My name is Donato.

I’ve spent the past decade immersed in engineering and engineering management. For most of my career, I’ve gravitated toward financial technology startups, where I focused on creating, building, and delivering products that help people interact with their finances.

But over the last couple of years, my focus began to shift. My priorities moved toward more mission-driven work around health, wellness, and therapy—largely because of my own experiences and struggles with mental health.

At the beginning of 2025, much of what I considered my “normal” life started to unravel. A combination of issues with my medication and longstanding mental health challenges caused my life to collapse in ways I never imagined possible. Relationships I cherished fell apart, including my 11-year marriage. The pride and joy I felt as a parent to my two beautiful children was cut in half overnight by shared custody. And I watched, almost helplessly, as my declining mental health continued to hurt the person I loved most and erode the foundation of our decade-long relationship.

I tried almost everything—multiple psychologists and psychiatrists, naturopathic doctors, medical doctors, time away, time surrounded by people who cared about me, new jobs, different responsibilities. No combination of treatments, changes, or environments seemed able to create the space I needed to truly heal from past traumas.

Finally, someone recommended that I look into the Portland DBT Institute (https://www.pdbti.org/), which offers a semi-local intensive outpatient program designed to help people manage emotional trauma and develop healthier coping skills. I started the program a few weeks ago, in early July 2025, and to be honest, it’s been a little overwhelming.

Much of the material feels quite dry—like flashcard memorization exercises I remember from college. The pattern matching between situations, emotions, and the right DBT skills to apply has been difficult to internalize and practice in the moment when emotions run high.

Because of that, I felt I needed something to help me bridge the gap between what I was learning and actually applying it in real life. As a software engineer, my mind naturally turned to software.

So, I started building.

I want to be very clear about this: while I can create and ship software, I can’t guarantee that what I’ve built is clinically correct or complete. I’ve incorporated safeguards and done my best to reference reliable sources, but this is still just a tool—not a replacement for therapy, professional guidance, or real human connection.

If you choose to explore or use this software, please continue to work closely with your therapists, your support network, and your medical providers. Keep asking questions. Keep doing the hard, uncomfortable work. And above all, don’t use this—or any tool—as a shortcut. In the world of mental health, there simply are none.

Here’s to learning, healing, and building, with light. 💛