I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of experience. I am a licensed in New York. I have worked with individuals, couples and families from a various backgrounds and life situations. I have worked with clients with a wide range of concerns such as coping with chronic medical illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, and cancer. I have also worked with clients with adoption issues, depression, anxiety, career challenges, and ADHD. My career history has allowed me to work in areas of mental health, learning disabilities, chronic illnesses, caregiving, foster care, and adoption
My counseling style is warm and interactive. I believe in treating everyone with respect, compassion, being nonjudgmental. My approach combines psychodynamic and cognitive –behavioral counseling. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs.
My goal is to support and empower you to address life issues and to help you learn effective coping strategies.
I look forward to working with you!
Additional areas of focus:Relationship issues, Family conflicts, Trauma and abuse, Grief, Parenting issues, Anger management, Depression, Coping with life changes, Coaching, Compassion fatigue, Abandonment, Adoption and foster care, Attachment issues, Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Blended family issues, Cancer, Caregiver issues and stress, Chronic pain, illness, and disability, Family of origin issues, Family problems, Fertility issues, Forgiveness, Guilt and shame, Immigration issues, Impulsivity, Intellectual disability, Isolation / loneliness, Multicultural concerns, Postpartum depression, Post-traumatic stress, Self-love, Social anxiety and phobia, Traumatic brain injury, Visually impaired, Women's issues, Workplace issues, Young adult issues
These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Dr. Colleen Downes. We don't pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with BetterHelp might be different.
Dr. Downes is a genuinely compassionate and caring therapist who has made a profound difference in my life. I deeply value all the patience, guidance, and support she has offered me. She has helped me release so much emotional baggage and grow in unexpected ways. I am truly grateful for the wisdom she has shared throughout this journey.
Written on Dec 02, 2025 after therapy with Colleen for 4 weeks on issues concerning stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, and anger management
Great person always listens attentively and gives the best advice
Written on Sep 09, 2025 after therapy with Colleen for 4 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, grief, self esteem, and adhd
She is a great listener
Written on May 18, 2025 after therapy with Colleen for 2 weeks on issues concerning stress, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, coping with life changes, and adhd
Fantastic!
Written on Jan 29, 2025 after therapy with Colleen for 4 years and 11 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, career difficulties, and coaching
I have been working with Colleen for a few years and she has significantly helped me reduce my anxiety and stress. I am thankful for our sessions
Written on Dec 17, 2024 after therapy with Colleen for 3 years and 3 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, and career difficulties
Colleen not only allows you to set your own pace she encourages you to move towards progress! She reminds me of my greatest attribute while acknowledging what is getting in the way I enjoy our time together and how much I have grown
Written on Sep 23, 2024 after therapy with Colleen for 1 year and 6 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, addictions, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, sleeping disorders, self esteem, and adhd
Colleen is a great therapist. She provided worksheets for me to work on between sessions and was a very good active listener.
Written on Aug 19, 2024 after therapy with Colleen for 1 month on issues concerning stress, anxiety, relationship issues, family conflicts, parenting issues, and self esteem
Colleen is extremely thoughtful and attentive. She proposed excellent solutions to cope with all of my stresses. Thank you!
Written on Jan 11, 2024 after therapy with Colleen for 1 month on issues concerning stress, anxiety, parenting issues, and anger management
Colleen is very professional and knowledgeable on how to deal with mental health issues. She offers clear and concise advise and provides different tools to help you cope with your situation. I am blessed to have her as my therapist!!
Written on Jun 09, 2022 after therapy with Colleen for 1 year on issues concerning stress, anxiety, relationship issues, and self esteem
Colleen is great! She is extremely nice, attentive and responds ASAP.
Written on Mar 17, 2022 after therapy with Colleen for 1 month on issues concerning stress, anxiety, family conflicts, intimacy-related issues, self esteem, anger management, career difficulties, and adhd
Where can I start Ms Downes cam In my life at a time I was in a dark place she really helped me get back to a place where my life is back on track and I’m thriving I honestly don’t know where my life would be without her she is perfect I couldn’t be happier with my progress.
