FOUNDER · CERTIFIED ADDICTION COUNSELOR LEVEL I (CAC) – 3679, GEORGIA

Grey Donnell

The counselor for people who are navigating substance use, painful relationships, and the struggle to understand themselves; tired of hiding, stuck in old patterns, and ready to understand themselves differently.

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Written by The Community's clinical team.

Medically reviewed by A. Umair Janjua, MD, FAPA

AT A GLANCE

CREDENTIALS: Certified Addiction Counselor Level I (CAC) – 3679, Georgia · Founder
SEES: Adults, teens 14+, couples, families: all addiction-related issues
GROUPS: SUD Recovery Process Group (open, 1st and 3rd Thursdays, 6:30 PM) · Thursday Process Group (open, with Bob Day, 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 6:30 PM) · Building Better Relationships (closed, with Todd Valentine, coming in early 2027)
FEES: $150/hour. A limited number of reduced-fee sessions are available. Ask at your consult. Details on the pricing page.
TELEHEALTH: Available anywhere in Georgia
EMAIL: grey@communityatlanta.com
CLIENTS: Accepting new clients now.

Group room at The Community in Alpharetta with a whiteboard and a circle of chairs

01HIS PERSON

Who Grey Works With

Grey’s person is the one who has stopped believing it can be different: stuck in a rut long enough that the rut has started to look like the whole map, running on hurt pride and the quiet shame of not having fixed it yet. If you’ve argued yourself out of hope more than once, that’s not a disqualification here; it’s the starting material. Part of his work is gently taking away what you think you already know, so something truer has room to show up.

He works with addiction, with people building or rebuilding a spiritual life, and with anyone whose recovery needs more than willpower and a plan.

It is a joyful experience for me to find a lost child, usually hidden inside of some angry, self-righteous adult.

GREY DONNELL

02DON'T EXPECT A LECTURE

How a Session With Grey Works

Don’t expect a lecture. In his words: “Therapy is about asking better questions and sitting with people while they heal.” A session with Grey is unhurried and direct at the same time: he sits with what’s actually happening, asks the question you’ve been walking around, and trusts you to do something with it. The insight is yours; his job is to make sure you don’t talk yourself out of it.

“Therapy is about asking better questions and sitting with people while they heal.”

03THREE OF THE PRACTICE'S GROUPS

Grey's Groups at The Community

Grey facilitates three of the practice’s groups; the full catalog, formats, and enrollment details live on the groups page.

OPEN, ONGOING

SUD Recovery Process Group

Open, ongoing; in person, 1 hour, 1st and 3rd Thursdays, 6:30 PM, enrolling now. Recovery worked out loud, with the accountability of being known. A client once described Grey’s facilitation as “controlled chaos.” This style leaves enough room for an individual to show up, be themselves, get messy, and find a way back with choice. It is a group that helps individuals begin to look at deeper issues and longer patterns that show up after the immediate crisis has been settled. This group is for those with SUD who are on the path, trying to stay on the path, and attempting to learn what being human and having SUD means, in real life.

OPEN, ONGOING, WITH BOB DAY

Thursday Process Group

Open, ongoing, co-facilitated with Bob Day; in person, 1 hour, 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 6:30 PM, enrolling now. An open process group: the aim of this group is to become a safe, communal space for individuals who are interested in looking with an honest, more objective lens at their life and how they show up in it, all with support, belonging, and guidance.

CLOSED, WITH TODD VALENTINE

Building Better Relationships

Closed men’s cohort, co-facilitated with Todd Valentine; 12 sessions, coming in early 2027. Honest, intensive, relational and interpersonal work; the closed format exists because that intensity needs a room where everyone started at the same line: everyone is taking the same level of risk, following the same outline.

04THE CREDENTIAL STANDS ALONE

Qualifications

Grey is a Certified Addiction Counselor Level I (CAC – 3679, Georgia), and the founder of The Community. His specialties are addiction, group facilitation, and spiritual exploration, and the tools he actually uses include CBT, DBT, insight-oriented work, Self-Psychology, existential work, 12-step facilitation, Reality Therapy, and family systems. He sees adults, teens 14 and older, couples, and families, across all addiction-related issues.

His experience: Grey is a counselor and behavioral health leader whose work centers on relationships, community, spirituality, and structure in recovery. Before founding The Community, he was Director of Residential Services at Firm Foundation Treatment Center in Woodstock, overseeing residential staff, admissions and discharges, training, and regulatory compliance. At Metro Atlanta Recovery Residences (MARR) in Doraville, he worked as an individual counselor and group facilitator, residential manager, behavioral health technician supervisor, and behavioral health technician, and was named MARR’s Employee of the Year in 2021. He also facilitates Building Better Relationships, a men’s intimacy group addressing trauma, abuse, sexuality, family-of-origin experiences, and codependency.

THE TOOLS HE ACTUALLY USES

CBT
DBT
Insight-oriented
Self-Psychology
Existential
12-step facilitation
Reality Therapy
Family systems

05LOAD-BEARING IDEA

How Grey Sees Guilt and Shame

What his own history taught him shows up in his lens on the work: guilt, as he frames it, is oriented toward the people above you, the sense of having broken a rule that matters to someone you answer to, while shame is oriented toward your peers, the fear of being seen as less by the people beside you.

Acceptance is what resolves shame, and a group is where acceptance happens on purpose.

That idea is load-bearing at The Community; he built the practice on it.

Outside the Office

A good Saturday for Grey is meditation, a run, and, in the fall, everything the season brings, capped with a family movie night. It is a day that leaves him feeling productive and also rested on the bookends, with time given to spiritual pursuits, body, work, and people.

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07ASKED AND ANSWERED

Frequently Asked Questions

Who does Grey work with?

Grey works with adults, teens 14 and older, couples, and families, and his home ground is the person who has run out of their own answers: the overthinker in a rut, people in or approaching recovery, and anyone whose insight has outpaced their change. Sessions are direct, warm, and built around good questions rather than lectures.

Which groups does Grey lead?

Grey facilitates two of the launching groups, the SUD Recovery Process Group and the Thursday Process Group with Bob Day, and co-leads Building Better Relationships, a closed men’s cohort with Todd Valentine that is coming in early 2027. Each one begins with a screening conversation with him, and the full catalog with enrollment status lives on the groups page.

Does Grey work with teenagers?

Yes. Grey sees teens 14 and older individually. Teen clients work individually with Erica or Grey. Teens never join adult groups; as our teen community grows, we form groups specifically for them.

What does it cost to see Grey?

Grey’s rate is $150/hour. The fee conversation happens at a free 15-minute consult, before the first session, not after. A limited number of reduced-fee sessions are available. Ask at your consult. Your individual fee includes a group at the same frequency, and the full pricing is on the pricing page.

How do I start with Grey?

Email him directly from this page and he answers personally, or call the main line at 404-590-2993. Either way it begins with a free 15-minute consult: meet him, feel the fit, and talk fees openly before anything is decided.

Meet the rest of the team

Ready when you are

Email Grey directly at grey@communityatlanta.com and start with a free 15-minute consult, or start with the main line and we’ll match you.

Email Grey Directly

Serving Alpharetta, Roswell, Johns Creek, Milton, Sandy Springs, and Cumming.