Donald Bliss, LCSW

Donald Bliss is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) licensed in California with over 40 years in mental health and addictions work. He works with stress, anxiety, addictions, depression, relationship and family concerns, trauma and abuse, grief, parenting, and LGBT issues. He also addresses intimacy, self-esteem, career questions, bipolar mood concerns, and coping with life changes.

Donald draws on decades of direct practice, program management, and community work. He has worked in outpatient clinics, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, community agencies, and employee assistance programs. That range shows up in how he approaches practical problems and everyday stresses.

His style is conversational and client-centered. He listens to a person’s story and helps them sort options. He uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to look at patterns of thinking and behavior, and he brings in mindfulness practices to help with moment-to-moment stress. He also uses motivational interviewing to support change and narrative therapy to reframe life stories.

Donald grew up around foster children, lived abroad in Africa and South America, and has lived across the United States. He speaks English and Portuguese. His educational background includes a bachelor’s and a master’s in social work, with concentrations in child and adolescent welfare, addictions, and employee assistance programs.

In sessions he focuses on concrete steps people can take between meetings. He helps with communication skills, setting boundaries, managing substance use, grief work, parenting strategies, and workplace stress. He encourages clients to test small changes and notice what works.

People who choose him can expect a practical, straightforward approach that combines long experience with down-to-earth problem solving. He asks questions, suggests exercises, and revisits plans until they fit the client’s life.

How Donald uses therapeutic approaches in online sessions