About Debra
Debra Thurman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 25 years of practice based in Montana. She prefers working with adults and focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, anger, and mood concerns. Debra emphasizes respect and sensitivity in her work and aims to make beginning therapy feel achievable.
Clients meet with Debra to talk through everyday struggles like low self-esteem, trouble sleeping, grief, and major life changes. She also supports people dealing with trauma, domestic violence, bipolar mood challenges, and career or parenting strain.
Background and approach
Sessions are shaped to the person, not a one-size-fits-all plan. Her approach blends practical strategies and reflective conversation. Debra draws on cognitive behavioral ideas to challenge unhelpful thoughts and on acceptance-focused methods to build willingness for hard feelings.
She also uses client-centered and emotionally-focused tools to strengthen self-understanding and emotional connection. Work with Debra often includes skill building for coping, anger management, and mood regulation. She helps people set realistic goals and practices that can be used between meetings.
The pace adapts to each person’s needs and comfort level. People who value direct, compassionate guidance may find her style helpful. Debra aims to create a collaborative space where clients set the direction and she offers practical support.
If you want steady, experience-based help for anxiety or life transitions, she frames treatment around your goals.
How these approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then pick actions that reflect their values. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors with clear exercises and homework tasks. It often helps with anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Client-Centered Therapy centers the conversation on the person's experience, offering reflective listening and support to build self-understanding and confidence.Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist will work collaboratively to choose techniques that fit the client's goals, preferences, and day-to-day life. Sessions may mix elements from different methods so the plan fits what the person needs right now.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be useful when bandwidth is low or a simpler check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging let people send brief updates, ask questions between sessions, or use written exercises on a schedule that fits busy days. These options make it easier to get consistent help while balancing work, family, or other responsibilities.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Anger management
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Montana
- Languages
- English
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