Written on Jun 29, 2021 after therapy with Colleen for 5 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, grief, parenting issues, anger management, career difficulties, and coaching
One of the best! very kind always patient.
Written on Jun 28, 2021 after therapy with Colleen for 1 month on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, family conflicts, and anger management
Colleen is an amazing listener. She helped me to remember myself… both the self I was and the self I want to be! She is a wonderful therapist
Written on Jun 09, 2021 after therapy with Colleen for 2 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, and adhd
I believe its been a year or a lil more but I bave been working together to help better handle what's going on with me and I feel she's been a great help
Written on May 26, 2021 after therapy with Colleen for 1 year and 5 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, and grief
She is very supportive and listen carefully.
Written on Mar 23, 2021 after therapy with Colleen for 2 weeks on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, self esteem, anger management, career difficulties, coaching, compassion fatigue, and adhd
A++
Written on Nov 30, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 4 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, self esteem, coaching, and adhd
She has constantly reassured me that there is no judgement in anything I feel comfortable in voicing. I greatly appreciate that.
Written on Oct 05, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 4 months on issues concerning relationship issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, grief, intimacy-related issues, anger management, and coping with life changes
Amazing, responsive, supportive, and patient.
Written on Sep 09, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 10 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues, grief, intimacy-related issues, eating disorders, and self esteem
Even in two sessions Colleen has made realize a lot things in my life that desperately needed acknowledgement. She’s is kind, relatable and understanding. She’s amazing at what she does and I look forward to continuing working with her.
Written on Jun 30, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 1 month on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, lgbt, relationship issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, grief, intimacy-related issues, self esteem, anger management, career difficulties, coping with life changes, coaching, compassion fatigue, and adhd
Colleen is extremely helpful, patient and attentive! I’ve enjoyed each session so far.
Written on Jun 13, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 2 weeks on issues concerning relationship issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, self esteem, coping with life changes, and compassion fatigue
I’m happy. I like knowing I have someone I can trust without judgement. She always responds in a timely manner.
Written on Mar 19, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 2 months on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, addictions, lgbt, relationship issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, grief, intimacy-related issues, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, self esteem, career difficulties, coping with life changes, coaching, compassion
I’ve had 3 sessions with Colleen and so far so good!
Written on Jan 26, 2020 after therapy with Colleen for 3 weeks on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, addictions, relationship issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, eating disorders, self esteem, and coping with life changes
Colleen has been very helpful for me in a traditional time in my life. She listens as I unpack what I’m going through and she pauses to questions that guide me deeper, and offers at least one strong takeaway for me with each session. Her feedback has been very grounding. I’m grateful.
Written on Dec 05, 2019 after therapy with Colleen for 2 months on issues concerning relationship issues, grief, and coping with life changes
Your review of Dr. Downes would be greatly appreciated.
We will share your review with Dr. Downes, and it may be posted on our website, Dr. Downes's profile, or used in online marketing. To protect your identity, your name will not be associated with the review. Posts may be edited to remove identifying information.
Please provide a review for Dr. Downes
Thank you for submitting a review
Your feedback is very important, and we'll carefully review it to continue improving the therapy experience for everyone who uses BetterHelp.
Cookie Consent
We process personally identifiable information ("PII") and personal health information to conduct our business and provide you with effective service as described in our Privacy Policy. Some data processing and sharing is required for our product to function and cannot be disabled. If you click 'I Agree', we may also share PII with third party advertising partners to deliver more relevant ads and with analytics partners to improve our services. To learn about who we share your data with and why or to opt out, go to Sharing Settings.
To write a message, first send or discard the audio message.
Write a message...Write a note...Let clients know in advance that you will be taking notes and type softly so they are not distracted during the session.
