Lisa McDonald, NCPS

Lisa McDonald helps people manage stress, anxiety, addictions and low mood. She supports those facing trauma, relationship difficulties, parenting strain, grief and major life changes. Lisa is straightforward and calm in her manner. She aims to make the first step feel easier for people who are feeling stuck.

With six years of experience, Lisa adapts sessions to each person's needs. She listens first and then offers practical tools to try between meetings. Conversations focus on what is happening now and small changes that can make daily life more manageable.

Her work draws on client-centred therapy, which prioritises the person's own goals and pace. She also uses cognitive behavioural therapy, which helps identify unhelpful thoughts and test new ways of coping. These approaches are used together to fit the issue and the person.

People come to Lisa for a wide range of concerns including panic attacks, social anxiety, substance use issues, anger, shame, seasonal low mood and difficulty with communication. She also supports those dealing with abandonment, blended family issues, divorce and domestic violence effects. Sessions cover both immediate coping and longer-term change.

Lisa describes sessions as respectful and sensitive. She works with each person to build a plan that feels right for them. If someone is ready to try online therapy, Lisa offers several formats to suit different needs.

How Lisa’s approaches work online

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on the person’s own goals and pace. The therapist listens with empathy and helps people find their own answers, which can be useful for issues like low self-esteem, grief or feeling stuck.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, looks at thoughts, feelings and actions. It teaches practical coping steps and experiments to test new ways of thinking, which helps with anxiety, panic attacks, mood problems and unhelpful habits.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Lisa will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and then try methods that suit them. That choice is revisited as therapy progresses so things can be adjusted if needed.

Online therapy offers flexibility for busy lives. Video calls let people have a fuller face-to-face conversation; phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging provide short, on-the-go support and a way to follow up between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, family and daily routines while using the approaches described above.