Deep Creative Living
Trauma Therapy for Anxious Adults
If you’re tired of living on high alert, we can work with the experiences underneath the anxiety so your body and mind can finally settle.
Learn more →Trauma therapist & couples counselor · Cottage Grove, Oregon & online across Oregon
Feel at Home in Yourself Again
Trauma therapy, couples counseling, and spiritual mentoring, rooted in presence and guided by heart.
Request a free 15-minute consultation Call (541) 287-4282
- 30 years of experience
- Oregon-licensed LMFT
- EMDR · Brainspotting · IFS
- In person & online
You’ve probably tried to think your way out of it. You’ve read the books, made the plans, told yourself to just relax. And still your chest tightens before a hard conversation, your mind races at two in the morning, or the same argument keeps finding you and the person you love.
If that sounds familiar, there is nothing wrong with you. So often, what shows up as anxiety, numbness, or distance in a relationship is a nervous system doing what it learned to do long ago to keep you safe. That protection made sense once. It may not be what you need now, and it can change.
Where science meets compassion
Healing happens when science meets compassion, and trauma therapy honors the wisdom of the whole person: mind, body, heart, and spirit.
For thirty years I have helped individuals and couples work through the roots of what hurts. I blend trauma-focused therapies such as EMDR, Brainspotting, and Internal Family Systems with depth psychology and contemplative practice. You don’t have to choose between a clinical approach and a deeper one. We’ll find the pace and the path that fit you.
How I can help
Couples Counseling
If you love each other but feel like roommates, or keep having the same fight, we’ll look at the patterns and unmet needs beneath it, so you can find your way back to each other.
Learn more →Spiritual Mentoring
If you’re asking bigger questions about meaning, purpose, or practice, mentoring offers guidance and a steady companion on the path. Open to clients anywhere.
Learn more →Are you a therapist? Debra also offers clinical supervision and consultation for associate clinicians and licensed therapists.
What our work moves toward
Everyone heals at their own pace, and I can’t promise a particular outcome. But this is what our work together moves toward:
- Sleeping and resting more easily
- Reacting less and responding more, even in hard moments
- Feeling at ease in your body
- Saying what you need, and being heard
- Closeness and trust in the relationships that matter most
- A sense of presence, purpose, and being at home in yourself
Two paths, clearly defined
Psychotherapy is clinical care with a licensed therapist for emotional distress, trauma, anxiety, and relationship difficulties. Spiritual mentoring is a separate, non-clinical relationship focused on meaning, values, and contemplative practice; it does not diagnose or treat mental health conditions.
If you want support for your mental health or your relationship, choose therapy. If you want to explore your spiritual life and practice, choose mentoring. Not sure? Tell me what’s going on in your free consultation and we’ll sort it out together.
Meet Debra
I’ve been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 1996 and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor since 2005. My training includes a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from Brandeis University. Alongside my clinical work, I’ve spent more than forty years on a contemplative path and have taught meditation for much of that time. Read my story →
What happens when you reach out
- A free 15-minute conversation. Tell me what’s going on, ask your questions, and see whether we feel like a good fit. No pressure, no obligation.
- A first session. We’ll talk about what brings you in, what you’ve tried, and what you hope will change. You set the pace.
- A plan we make together. Your goals shape the work, and we check in along the way.
I see clients in person in Cottage Grove, Oregon, and online anywhere in Oregon. Insurance is accepted for therapy. See fees and insurance →
Online therapy across Oregon
Telehealth therapy is available by secure video to clients who are located in Oregon at the time of the session.
See the Oregon cities and towns served online
- Portland
- Salem
- Eugene
- Gresham
- Hillsboro
- Beaverton
- Bend
- Medford
- Springfield
- Corvallis
- Albany
- Tigard
- Lake Oswego
- Keizer
- Grants Pass
- Oregon City
- McMinnville
- Redmond
- Tualatin
- West Linn
- Woodburn
- Forest Grove
- Newberg
- Roseburg
- Klamath Falls
- Ashland
- Milwaukie
- Sherwood
- Happy Valley
- Pendleton
- Coos Bay
- The Dalles
- Cottage Grove
If your town isn’t listed, you’re still welcome to reach out: online sessions are available throughout the state.
Begin your path toward healing
You don’t have to carry this alone, and you don’t have to figure out the first step by yourself.