Lucretia Donahue-Reed

I am Lucretia Donahue-Reed, and I bring over 30 years of experience in the mental health field to our therapeutic relationship. My background is diverse, including 20 years working on a hospital youth acute psychiatric unit helping families in crisis and earlier experience using biofeedback to assist adults with chronic pain and trauma. I earned my Master’s degree from Eastern Washington University in 1990 and have been in private practice for 12 years.

To help you relate to my journey, I believe in being open about the life challenges I have faced, which tested my own clinical knowledge. These experiences—including a spouse's job loss, the loss of a home, a divorce, and managing a high-stress career—led me to develop an autoimmune disorder. This personal history gives me a unique perspective on navigating difficult life transitions and chronic health conditions.

In my current practice, I focus on the following:

Individual Focus: While I have a background in family crisis, I now primarily provide therapy to individuals rather than couples or families.

Specialized Areas: I specialize in Anxiety, Trauma/PTSD, and Stress, as well as depression, grief, and autoimmune-related issues.

Populations Served: I work with adults and elders (65+) who are motivated to grow and regain control of their lives.

I offer in-person sessions in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden, Idaho, and online for residents of Idaho and Washington.

My approach to therapy is direct, honest, and collaborative, rooted in the belief that you can gain the confidence to live life as you choose rather than being ruled by your emotions. I strive to create a non-judgmental and supportive setting where you feel comfortable presenting your experiences as we work at your own pace. Clients have described my style as a mix of "gentle curiosity" and "no-nonsense" practical solutions.

I primarily use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is designed to be goal-focused and emphasize the "here and now". Through this lens, we look at managing the thoughts that affect your mood and automatic reactions while gradually changing ingrained habits and patterns. My ultimate goal is to provide you with practical and effective tools to help you move from feeling stuck, frozen, or overwhelmed toward a calmer nervous system and a greater sense of self-control.

To further support your growth, I incorporate several other evidence-based strategies:

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Acceptance Therapies (ACT): I use these to help you learn how to direct your attention in helpful ways and better cope with the present.

Specialized Care: My background includes Trauma Focused care and the use of biofeedback for those experiencing chronic pain or trauma.

Additional Frameworks: Depending on your unique needs, I may also draw from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Positive Psychology.

Whether we meet in-person or online, my focus remains on helping you gain the clarity and skills needed to make conscious choices rather than relying on automatic reactions.

In our first session, you can expect a collaborative and non-judgmental environment where we begin to build our therapeutic relationship. My goal is to make you feel comfortable presenting your unique experiences as we work together at your own pace.

I will start by wanting to understand your specific concerns and the primary reasons you are seeking therapy at this time. Whether you are dealing with overwhelming emotions, anxious distress, or a specific life transition, we will identify the problems you want to address so we can move toward a calmer nervous system.

As part of this process, I will take a history to understand your broader life experiences. It is important for me to also understand any physical or health components you may be facing, such as chronic pain or autoimmune disorders, as these often intersect with your mental and emotional well-being.

Finally, we will work together to identify what you want to improve and, importantly, how you would know it has improved. By defining what success looks like for you, we can develop a focused plan and select the practical tools—whether from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or other approaches—that will best help you regain a sense of control and make conscious choices in your life.