About Deborah
Deborah Feingold-Fisher is a licensed clinical social worker in Illinois with 27 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and the everyday strains of parenting and work. Her approach is direct and calm, aimed at practical change rather than jargon.
Deborah uses client-centered methods to create a respectful space where people can talk freely. She blends cognitive behavioral techniques to help identify unhelpful thinking and build new coping habits.
Background and approach
Mindfulness tools are offered to reduce reactivity and increase day-to-day calm. She has experience with LGBTQ concerns and supports people facing gender dysphoria and identity questions. Deborah also helps those navigating ADHD, autism and Asperger syndrome, and intellectual disability with practical problem solving.
Parents of children with developmental or behavioral needs can expect focused strategies for daily life. Sessions often include coaching elements for career decisions, improving motivation, and rebuilding self-esteem. She also addresses trauma, anger, compassion fatigue, and major life transitions with steady, practical guidance.
Deborah emphasizes small steps that fit into busy routines. Clients can expect a collaborative process that sets clear goals and measures progress. She encourages people to try strategies between sessions and to report what helps.
The overall aim is to support safer choices, better routines, and a clearer sense of direction.
Client-centered and skills-based care online
Deborah blends client-centered therapy with cognitive behavioral techniques to make online work practical and focused. Client-centered therapy means sessions begin with the person’s goals and concerns, and the therapist listens without judgment to help clarify direction. Cognitive behavioral work targets thoughts and habits that get in the way, offering concrete steps to change day-to-day routines and reduce distress.Finding the right approach is part of the process, and Deborah treats this as a team effort. She will talk with each person about their goals, try strategies, and adjust methods based on what helps. That collaborative stance aims to match methods to needs instead of prescribing a single path up front.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and preferences. Video calls allow fuller conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can work well when bandwidth is limited or a client prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief check-ins, quick coaching, or keeping momentum between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, childcare, or busy days while keeping treatment practical and goal-oriented.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Family conflicts
- Gender dysphoria
- Intellectual disability
- Midlife crisis
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 27 years
- Licensed
- Illinois
- Languages
- English