Restorative Wellness Guide
Donniece is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over 15 years of clinical experience rooted in the empowerment of and advocacy for marginalized and exploited populations. Her professional experience includes work with court-involved youth, teenage mothers, survivors of trafficking and sexual abuse, elderly individuals living with disabilities, and returning citizens, and her diverse skill set spans from case management to individual and group therapy to political advocacy.
Donniece infuses her clinical practice with the passion and wisdom of lived experience, noting “before doing the work, I was the work”. At 15, her partner and child’s father was murdered during her 8th month of pregnancy. The trauma of this loss coupled with the transition into teenage motherhood contributed to her dropping out of high school and later becoming incarcerated at 19. Throughout her twenties, Donniece continued to navigate the tumultuous intersection of single motherhood and criminal legal system involvement but never let her present circumstances dictate her future plans. At 22, while under home confinement, she became one of the first women to receive a GED through the Office of Community Corrections. At 27, she enrolled in college while facing 3 years in prison and advocated to have the sentence split, serving 30 days and taking 3 years probation so that she could complete her Bachelor's Degree. After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, Donniece worked for YouthBuild helping teen moms obtain their GED and strengthen their career skills, focusing on interrupting the same cycles of familial trauma that had so violently impacted her youth.
Donniece discovered the healing and transformative power of higher education and did not slow down after her Bachelors. She completed her Masters in Counseling Psychology in 2015 and her Post-Master’s Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Mental Health Counseling with a focus in Vocational Rehabilitation in 2019. In addition to working with TPP, Donniece is a supervisor in the Behavioral Health department at Children's Services of Roxbury. She is also the Founder of Crossroad Counseling Services, a private practice for individuals impacted by trauma through violence that seeks to help them reimagine what recovery can look like after trauma. She is a champion of education as a means to interrupt cycles of trauma and poverty, a fierce advocate for women and families impacted by the criminal legal system, and a shining example of what it looks like to dream outside of the oppressive boxes that society places us in.
Donniece infuses her clinical practice with the passion and wisdom of lived experience, noting “before doing the work, I was the work”. At 15, her partner and child’s father was murdered during her 8th month of pregnancy. The trauma of this loss coupled with the transition into teenage motherhood contributed to her dropping out of high school and later becoming incarcerated at 19. Throughout her twenties, Donniece continued to navigate the tumultuous intersection of single motherhood and criminal legal system involvement but never let her present circumstances dictate her future plans. At 22, while under home confinement, she became one of the first women to receive a GED through the Office of Community Corrections. At 27, she enrolled in college while facing 3 years in prison and advocated to have the sentence split, serving 30 days and taking 3 years probation so that she could complete her Bachelor's Degree. After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, Donniece worked for YouthBuild helping teen moms obtain their GED and strengthen their career skills, focusing on interrupting the same cycles of familial trauma that had so violently impacted her youth.
Donniece discovered the healing and transformative power of higher education and did not slow down after her Bachelors. She completed her Masters in Counseling Psychology in 2015 and her Post-Master’s Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Mental Health Counseling with a focus in Vocational Rehabilitation in 2019. In addition to working with TPP, Donniece is a supervisor in the Behavioral Health department at Children's Services of Roxbury. She is also the Founder of Crossroad Counseling Services, a private practice for individuals impacted by trauma through violence that seeks to help them reimagine what recovery can look like after trauma. She is a champion of education as a means to interrupt cycles of trauma and poverty, a fierce advocate for women and families impacted by the criminal legal system, and a shining example of what it looks like to dream outside of the oppressive boxes that society places us in.