Deb Saffer
Deb Saffer, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Nationally Board Certified Counselor (NBCC). She welcomes the opportunity to work with clients experiencing: Anxiety, Depression, Grief and Loss, Difficult Life Transitions, Stress Management. She can also help clients with Career Counseling such as Career Path/ Job Choice Exploration, Coping with Job Loss, Career and Job Dissatisfaction, and Career Transitions.
She strongly believes in meeting the client where they are, and aims to create an accepting and safe space to explore thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and to assist clients to develop effective skills to enhance their mental well-being which in turns impacts their relationships and other areas of life.
Deb assists individuals with identifying those ways of coping that may not be helpful and then will work with clients to develop healthy coping strategies for the many stresses they may encounter associated with school, career, relationships, and time management challenges. A safe, collaborative and supportive therapeutic environment can be the ideal space to try on a new way of behaving and interacting, and then clients can practice the new coping skills out in daily life, reporting back in.
She provides an empathic environment and collaborates to assist clients to grow towards who they want to become. She has an integrative approach which is focused on clients` individualized needs and utilizes Person-centered, Humanistic, Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Gestalt, and Solution-focused approaches in her work with clients. She draws upon elements of mindfulness, grounding, and meditation in her work as well.
Education and Experience
Deb received both her Bachelor of Arts degree with a Major in Communication and her Master of Education degree with a Concentration in College Counseling from the University of Delaware. While studying at UD, she also volunteered as a Youth Leader for both Junior and Senior High School-aged students. For this work, she was formally recognized by the City of Newark, DE with the conferral of a Volunteer Service Award for her efforts in mentoring the City’s youth.
She completed both a Clinical Practicum and Internship at the Center for Counseling and Student Development during her Master’s degree, working with both individual and groups there, and completed a comprehensive Assistantship in the MBNA Career Services Center.
She has participated in a wide variety of training opportunities in a variety of settings, including attending three trainings at the prestigious Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, namely: Introduction to Gestalt, the Gestalt Marathon Experience, and Women’s Leadership. She has also completed the training with the PA Dept. of Health focused on Donor Family Grief Counseling.
Prior to working at the Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh, Deb worked in the College/ University and Nonprofit environments for over 20 years, where she counseled students, alumni and community members with a wide range of concerns and facilitated programs for both current and potential medical students to encourage pursuit of primary care physician careers in rural and underserved areas.
Hobbies and Interests
In her spare time, Deb enjoys spending time with family, continuing to explore her appreciation of yoga, testing out and challenging her crafting skills, and constantly learning.
How To Get Started
Deb will be seeing clients in person at our Monroeville location and will also offer Online Therapy. You can reach us at 412-322-2129 or contact us here to schedule an appointment.