Works with
- Anger
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
How Debra works
Practical facts
- Credentials
- LCSW
- Licensed in
- Illinois
- Years in practice
- 14
- Languages
- English
- Session format
- Online, through our partner platform
About Debra
Debra (Debbie) Shepard is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 14 years of experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, anger, and substance use concerns. She works with individuals facing life changes, relationship struggles, parenting pressures, sleep and eating problems, and issues tied to trauma or burnout. Debbie speaks plain language and keeps sessions focused on practical steps that fit real life.
In sessions she listens carefully and adapts to each person's needs.
Background and approach
Her style is warm and interactive. She draws on Client-Centered Therapy to center the person's goals and build on strengths. Debbie also uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking and teach new coping skills.
For relationship concerns she incorporates elements of the Gottman Method to improve communication and reduce repeating patterns. Mindfulness techniques are brought in to help with stress, anger, and attention challenges. Her background includes clinical and supervisory work in behavioral health across settings in Illinois.
This experience informs how she supports people through transitions like divorce, job changes, or recovery from substance use. She helps people notice patterns, try practical tools, and track small changes over time. Sessions are collaborative - goals are set together and adjusted as progress is made.
Debbie encourages short-term strategies alongside deeper work, depending on what each person needs. She aims to make therapy manageable and relevant to everyday demands.
What Debra works with
Everything Debra lists, in the therapist's own terms. Anger is the reason this directory exists; the rest tells you what usually sits alongside it in Debra's practice.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Eating disorders
- Sleeping disorders
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Body image
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Self-love
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Debra lists
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Gottman Method
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Approaches that translate to online care
Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes the person's own goals and strengths, and online sessions let the therapist focus on what the client wants to change. This approach helps when someone needs a supportive, nonjudgmental space to sort priorities and try solutions.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a hands-on approach that teaches practical skills to change thinking and behavior. Online formats work well for CBT because homework, worksheets, and skill practice can be shared across sessions and revisited between meetings.
Mindfulness Therapy introduces simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and manage stress and anger. These exercises can be guided in video calls or reinforced with short audio or text reminders between sessions.
Finding the right approach is part of the process. The therapist collaborates with each person to pick methods that match their needs, goals, and daily life. Plans are adjusted over time based on what helps most.
Online sessions offer flexibility for busy schedules. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and skill practice, phone sessions work when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or text-based messaging can support brief check-ins or ongoing coaching. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, parenting, or recovery routines while keeping focus on concrete steps and progress.
Questions people ask about Debra
What concerns does she help with?
She helps with stress, anxiety, anger, depression, addictions, relationship and parenting strains, sleep and eating issues, trauma, career problems, ADHD, bipolar concerns, and related struggles.
What is her therapeutic style?
Her style is warm, interactive, and solution-focused. She works collaboratively and uses practical tools tailored to each person's goals.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has 14 years of clinical and supervisory experience in behavioral health, working across a range of settings in Illinois.
What credentials and location are listed?
She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, IL LCSW, and practices from Illinois.
Which languages are offered for sessions?
Sessions are offered in English. International clients are not currently accepted.
What session formats are available?
Sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs.
How is cost handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I get started?
Begin by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.