Licensed Clinical Psychologist · Hollywood, Florida
A steady place to think things through.
I’m Dr. Donna Duffin. For more than a decade I have sat with people through anxiety, loss, infertility, chronic illness and the ordinary hard patches of a life — and helped them find their footing again. Warm, practical, evidence-based. No jargon, no judgement.
In-person in Hollywood, Florida and by secure telehealth across the state. Evening appointments available.
Welcome
You do not have to arrive with it all figured out.
Most people who call me are not in crisis. They are tired of the same argument, the same 3 a.m. spiral, the same knot that shows up on Sunday evening — and they have run out of patience with managing it alone.
That is a perfectly good reason to start. Therapy is not a last resort or a sign that something has gone irreparably wrong. It is a structured, unhurried hour where someone trained to notice patterns helps you see your own — and then helps you do something different with them.
My approach is warm and direct. I will listen carefully, I will ask the question underneath the question, and I will be honest with you. We will work with what the research actually supports — cognitive-behavioural strategies, evidence-based approaches to trauma and grief, and practical skills you can use between sessions — adapted to the person in front of me rather than the diagnosis on paper.
Healing is a collaborative process. My goal is to create a safe, supportive environment where you can explore your emotions, uncover patterns, and develop the tools necessary for lasting change.Dr. Donna Duffin, Psy.D.
Read more about how I workWhat I work with
Deep experience in the things that are hardest to say out loud.
Twenty-plus areas of focus, and a genuine specialism in reproductive mental health. Here is where people most often begin.
Anxiety & stress
The racing mind, the tight chest, the endless mental rehearsal. We find what is feeding it and build a way through that does not depend on avoidance.
How I work with anxietyDepression & low mood
When everything takes more effort than it should. We work on both ends at once — the thinking that keeps it in place and the behaviour that lifts it.
How I work with depressionInfertility & IVF
A specialism, not a sideline. Two-week waits, failed cycles, donor decisions, and the particular loneliness of grieving something that has not happened yet.
How I work with infertilityGrief & loss
For a person, a marriage, a pregnancy, a career, a future you had already imagined. Grief is not a problem to be solved — it is something to be accompanied.
How I work with griefChronic illness & pain
Living well alongside a body that will not cooperate — pacing, flare planning, identity, and the exhaustion of being a patient.
How I work with chronic illnessCouples & relationships
Communication that has calcified, trust that needs rebuilding, and the difference between a fight about the dishes and a fight about being unseen.
How I work with couples
Choosing to enter therapy is a powerful step toward investing in yourself.
You are not asking for too much. You are asking at last.
Free, for everyone
The Wellbeing Hub
You do not have to be my patient to use any of this. Breathe, ground yourself, track a mood, sort your values, or just read something that makes the week feel less strange. Nothing you type here ever leaves your own device.
Tips
Small, specific things to try — sorted by what you are actually facing today.
Browse the tipsTools
Guided breathing, grounding, a mood tracker and a CBT thought record you can print.
Open the toolsGames
Reframe cards, a thinking-traps quiz and a pool of still water to disturb.
Play something gentleResources
Crisis lines, national organisations and support communities — checked and current.
Find supportFrom the journal
Writing worth your time.
Longer, quieter pieces on the things people actually bring into the room.
Infertility and IVF Support: Finding Strength, Clarity, and Hope
Infertility is one of the most emotionally challenging experiences I see in my practice — navigating hope, disappointment and everything in between.
Read the article
Grief and Loss: Finding Your Way Through the Pain
Whether it is the loss of a loved one, the end of a relationship, infertility, or the loss of a future you had counted on — grief deserves company.
Read the article
Why We Sabotage Ourselves: The Hidden Psychology Behind Self-Limiting Behaviour
The pattern is rarely laziness. It is almost always protection — and protection can be renegotiated.
Read the articleGetting started
Four unremarkable steps.
Reaching out is the hardest part, and it is genuinely the only hard part. Here is exactly what happens next — no surprises.
You reach out
A short message or a phone call. Tell me as much or as little as you like — “things have been hard lately” is plenty.
A free 15-minute call
We talk briefly about what is going on and whether I am the right fit. If I am not, I will say so and point you towards someone who is.
Your first session
Fifty minutes. Mostly you talking, me listening and asking. By the end we will have a working idea of what we are aiming at.
We get to work
Usually weekly at first. We review progress openly and often — therapy should have a direction, and you should be able to feel it.
Before you call
The questions people ask first.
No — and most of my patients are not. Therapy is at least as useful for the persistent, unglamorous difficulties: the relationship that keeps stalling, the confidence that never quite arrived, the anxiety you have organised your whole life around. Waiting until things are unbearable simply makes the work longer.
It depends on what we are working on. A focused piece of work — a specific anxiety, a decision, a defined period of grief — often runs eight to sixteen sessions. Longer-standing patterns take longer. We will talk about this openly in the first few sessions and review it as we go, so you are never left wondering.
For most concerns, the research says yes — outcomes for anxiety, depression and many other presentations are comparable. Some people strongly prefer one or the other, and plenty of my patients mix the two depending on the week. Telehealth is available throughout Florida.
Then you are in the majority, and that is genuinely fine. You do not need a prepared account of your life. Start anywhere — the thing that happened this week, the thing that has never stopped happening — and I will help with the rest. Being articulate about your own suffering is not a prerequisite.
Whenever you are ready
Let’s find out whether I’m the right person for this.
A fifteen-minute call costs nothing and commits you to nothing. If it is not a fit, I will help you find someone it is.