About Deborah

Therapy

For over seventeen years Deborah worked as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist in London. She received a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

She worked for the NHS and later joined the Therapy Team at Nightingale Hospital where she ran groups and individual sessions for four years specializing in Depression and Anxiety. During her time there she also contributed to the introduction of Mindfulness into the program. She then moved to Private Practice.

Deborah went on to train in Schema Therapy, under the supervision of Merrie Pearl, and practiced it for the greater part of her career. She subsequently brought to her Schema Therapy practice, training and experience in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which she gained at the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre. This proved to be very beneficial for her clients and colleagues asked to be supervised by her.

Awareness

Deborah remembers ‘meditating’ around the age of seven without recognising what she was doing at the time. When she discovered Vipassana meditation in her early twenties she immediately knew it to be her ‘childhood game’ and naturally felt moved to practice it. In the years that followed she spent much time in Mindfulness courses and retreats.

Despite her academic achievements, her own ongoing personal therapy and her meditation practice, there was still dissatisfaction in her life. Through suffering and a continuous nagging feeling that there was more to see, Deborah continued to seek.

In 2010 she came across the teachings of Eckart Tolle and Non-duality. Here, there was an instant resonance, which led to a profound experiential shift in her perception of reality. Due to this shift, her search for happiness ‘at some point in the future’ naturally fell away, as it was revealed beyond doubt that happiness is our nature and that it can only ever be here and now.

She travelled to Tiruvannamalai, India, to meet with her teacher who led her to deepen this realization. It began to have a momentum of its own which Deborah could not deny, however she continued to practice as a therapist for two more years.

Eventually she decided to take a one-year sabbatical to integrate this realization into daily living.

Meetings

“Debbie has this rare compass which combines Awareness and her expertise as a therapist to finally bridge the distance between suffering and freedom. She meets you where you are.”
– N.R.

While traditional therapy tends to focus on ‘my story’ and on how to change ‘my problems’, Deborah invites you to notice the freedom at the heart of all struggle. This liberation, this Awareness, is not dependent on circumstances. It is our nature and the real source of well-being.

When Awareness is realized, what we call ‘our problems’ begin to be experienced in a new light and true transformation can take place.

In a meeting, Deborah also utilizes her experience as a therapist to recognize the specific beliefs and patterns of conditioning that seem to keep us stuck in unwanted situations, and that lead to emotional suffering and relationship conflict.

As she guides you to see through and release these often unrecognised patterns, they begin to disappear, and the experience returns to being one of joy, connection and creativity.

Who is it for?

Deborah enjoys working with people who are keen to understand how suffering works. She often meets with people who have tried therapy before, have even found it useful, but continue to feel ‘dissatisfied’ and are interested in exploring the real nature of who they are.

Information

Deborah offers Skype sessions. If you live in London, her office is located in Wimpole Street, W1.

Regular weekly sessions are not necessarily part of this experience. Instead they are independent consultations and more meetings can be agreed upon together depending on what resonates for you.

A meeting with Deborah lasts for one hour.

Deborah offers meetings in English or Italian.

Testimonials

“You have enabled me with your incredible insight to change my life in a way I never believed possible. Now that I understand how my mind works, I am able to enjoy my life, experience its ups and downs and live. It has been life changing.”

– N.G.

“For thirty years I believed that my suffering was due to external causes, outside of me, when in truth it was pointing to my lack of understanding of what was happening inside of me.

Debbie was able to help me find the key to myself; this in turn opened the doors to happiness, to what I wanted happiness to be. To be able to not be scared of anything in the world, because all can be listened to, understood, accepted.

Debbie changed my life in such a radical way that nothing is the same, and I can definitely define myself as ‘before’ and ‘after’ Debbie.”

– V.C.

Deborah is much more than an attentive guide: she doesn’t only listen, she is able to ‘feel’ you. She managed to bring awareness and free me from rigid thoughts that I could not see, giving me the gift of understanding and acceptance. I have been very fortunate to have met her.

Today I listen to myself more, I am more aware and less strict with myself and others. I am the same but different, more free. More myself.

– A.M.

“Working with Deborah has changed my life in a way I could not expect. I am finally able to love myself, to be loved and love others in an authentic way. I am much more connected to my true self and able to connect with people at a level I was not expecting. It has been the best and most rewarding learning. I am happier, more relaxed and authentic. Thank you Deborah, you are in my heart.”

– E.Z.

“After many years of suppressing my feelings and letting my thoughts create a constant frenzy of worries, Debbie was able to show me for the first time that there is a better, more gentle way to live my life. Her compassion and care have made me comfortable to talk about the most sensitive issues that have affected me for a very long time, and she has provided me with real tools that I could use to deal with stresses, worries, and difficult situations that inevitably come to our lives on a daily basis.”

– I.M.

“Through my sessions with Debbie, I have become aware of my emotions and have acquired the tools to experience them fearlessly and without being overwhelmed by them. This has allowed me to begin to love myself, and to relate to others with assertiveness and self-respect.”

– L.P.C.

“In a nutshell, working with Deborah was for me a life changing experience. When I started my painful journey inside the deepest part of myself, my emotional state was horrible and I was confused and discouraged. After a few months with Deborah, thanks to the fact that I was actively involved in the process, never judged and always gently driven in finding the real motivations beneath my sorrow, I feel like a newborn.

I do agree that healing your own frustrations, depression and discomfort is first of all a personal responsibility, but having the chance to be guided and supported by such an enlightened and caring mind, had a value that no money will ever buy.
I would like to borrow these powerful words by Eckart Tolle to express that:

“Only you can do this. Nobody can do it for you. But if you are fortunate enough to find someone who is intensely conscious, if you can be with them and join them in the state of presence, that can be helpful and will accelerate things. In this way, your own light will quickly grow stronger. When a log that has only just started to burn is placed next to one that is burning fiercely, and after a while they are separated again, the first log will be burning with much greater intensity. After all, it is the same fire. To be such a fire is one of the functions of a spiritual teacher. Some therapists may also be able to fullfill that function, provided that they have gone beyond the level of mind and can create and sustain a state of intense conscious presence while they are working with you.”

– M.R.

Supervision

Deborah now offers supervision for colleagues who are already familiar with Mindfulness and are interested in deepening their experiential understanding of the Awareness teachings and Non-duality.

It is for anyone in the helping professions who resonates with the teachings found in the popular book by Eckart Tolle ‘The power of now’ and who intuitively grasps the importance of this message, both for their own wellbeing and that of their clients.

"Debbie’s warm and containing presence has enabled me to deepen my connection with my own clients and has enabled healing beyond traditional CBT, Mindfulness and Schema Therapy interventions.

I find that my own observational skills have sharpened and my intuitive responses, grounded in traditional therapeutic skills, have improved beyond what I could ever have imagined. With much gratitude..."

– M.C. – Counselling Psychologist