About Debra
Debra Shelton is a licensed professional counselor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, addiction struggles, relationship and family problems, grief, sleep troubles, and trauma. She brings 22 years of experience and a straightforward, respectful style to sessions. People often look to her when life changes feel overwhelming or when self-esteem and coping skills need rebuilding.
Her approach is interactive and down-to-earth. She listens, asks practical questions, and works with clients to identify doable steps.
Background and approach
Sessions focus on finding what helps in everyday life, such as new ways to handle stress, stronger communication, or clearer boundaries. Debra draws from cognitive behavioral ideas, acceptance and commitment methods, and client-centered listening. That mix helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, accept difficult feelings without getting stuck, and take small actions toward what matters.
Motivational interviewing and mindfulness practices are used when clients want to build motivation and stay present. She has experience supporting people through addictions, compassion fatigue, caregiver stress, blended family issues, and aging or geriatric concerns. Debra also works with issues like codependency, divorce, family of origin wounds, and loneliness.
Her background helps her offer practical tools alongside emotional support. Sessions are offered to people in Florida and to international clients in English. Debra emphasizes collaboration and helps clients try new strategies at a steady pace.
If someone wants to explore change, she helps them set realistic goals and practice skills between sessions.
Approaches and Online Options for Making Progress
Debra uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people notice and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors. CBT focuses on identifying specific thoughts that lead to distress and testing small, practical changes to improve mood and daily functioning.She also draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which helps people accept difficult feelings and commit to actions that match their values. ACT can be useful for anxiety, mood struggles, and persistent avoidance by shifting the focus from trying to eliminate feelings to building a meaningful life.
Finding the right approach is a team effort. The therapist will work collaboratively to choose methods that fit the person's goals and preferences, and adjust those methods over time as needs change.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to work together. Video calls support face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone sessions can be easier to fit into a busy schedule, and live chat or text-based messaging allow brief check-ins or ongoing written work between sessions. These options make it simpler to keep therapy consistent during life transitions or when travel or time constraints make in-person meetings difficult.
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 22 years
- Licensed
- Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida
- Languages
- English