Donna Marie Marino, LMFT

05/14/2026

One of the things I’ve come to believe deeply, both personally and professionally, is that creativity is not a luxury.

It’s a human need.

Long before I became a therapist or business owner, I noticed that when I was creating, something in me softened. My mind quieted down. Emotions I couldn’t fully explain started making more sense.

And lately, I think many people are carrying more stress, emotional fatigue, and overstimulation than they even realize.

Not everything can be processed intellectually.

Sometimes the nervous system simply needs somewhere for all of that energy to go.

In this article, Christina OrtizKing Art Therapist and I explore why creative expression matters so much — especially for adults who feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or exhausted from constantly holding everything together.

And the beautiful thing is:
you do not need to be “good at art” for it to help.

Read the full article here:

Discover how art therapy and collage journaling support emotional healing, stress relief, and nervous system regulation. Join Armonía’s June 2026 workshop in Fishers, Indiana.

04/23/2026

For a long time, I believed that if I just tried hard enough… I could get everything right.

And for a while, that belief worked.

Until it didn’t.

In my latest article, I share a moment that challenged how I understood leadership, motherhood, and the idea of “getting it right.”

What I’ve come to learn is this:

Grace isn’t about perfection.

It’s the ability to stay open, honest, and compassionate — especially in the moments we would rather turn away from.

✨ when we realize we missed something
✨ when we reacted too quickly
✨ when we didn’t see what was needed

Those moments are uncomfortable.

But they are also where growth begins.

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to hold everything together, I hope this resonates with you.

You can read the full article here:
👉

In her chapter of Femme Led, Donna Marie explores how grace—not perfection—shapes leadership, parenting, and personal growth. Discover the insight behind her bestselling contribution.

04/01/2026

03/24/2026

Today feels both tender and meaningful.

Femme Led: Hard-Learned Lessons from Women in Leadership is officially out in the world.

When I wrote my chapter, I wasn’t thinking about publishing. I was thinking about a moment in my life that changed how I understood leadership forever.

It began with my daughter, a hospital room, and a realization that came into focus in a way I could no longer ignore.

The story is not really about leaving corporate leadership.

It’s about something deeper.

It’s about learning that leadership is not defined by titles or accomplishments.

It is defined by the choices we make when clarity arrives.

The choice to pause.
The choice to see.
The choice to reorder our lives around what matters most.

I’m deeply grateful to be part of this collection of women sharing their own hard-earned lessons.

If you’d like to read the book, it’s available now:

https://amzn.to/4cY8uUp

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Red Thread Publishing

03/19/2026

If you have ever found yourself trying to hold everything together — work, family, responsibility, expectations — you are not alone.

Many women move through life carrying enormous responsibility with grace and competence. We become very good at making things work.

But sometimes there comes a moment when life asks us to pause.

To notice what our hearts have been trying to say quietly for a long time.

My chapter in Femme Led is about one of those moments.

A moment when I realized that leadership is not only about what we build or accomplish.

It is also about what we are willing to reorder in our lives when clarity arrives.

That moment changed how I understood success, motherhood, and legacy.

The book officially launches March 24, and the Kindle version is available for preorder now.

If this conversation speaks to you, you can order it here:

https://amzn.to/4cY8uUp

Red Thread Publishing

03/17/2026

Over the years, I’ve come to believe something very simple about leadership.

It does not begin with leading others.

It begins with leading ourselves.

With the courage to pause long enough to see clearly.

With the willingness to ask hard questions about how we are living and what we are prioritizing.

And sometimes, with the humility to admit that what once worked may no longer be aligned.

My chapter in Femme Led tells the story of one of those moments in my own life.

A moment when everything I had built and believed about success suddenly asked to be reconsidered.

What followed was not a dramatic reinvention.

It was something quieter.

A recalibration.
A reordering.
A deeper commitment to living in alignment with what truly mattered.

If you’ve ever found yourself standing in that kind of moment — between what has been and what might be — this story may resonate.

You can preorder the book here:
https://amzn.to/4cY8uUp

Red Thread Publishing

03/12/2026

My chapter in Femme Led is called:

“The Epidural Blinded Me.”

It’s not a title people expect.

But it holds a moment that changed the trajectory of my life.

For many years, I moved through life the way many women do. Carrying responsibility. Meeting expectations. Doing my best to be present everywhere I was needed.

I loved my work. I loved my children. I believed I could hold it all together through competence and sheer will.

Until one day, standing beside my daughter during a medical procedure, something in me saw clearly what I had been missing.

Not because I felt more.

But because I finally paused long enough to notice.

That moment became the beginning of a very different understanding of leadership for me.

One rooted in discernment, presence, and alignment.

That is the story I share in this book.

If you’d like to read it, the Kindle version is available for preorder.

https://amzn.to/4cY8uUp

Red Thread Publishing

03/10/2026

There are moments in life when everything comes into focus.

Moments when the pace we’ve been keeping, the roles we’ve been carrying, and the life we’ve been managing suddenly ask to be looked at more honestly.

I wrote about one of those moments in a chapter for a new anthology called Femme Led: Hard-Learned Lessons from Women in Leadership.

It’s a deeply personal story about a moment with my daughter that changed how I understood leadership. Not leadership as a title, or a role, or something we perform for others.

But leadership as the quiet courage to see clearly and choose what matters most.

This book brings together the voices of many women who have walked their own paths of responsibility, reinvention, and truth. I’m honored to be one of them.

The book officially releases March 24, but the Kindle version is available for preorder now.

If you’d like to read it, you can order here:
https://amzn.to/4cY8uUp

Red Thread Publishing

02/14/2026

Valentine’s Day can be sweet and celebratory.

It can also be tender.

This year, I’ve been thinking less about roses and more about the quieter forms of love. The kind that doesn’t need a spotlight to matter.

The steady presence.
The small “tell me more.”
The choice to turn toward someone instead of away.

In my newest reflection, I write about attunement, about the Gottman principle of turning toward, and about how love is less about intensity and more about presence.

If this season brings joy to you, I’m celebrating that.
If it brings grief or longing, I’m holding space for that too.

Wherever you find yourself today, I hope you feel reminded that love is not just something we receive. It’s something we practice.

You can read the full piece here:

Explore how small acts of presence create deep connection. Donna Marino shares how attunement, service, and heart-centered leadership ground true love.

02/13/2026

I was born in Brooklyn and spent my early childhood in Astoria, Queens.

Before I knew what a melting pot was, I was living in one—it was simply my world.

My first crushes. My best friends. My neighbors.
Puerto Rican. Colombian. Black. Indian. Greek. Creole. Italian.

Difference didn’t need explaining—it simply was.
And belonging happened naturally.

My maternal grandfather immigrated from Spain. He never learned English—only Spanish.
My mother was fluent. Her family lived in Puerto Rico before settling in New York.
My paternal great-grandparents crossed the sea from Italy through Ellis Island.
There are Ukrainian and French threads in our lineage too.

And my children are a beautiful blend of all of that—
Italian, Spanish, Ukrainian, French—
African-American and Cherokee Indian heritage too.
We are our own small family tapestry of history, courage, and love.

This wasn’t something I was taught.
It was lived. It was relational. It was human.

As the Winter Olympics unfold in Milan with a theme centered on harmony, I’ve felt a quiet resonance.
Armonia—Living in Harmony—has always been more than a name.

It’s a way of seeing. A way of being.
A commitment to creating space where people are welcomed, safe, and met exactly as they are.

We are here because someone before us was brave.
Because someone crossed water.
Because someone chose hope.
Because someone believed in their dream.

Living in Harmony. 🤍