Debbie Turner is a Licenced Professional Counselor and a National Certified Counselor. She obtained her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy from Richmont Graduate University in 2014 after receiving her BS in Psychology from North Georgia College and State University in 2010. She has experience working at Ridgeview Hospital with adolescents, as well as court mandated clients and paroles. She has lead groups and provided counseling to individuals, couples, and families in private practice. Prior and during the time she obtained her degree, she was a mom to four children and she currently has five grandchildren. She has been married since 1979 and brings her life experiences to her profession from these many roles.
Debbie works with adults, couples, and families who are looking for emotional and/or relational support. She is trained to provide both pre-marital and marital counseling, and is certified by Postpartum Support International to provide perinatal mood support for depression, anxiety, anger, intrusive thoughts, and repetitive behaviors to both men and women during this stage of life.
She is passionate about helping individuals, couples, and families experience grace for themselves and to others to facilitate healing, transformation, and restoration. She enjoys helping clients learn about their own internal patterns or “parts” by using an Attachment Based model of therapy as well as the Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach. IFS brings a compassionate and internal unity, allowing for healthier external connections to develop.
Debbie is also Prepare-Enrich and Gottman Level 2 trained to help couples quickly learn areas of strength and areas for growth through researched based assessments. Because of the unique needs of step-families or blended families, Debbie has completed advanced training in step-family therapy with Ron Deal, nationally known expert on this population. Unique pre-marital counseling for these couples is also available.
She also has interest in autism and how it affects the family after recently learning her young adult son was mis-diagnosed for several years. For many adults symptoms may have been overlooked when younger, and not fully recognized until there is a negative impact on significant relationships, and delays in successful transition in to adulthood. Mis-labeling problematic areas can hinder progress, and impede proper and effective treatment.
In her spare time, Debbie enjoys gardening with her flowers, reading, and spending time with her grandchildren. Prior to becoming a counselor, Debbie enjoyed studying and leading in depth Bible studies. She is now passionate about combining her love and understanding of scripture with proven psychological principles for clients who want Biblical integration. The client determines what level of integration is applied to the counseling session. She is also committed to respecting clients who prefer not to include aspects of faith into the counseling experience.
Debbie is a member of American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT) and the Licenced Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (LPCA).