Donna Altepeter , LCSW

Donna Altepeter is a licensed clinical social worker with 12 years of experience who focuses on helping women navigate stress, anxiety, grief, self-esteem, and life transitions. She centers the conversation on each person's goals and strengths, and she works in a straightforward, collaborative way. Donna believes people can change and that therapy is a joint effort to find what helps.

Donna uses a client-centered foundation combined with practical techniques drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. Sessions aim to identify unhelpful patterns, build coping skills, and practice new ways of responding to stressors. She also brings experience supporting people facing serious illness, bereavement, caregiving strain, and challenges around intimacy and relationships.

Her background includes classroom teaching in social work, which shapes a learning-focused approach in sessions. That perspective means she explains ideas plainly and helps clients try them between appointments. People can expect clear goals and concrete steps to work on between meetings.

Donna has worked with a range of concerns including addiction, depression, sleep problems, anger, career questions, and coping with change or loss. She is comfortable addressing both practical problems and painful emotions that come with life transitions.

Based in Wisconsin, Donna offers services in English. She uses a collaborative style that blends listening with practical tools to help people manage symptoms and move toward clearer choices.

Therapeutic approaches and online care

Donna draws on client-centered therapy to keep the work focused on each person’s priorities. That means sessions begin with listening to what matters most and shaping goals together. Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to spot unhelpful thoughts and habits and try practical alternatives that reduce anxiety and improve mood.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Donna treats the process as a collaboration and will help figure out which methods fit a person's needs, goals, and preferences. She welcomes feedback and adjusts the plan as progress unfolds.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video visits are useful for deeper conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can fit a break at work or require less bandwidth, and chat or messaging can support quick check-ins or ongoing coaching between longer meetings. These options help people fit therapy into busy lives and access consistent support regardless of travel or scheduling hurdles.