Donna Trimm

LCSW

I became passionate about holistic health when faced with some of my own family's health issues and the stunning lack of inquiry into root causes by mainstream Western medicine. The rush to medicate symptoms using strong pharmaceuticals with short research histories and alarming side effects propelled me to spend the last 23 years learning and practicing herbal, Ayurvedic, and integrative methods backed by solid and reputable research. I'm a New York state-licensed clinical social worker with an extensive background in helping people cope with chronic illness, grief, depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders. I’m a former hospice bereavement coordinator with additional training from David Kessler (grief.com). I blend mindful cognitive behavioral therapy and writing therapy with education on nutrition, exercise, meditation, and supplements to achieve whole-body wellness, erasing the artificial divide our culture has built between our physical and mental health.

I would pick, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. This book illustrated for me when I was only age 12 what a good therapist does: meets someone where they are, validates their feelings, and then helps them make sense of the reality they find themselves in.

I learned to listen and practice empathy by being raised in an environment where those qualities were hard to find. I often say that I became a social worker at age 12 when, after fighting back bullies on my own behalf, I walked over to where a bully was tormenting a peer and told him to “knock it off.” After working hard to find my own voice, I came to understand that I had a role to play in helping others find theirs. Sometimes that means figuring out what that voice would have sounded like when it was still silent. I’m honored to accompany people back to the most pivotal periods of their lives to give sound to silent scenes that are making themselves heard decades later through undesirable traits and behaviors, depression, or anxiety. My later-lived experiences in NYC, the International House, East Harlem, Washington Heights, and the south side of Chicago lend cultural sensitivity, insight, and commitment.