Stephen DiDonato, PhD, LPC, NCC

Dr. Stephen DiDonato joined Thomas Jefferson University with deep passion and strong evidence-based clinical skills in the professional counseling, specifically in child and family traumatic stress, domain. He completed his Master’s Degree in Counseling in 2012 from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He recently completed his PhD in International Psychology during the fall of 2017 from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He is an active member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC) division of ACA. Stephen is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the State of Pennsylvania and holds his National Certified Counselor (NCC) credential.

Dr. DiDonato has clinical expertise working with children, families, and communities who have been exposed to potentially traumatic events.  Specifically, Stephen’s clinical focus has been on enhancing the adaption to the inherently complex traumatic environments that children and families face in underserved communities. He worked for the Center for Youth and Family Trauma Response and Recovery at University of Pennsylvania Health Systems as an outpatient trauma counselor and as an in-home counselor. He also has held a non-clinical consultative role with the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress at Nemours Children’s Health System where he was the training director and program manager, utilizing his counseling professional skills to enhance the way that medical professionals engage with and support children and families adapting to medical traumatic stress. He now holds a small private counseling practice where he specializes in trauma treatment, working with children and their families impacted by exposure to potentially traumatic experiences. Dr. DiDonato has been trained specifically in three evidence-based treatments (1) Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), (2) Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program – Newly Diagnosed (SCCIP-ND), and (3) Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI). 

His research agenda and scholarly work is primarily focused on how adherence to myths, implicit stereotypes, and restricted stereotypes influence how counselors (and other health professionals) engage with their clients. Also, Dr. DiDonato is co-developing an interprofessional education module that will be disseminated and studied in the field of community health settings, to understand the efficacy behind training professionals (counselors, nurses, medical doctors, school personnel, and other community providers) in interprofessional care and its necessity for positive outcomes for children, families, communities, and community-serving organizations.