About Me

Greetings and welcome to my website.  My name is Debrah DeLoney-Deans and I am the owner and principal clinician at Debrah Deans Therapy, LLC.  I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 13 years of experience providing client/person centered counseling and psychotherapy and specialize in holistic psychotherapy, which  treats the whole person--mind, body, soul.  My office is conveniently located in downtown Sacramento, which has metered parking and easy access to public transportation. 

 

As a Licensed Therapist, I have enjoyed a multifaceted career as primary clinician, educator, consultant, public speaker and trainer.  I have experience working with individuals and groups around racial stress and trauma; African American mental health, multi-cultural psychology, cultural competence, and clinical supervision. From a clinical perspective, I have significant experience working with individuals (ages 15 and older), couples, and families from multi-cultural backgrounds.  I especially enjoy working with couples to strengthen emotional bonds, improve communication and intimacy, and increase understanding of individual differences by teaching new skills that allow your differences to work for you rather than against you.  I also have success working with women of color on discrimination, assimilation, and complex trauma issues resulting from childhood abuse, domestic violence, abandonment, and/or emotional or physical neglect. 

 

Prior to private practice, I was a Parole Agent and Parole Unit Supervisor with the California Department of Corrections for 23 years.  From that side of the fence, I saw firsthand how a person’s life can take drastic twists and turns when their mental health or substance abuse issues were not properly attended to.  The results were often devastating.  But the strength and resilience I witnessed in my clients encouraged me to walk away from law enforcement to pursue a career as a mental health professional. Making such a major career change was indeed scary; nevertheless, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. 

 

In 2008, I graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology, emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy.  I gained clinical experience in a variety of settings, including Community Based and Non-Profit Organizations, juvenile detention facilities, medical clinics, residential and outpatient drug treatment facilities, government agencies and locked psychiatric milieus.  In these settings, I treated people dealing with a number of concerns, including, but not limited to Bipolar Disorder, psychosis, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, personality disorders, maladaptive patterns of behavior, justice involvement (legal issues), financial problems, eating disorders, relationship conflicts, and more.

 

My clinical experience also includes facilitating Domestic Violence, Life Skills, and Substance Abuse and Anger Management groups for self-referred and court-ordered adults and providing advocacy and case management services for Veterans and older adults.  I have performed mediation services for parents dealing with child custody issues and advocacy services for children and adults with developmental disabilities around housing and fair access to social services.

 

HOW I WORK

I enjoy being flexible, open, and creative, as therapy should never be approached from a “cookie cutter” perspective. Each client is unique and is an equal partner in the therapeutic process. By integrating different modalities and techniques into treatment and putting the client’s goals and personal strengths at the forefront, together we are able to customize a treatment plan that fits the client’s personality, meets their goals, and specifically targets the issues that brought them to therapy. 

 

Being a mental health therapist is not just my job, it's my “calling.”  I thoroughly enjoy helping my clients--individuals, couples, and families--find paths that lead to increased hope, growth, and healing that improves their overall mental and emotional wellbeing and leads to greater life  satisfaction.