Approach

Dr. Megan McDonnell practices a collaborative, relational, and holistic approach aimed not just at alleviating the most immediate and obvious symptoms, but also at helping clients lead healthier and happier lives. Her sessions combine cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, psychodynamic, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

Dr. Megan McDonnell grew up in Northern California. In 2008, she graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. While in undergraduate, she worked extensively with adults who have disabilities assisting them with everyday tasks and independent living.  She also attended a rain forest field program where she studied the positive connections people make with the natural world and how that can facilitate psychological well-being.  She later worked in a wilderness therapy program backpacking through the Utah canyons with adults and adolescents in a drug and alcohol treatment program. She also worked with children who have autism and their families and was trained in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). 

Dr. McDonnell then attended the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) where she earned her doctorate in clinical psychology.  For her dissertation, Dr. McDonnell researched and wrote a practical manual for conducting nature-based horticulture therapy titled Horticulture Therapy Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Creation and Evaluation of a Manual for Group Treatment. While completing her doctorate and pre-doctorate work, she again worked with adults who have disabilities and conducted research on fair assessment for those with disabilities. She provided clinical care in elementary and high schools for children struggling with social and emotional difficulties. She also provided therapy and comprehensive assessments for adults and adolescents in community mental health clinics. 

In 2016, Dr. McDonnell moved to North Carolina and began working in the Wilmington private practice Place of Peace Counseling and Therapeutic Center with Dr. Tara Ferguson and several other wonderful North Carolina therapists. While at Place of Peace, she focused on treatments for anxiety, panic attacks, depression, trauma, building emotional awareness, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.

In 2020, Dr. Megan McDonnell moved from Wilmington to the Fayetteville area along with her husband’s military orders. As a military spouse, she understands the pressures on service members and their families and loves working with this population. She also understands the value of receiving confidential mental health support outside of the client’s command. 

Dr. McDonnell currently lives in Southern Pines, NC and provides therapy for clients throughout the state of North Carolina both in person (prior to COVID-19) and via Telehealth (online video sessions).