About Deborah
Deborah Thoennes is a licensed professional counselor with 15 years of experience based in Wisconsin. She focuses on helping people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, grief, or major life changes. She aims to create a respectful and compassionate space where people can talk through what matters most to them.
In sessions she listens first and then helps shape a plan that fits each person. Deborah uses a mix of client-centered listening, cognitive behavioral ideas, and mindfulness practices to address everyday problems.
Background and approach
She also draws on emotionally-focused work when relationship or attachment issues come up. Her approach is practical and down-to-earth. Conversations look at current thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, and then test small changes to see what helps.
Mindfulness techniques are used to reduce overwhelm and build coping skills for stress and anxiety. Deborah has worked with people dealing with trauma, parenting challenges, career strain, caregiving burden, chronic illness, and concerns about identity and relationships. She also supports those facing eating-related issues, anger, and attention difficulties.
Sessions are adapted to each person’s goals and pace. People who choose her can expect calm, patient listening and step-by-step planning. She believes taking the first step takes courage and offers steady support through the process.
Approaches that translate well to online therapy
Deborah commonly blends client-centered work with cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness techniques. Client-centered work focuses on listening and understanding a person’s experience so the therapist can respond in ways that feel helpful. Cognitive behavioral therapy looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and uses small, practical exercises to test new ways of coping. Mindfulness therapy teaches simple attention and breathing practices to reduce overwhelm and increase emotional regulation.Finding the best approach is a team effort. Deborah will talk with each person about their goals and preferences and then recommend a path to try. She adapts methods over time based on what the person says is working and what needs to change, so the process stays collaborative and focused on real-life improvements.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to give flexibility. Video calls are useful for deeper conversation and nonverbal cues, phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed, and text or chat options suit quick check-ins or ongoing support between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy schedule and to maintain continuity when life gets hectic.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Wisconsin
- Languages
- English
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