Mt. Norris Counseling & Wellness, LLC. Jenna Donohue, LCMHC

08/19/2026

NBCC 6 CE's

Continuing Education for Mental Health Professionals

08/19/2026

Did you write a book? Do you need an editor? Check out the link below.

kind words From Clients At LFP Editorial Studio, editing is a collaborative, thoughtful process — one rooted in respect for the writer's voice and the work they're trying to shape.I work with novelists, memoirists, nonfiction writers, and short-story writers: writers who want an editor who can lis...

08/18/2026

"The author's years of therapeutic experience are evident throughout, and her promise not to sugarcoat things—while still respecting the reader's emotional reality—has largely been delivered. This balance between directness and compassion is one of the manuscript defining  strengths."

-Laura Perry | Editor | LFP Editorial Studio

08/17/2026

"When working with parents of adolescents, I often hear that their teens are well-behaved and well-liked in the community. Parents say things like, "They don’t act this way anywhere else," or "They’re completely different at other people’s homes." My response is that adolescents tend to test and rehearse their developmental growth with the people they feel safest with. Home becomes the place where they work out boundaries, reactions, and emotional regulation before taking those skills into the outside world. One of the hardest, and least talked about sacrifices of parenting a teenager, is being the place where that practice happens. I often follow up by telling parents that if this is the case, if their teen is behaving better elsewhere, it's often a sign that they're parenting effectively. Although a compliment, parents struggle to accept and appreciate this."
-J. Donohue
The Donohue Approach

08/16/2026

"The problem is that avoiding someone else’s disappointment often requires creating your own. Eventually, one person is going to be uncomfortable. The question is whether you’re willing to make yourself miserable to prevent someone else from feeling disappointed for a while."
-J. Donohue

Ch. 57
The Donohue Approach

08/12/2026

What's for dessert? Homemade Peanut Butter/Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 egg
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of sugar
chocolate chips
Bake @ 350 for 12 minutes.

08/10/2026

What's for dinner? Birria tacos made with shredded beef, melted cheese, onions, and cilantro served in a corn tortilla with a side of consommé for dipping. Thanks to my dear friend, Crystal for sending this one along.

08/10/2026

What's one habit you changed that helped improve your financial stability?
I’ve learned that some of the biggest changes in our lives don’t come from therapy techniques alone—they come from the small habits we repeat every day. This idea from Chapter 53 of The Donohue Approach completely changed how I think about mental well-being and financial stability:

08/08/2026

Facts!

08/08/2026

Over the years, I’ve worked with people who have made serious mistakes. Some deserved the legal consequences they received. But I’ve also watched people spend the next decade doing everything society asked of them: completing probation, staying sober, finding stable housing, obtaining an education, rebuilding relationships, working hard to become better people, only to discover that one checkbox on an application still outweighs ten years of growth.
As a therapist, that raises an important question: If we believe people are capable of change, are our systems allowing that change to matter?
Psychology has long demonstrated that people are not static. We know the brain changes. We know behavior changes. We know insight, maturity, accountability, and life experience can fundamentally reshape who someone becomes. In fact, helping people change is the foundation of mental health treatment.
Every day, therapists work with individuals to challenge destructive patterns, develop healthier coping strategies, repair relationships, and build lives that look nothing like their past. If we truly believe people cannot change, then much of what we do in mental health loses its purpose.
Of course, not everyone changes. Some people continue to make harmful decisions. Some continue to offend. Public safety must always remain a priority. But it is equally true that many people do. They accept responsibility, learn from their mistakes, and spend years proving through their actions rather than their words, that they are no longer the person they once were.
Shouldn’t our systems have room to recognize that? Perhaps the better question isn’t whether people deserve a second chance. Perhaps it’s whether we genuinely believe transformation is possible.
Because if someone has accepted responsibility, fulfilled every legal obligation, and spent years demonstrating growth, yet continues to be defined by the worst decision they ever made, we have to ask ourselves what message we’re really sending.
Are we encouraging rehabilitation, or are we quietly telling people that no matter how much they change, their past will always matter more than their present?
If someone has genuinely changed, accepted responsibility, and paid the legal consequences for their actions, at what point do we allow them to become more than the worst decision they ever made?
I don’t pretend to have the perfect answer. But I think it’s a question worth asking. If our goal is to encourage people to become productive, responsible members of society, we have to ask whether we are creating pathways for redemption or barriers that make redemption nearly impossible.

-J. Donohue