About Cara

Cara Donnelly-Justus (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who approaches therapy from a psychodynamic and attachment-based perspective, creating a holistic and individualized space for clients. She emphasizes understanding each person within their environment, offering warmth, humor, and compassion as clients explore their emotional lives.

Approach to Therapy

Cara fosters a collaborative and responsive therapeutic environment, supporting clients in exploring relationships, processing emotions, building emotional resilience, and setting goals for meaningful growth. She integrates trauma-informed care, EMDR, DBT, Trauma-Focused CBT, CBT, and attachment-based approaches, tailoring sessions to each client’s needs.

Cara enjoys sharing psychoeducation about neuroscience and the mind-body connection, helping clients understand how their bodies and brains interact with emotional experiences.

Education and Training

Cara earned her Master’s in Social Work from University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Social Work as a Substance Use Disorder Interventions Fellow and was recognized as Clinical Social Work Student of the Year.

Professional Experience

Cara has extensive experience supporting children, teens, and adults facing anxiety, depression, mood regulation challenges, self-harm, PTSD, Complex PTSD, substance use disorders, and school refusal. Prior to moving into private practice, Cara served as the Clinical Director at an Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program. Currently, Cara is a co-facilitator of our DBT skills group.

Specialties