About Debra
Debra McGuffee is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 30 years of clinical experience. She helps people cope with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and intimacy concerns, addictions, grief, and parenting strains. She also supports those facing ADHD, career challenges, chronic illness, and compassion fatigue.
Debra offers Christian-based counseling when clients specifically request it. Debra keeps sessions straightforward and focused. She listens first and helps clients set clear, practical goals.
How Debra works
She draws on skills that help people manage mood, reduce conflict, and build self-esteem. Sessions move at a pace chosen by the client. Her work blends client-centered listening with structured techniques.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is used to change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. Dialectical Behavior Therapy offers skills for emotion regulation and distress tolerance. Emotionally-Focused Therapy supports deeper discussion about relationship patterns and attachment concerns.
Debra’s background includes three decades of therapy practice and many years working in business and corporate settings. That mix gives her perspective on workplace stress and career transitions as well as clinical issues like trauma and substance use. She draws on life experience alongside clinical methods when helping people make practical changes.
Sessions are offered via video, phone, live chat, or text messaging to fit different schedules and needs. Debra asks new clients to consider a few initial goals so sessions start with direction. She works with each person to create a realistic plan for progress.
Debra lists 4 ways of working on the entry:
What Debra works with
The areas below are the ones Debra selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LMFT |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 30 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Minnesota |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How these therapy approaches work online
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and understanding. The therapist follows the client's lead, reflects feelings, and helps people clarify what matters most to them. This approach helps with self-esteem, self-worth, and personal growth by making the client feel heard.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It uses clear exercises and homework to change unhelpful thinking and build new habits. CBT often helps with anxiety, depression, sleep, and coping with life changes.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals and try techniques that match the client's needs and preferences. This is a collaborative process where adjustments are made over time to find what helps most.
Online sessions offer flexibility for busy lives. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when that matters. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief updates, ongoing coaching, or when messaging fits a client's routine. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or other commitments.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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