My name is Debra Wengert. I specialize in working with behavioral issues, mental health disorders, and family/relationship problems. I’m the therapist people come to (including other therapists) when the help they need has been hard to find. I have helped many people get well who didn’t think they could, sometimes after trying unsuccessfully with other counselors.

If you are looking for extra support and guidance with a challenging situation or you are just ready to move in a new direction in your life, I provide a comfortable atmosphere and my highly personalized therapeutic approach is tailored to each client’s specific needs to attain personal growth, I look forward to working with you to achieve your goals!

Cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT will teach you how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence each other. For example, if you believe that people don’t like you (thought), you might avoid social situations (behavior) and feel lonely (feeling). However, CBT teaches you how to use these relationships to your advantage: a positive change in one factor (changing a thought or behavior) can lead to positive changes in all three. CBT is an approach that has been proven by research to work for many different mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse problems.

CBT is structured, short-term, goal-oriented, and focused on the present. It starts with learning how an illness or challenge affects you. Next, we will practice skills and strategies like problem-solving or realistic thinking to help you make changes in your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Then you will know how you can use your new skills to deal with problems in the future. I am also trained in the TEAM-CBT model developed by Dr. David Burns, a rapid (often one session) approach that is highly effective is helping people identify and then quickly change negative, unhelpful core beliefs (such as “I’m defective” or “I’m a failure in life”).