We are honored to welcome Donna Elam, PA-C, to our clinical team.
Donna brings more than 40 years of experience in health care, along with a rare breadth of training that spans holistic medicine, community health, primary care, and integrative psychiatry. Her work is deeply rooted in compassion, trust, and a lifelong commitment to serving the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.
A Foundation Built on Learning and Service
Donna’s academic training includes bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry, Pre-Medical Studies, and Spanish from The Evergreen State College, a Bachelor of Physician Associate Studies from Oregon Health Sciences University, and a Master’s degree in Psychiatry through the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Puget Sound Psychiatric Clinic. She also completed a three-year psychiatry residency audit, along with more than 3,000 hours of advanced coursework in therapeutic modalities through organizations such as POLARIS, MAPS, TELOS, BMB Morelli MT, Elias CHT, and Gilligan PhD.
Her predominant areas of study include neurodiversity, behavioral sciences, and advanced psychopharmacology. In preparation for her work alongside AIMS clinicians, Donna also completed a Certificate in Palliative Care for Physician Associates.
For over two decades, Donna has served as adjunct faculty and preceptor with the University of Washington Family Medicine Division, mentoring medical students in patient-centered, compassionate care. She is also an active board member of the Capital Recovery Center in Olympia, Washington.
A Lifelong Calling to Care
Donna describes health care as her calling—and her career reflects that truth. She began in holistic health, training as a massage therapist and studying natural medicines, before moving into community health using harm reduction and mental wellness models. Her work in primary care focused on underserved populations, including isolated elders, street-involved youth, monolingual Spanish speakers, individuals with substance dependence, and incarcerated patients.
These early experiences shaped her philosophy of care. Donna learned to treat patients as partners, grounded in trust, equanimity, and shared learning—principles that continue to guide her work today.
Integrative Psychiatry and Expanded Pathways to Healing
Now practicing Integrative Psychiatry, Donna brings together decades of experience across medical, holistic, and spiritual paradigms. She works collaboratively with patients to explore the many pathways of suffering—whether rooted in life experience, neurobiology, injury, cultural or generational history, or spiritual meaning.
Her approach may include integrative therapies such as imagery, hypnosis, breathwork, and psychedelic-assisted modalities, alongside evidence-based use of herbs, plants, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and behavioral strategies. Donna’s goal is to support resilience, stress tolerance, and healing in ways that feel realistic, attainable, and spiritually aligned for each individual.
Ministry, Meaning, and Palliative Care
After two years of training and practicum, Donna was ordained in May 2025 through Sacred Garden Community Church. She now serves as a Minister and Facilitator, supporting individuals seeking existential and palliative care through religious engagement with psychedelic sacrament.
At the heart of her work is a deep awareness of suffering—and a profound respect for the meaning people create in their lives.
Beyond the Clinic
In her personal life, Donna is a wife of 44 years, a mother of five, and a proud grandmother to thirteen. She describes herself as a fellow traveler with her cherished psychedelic community and finds grounding in her relationships, interfaith and medicine circles, and her love of nature—her rocks, trees, plants, and Mother Earth.
Welcome, Donna
We are grateful to have Donna Elam, PA-C, as part of our team. Her wisdom, presence, and integrative approach are a powerful addition to our practice, and we look forward to the care and connection she will bring to our community.
