PuttingFamilyFirst

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DW Portrait of Deborah Winningham
Online therapist

Deborah Winningham

Practical support for family and parenting challenges

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Credentials
LISW
Experience
4 years
Licensed in
Ohio
Languages
English
Format
Online sessions

About Deborah

Deborah Winningham is a licensed independent social worker in Ohio with four years of professional experience. She helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low mood, and relationship or parenting challenges. Deborah emphasizes practical steps that fit into daily life and encourages clients to build on the strengths they already have.

She approaches sessions as a collaboration, with the client recognized as the expert on their own story.

Background and approach

Conversations focus on clear goals, small changes, and real skills that people can try between meetings. Deborah uses a mix of approaches to match each person’s needs rather than a one-size-fits-all method. Her background includes work with grief, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, and anger.

She also supports people facing career transitions, bipolar mood concerns, panic attacks, and the stress that comes with caregiving or aging relatives. Additional areas of focus include adoption and foster care dynamics, communication problems, and financial stress. Therapeutic methods Deborah draws on include acceptance and commitment therapy, attachment-based ideas, client-centered techniques, cognitive behavioral strategies, and elements of dialectical behavior therapy.

These are used to help people notice patterns, manage difficult emotions, and take values-based actions. Sessions are conducted in English and Deborah practices in Ohio. To begin, a short matching questionnaire helps pair a person with the right schedule and next steps.

How her approaches translate to online therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters to them and take small, meaningful actions even when feelings are difficult. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, low mood, and living with ongoing health or caregiving demands. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on noticing unhelpful thought and behavior patterns and practicing practical exercises to change them; it often helps with anxiety, panic, and mood problems. Attachment-based ideas look at how past relationships shape current patterns and help people try new ways of relating and communicating.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey. Deborah works together with each person to pick methods that match their goals, needs, and preferences. She combines techniques as needed so sessions stay focused and actionable.

Specific session formats are not listed here, so confirm current options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow brief check-ins when a shorter appointment is helpful. It also lets people use written tools and homework between meetings to practice new skills in everyday settings.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Less about arguing with difficult thoughts, more about loosening their grip and acting on what matters to you anyway. Values and committed action carry the work, which suits conversation at a distance.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Looks at how early bonds shaped what you expect from closeness, and how that plays out now with a partner, a parent, or your own children.

Client-Centered Therapy

The direction comes from you rather than from a set programme. The therapist offers a warm, non-judgemental space to think out loud and work at your own pace. Online, this rests on the relationship rather than on being in the same room.

Frequently asked questions

What kinds of concerns does she address?
She helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship or parenting difficulties, plus grief, trauma, anger, career changes, bipolar and panic symptoms.
What is her therapy style like?
Her style is collaborative and practical. She focuses on short-term skills, values-based goals, and small steps clients can try between sessions.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She has four years of professional work experience as a clinician working with a range of emotional and life challenges.
What credentials and location are listed?
She is an LISW, licensed in Ohio. Her practice is based in Ohio and sessions are conducted in English.
Can people outside the United States work with her?
She does not accept international clients at this time and offers services to people in Ohio.
Which session formats are offered?
Session formats are not specified here; please confirm current session options before booking to know whether in-person or online meetings are available.
How does payment and cost work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I start working with her?
Choose the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule according to the therapist's availability.

Specialties and expertise

Top specialties

Also works with

Therapeutic approaches

Experience
4 years
Licensed
Ohio
Languages
English

Next step

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