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values) and the outer self (behavior and relationships, including parenting). The major emphasis is on coping skills with specific exercises for developing emotional wellness.
11 weekly 90-minute group therapy sessions; Registration Fee is $35 (includes workbook); Weekly Group Therapy Fee is $45 per weekly session (Registration secures our seat in the group, and therefore, you are responsible to pay for all 11 sessions whether present or not.)
Healing Trauma
For adult women – Not currently scheduled
Strategies for Abused Women - Created by Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, Healing Trauma is a five week therapy group that helps women recovering from the effects of trauma find ways to enjoy healthy relationships and live healthier lives.
Five (5) weekly 90-minute group therapy sessions; Registration Fee is $35 (includes workbook); Weekly Group Therapy Fee is $45 per weekly session (Registration secures your seat in the group, and therefore, you are responsible to pay for all 5 sessions whether present or not.)
Voices
For female teens – Not currently scheduled
Created by Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, to address the unique needs of adolescent girls and young women between the ages of twelve and eighteen, Voices encourages girls to seek and celebrate their "true selves" by giving them a safe space, encouragement, structure, and support to embrace their important journey of self-discovery. The program advocates a strength-based approach that helps girls to identify and apply their power and voices as individuals and as a group. The focus is on issues that are important in the lives of adolescent girls, from modules about self and connecting with others to exploring healthy living and the journey ahead.
16 Weekly 90-minute group therapy sessions; Registration Fee is $35 (includes workbook); Weekly Group Therapy Fee is $45 per weekly session (Registration secures your seat in the group, and therefore, you are responsible to pay for all 16 sessions whether present or not.)
For clients not using insurance and paying out of pocket, the fee is reduced to $25 for registration and $25 for weekly session. All sessions must be paid in full before Voices begins.
Teens, Young Women, and the Families That Love Them
Services
Trauma Informed Care
Women's Issues
My work with teenaged girls is focused on supporting them on their journey through adolescence into woman-hood, which is a road well-traveled, but not always gracefully. I am trained in helping young women who are having difficulties in their school, family and/or social lives. I use interventions and techniques, including CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), SFT (Solution-Focused Therapy), MI (Motivational Interviewing), and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing), within an Attachment framework to encourage a young woman to creatively build upon her own ideas and discover her own solutions. I partner with her to identify her strengths and her past successes to see if they can be utilized in her current situation. As a therapist I can offer a young woman a vital connection as she works to explore who she is, what she wants from others, and how to be her authentic self in the context of healthy relationships. Therapy can help a young woman expand her thinking, consider different possibilities, and gain direction for her life, and in doing so, further develop her identity.
Many women and teens have experienced trauma, such as abuse, neglect, rape, dating violence, domestic violence, loss of a loved one, etc. Clinicians trained in Trauma Informed Care recognize the developmental impact of trauma across physical, emotional, cognitive, social, occupational, and spiritual domains and employ extreme care to ensure a relationally and environmentally safe and caring environment where the possibility of inadvertent clinical re-traumatization is minimized. Services are survivor-driven, strength-based, recovery-oriented, culturally relevant, gender-specific, hospitable, engaging, collaborative, sensitive, respectful, and empowering. As a Trauma Informed Therapist, I appreciate the value of numerous behavioral health manifestations that many trauma survivors use as an attempt to cope and survive, and I partner with individuals to develop more effective coping strategies and navigate the road to recovery and healing. It is important for her to know that she is not alone, and there is hope! Help is available, and she can heal and move forward into a place of freedom!
• Relationship Challenges
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Body Image
• Self-Esteem Issues
Group Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
EMDR is an evidenced-based psychotherapy that helps people heal from symptoms and emotional distress caused by experiencing a traumatic event(s). EMDR shows that the mind can heal from psychological trauma just like the body heals from physical trauma. EMDR explores and helps to process negative core beliefs one has about himself/herself as a result of the trauma experienced. Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) help both the left brain and right brain fully process the trauma, thereby fostering healing and relief of symptoms caused by the trauma.
• Grief and Loss
• Transition to Parenthood
• Whole-hearted Living: Living an Authentic Life
• Process/Heal from Traumatic Experiences
I work with both male and females. My practice is primarily devoted to working with survivors of trauma and women. While I have historically worked extensively with tweens and teens, now that I am doing Telehealth only, I rarely see tweens and teens, because I have found that adolescents tend to do better with in-person, face-to-face psychotherapy. Therefore, I now primarily work with adults and occasionally with older-aged teenagers.
