More About Dr. Deb

My Ph.D. is in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), a specialized field that has the capability of psychology and counseling to understand individuals while also being able to understand the relationships between all of the people in a family. Being an MFT is kind of like being a juggler. First you handle one ball, then you add another, then another. Each one counts; you can’t drop any of them, and you have to know how they all go together.

MFT is a non-judgmental, non-blaming approach to solving couple and family problems. When you’ve got so many balls, going, it makes no sense to point a finger at only one of them because the problem is in how they relate to each other. MFTs don’t think in terms of diagnoses. They don’t ask themselves, “What’s wrong with this person?” My thought is, "What's right with this person? What are his strengths? How has she overcome challenges?" and the answers to those questions become my tools to help you.

I graduated Nova Southeastern University’s doctoral program in MFT in 2001 after spending ten years doing research on emotional, verbal and physical abuse for my dissertation. I got my master’s degree from Drake University in 1978, having written a thesis about prison counseling. I did honors research abroad on the effect of the mental hospital culture on patient recovery while attending Queens College. I graduated in psychology in 1970. I have been actively practicing in the field for 35 years.

I’ve had six articles published in peer-reviewed journals* and given presentations to other therapists, published and presented dozens of times to the public, edited the mental health section of a paper run by the Miami Herald, and was an editor for the Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association.

I am a clinical member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and I am an Approved Supervisor in Florida for Master’s level Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists. I belong to the American Psychotherapy Association and to MarriageFriendlyTherapists.com. I’ve completed basic and advanced hypnosis levels; I am licensed in both Florida and New York; and I belong to the International Society for Mental Health Online.

I married once in my life and I’m still married to the same man 35 years later. I have four amazing children, eight incredible grandchildren, and two daughters-in-law and a son-in-law that I love and get along with. Those are the credentials of which I’m proudest.

I love to write. It's important to me to inform my readers as much as possible. So I write articles that will be delayed before you see them on my blog. Those articles appear on GoodTherapy.org and EzineArticles.com.

When you subscribe to the newsletter (see bottom of page in pretty maroone color) I'll let you know where ever my articles are.

I look for solutions, some of which are about doing things differently and others are about seeing things differently. When I work with you, I care about you. You will be on my mind and I will be determined to help you, whether you come in alone or as a couple or as a family. Each of you counts. And if you roll up your sleeves, so will I, and we will turn your situation around.

Serving Nassau County, Long Island in person and the International community through videoconferencing.

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*Hirschhorn, D. S. (1997). Tailored supervision. In C. Storm (Ed.), Reasonably complete systemic supervisor resource guide (pp. 87-89). Needham Heights, MA.: Allyn & Bacon. (Reprinted from The SupervisionÊBulletin, 7(2), pp. 3, 8, 1994.)

Hirschhorn, D. S. (1998). Non-Normative Systemic Therapy in a Case of Intergenerational Enmeshment. The Journal of Psychology and Judaism, 22, pp. 115-128.

Hirschhorn, D. S. (1998). The Mrs. K'negdo/Mrs. Opposite assignment: A Biblical injunction for Orthodox Jewish couples and Christian couples. In L. Hecker & S. Deacon (Eds.), The therapist's notebook: Homework, handouts, and activities for use in psychotherapy (pp. 229-233). New York: Haworth.      

Hirschhorn, D. S. (1999). Postmodern Ethics and Our Theories: Doing Therapy versus Being Therapists. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 18, (4), pp. 18-41.

Hirschhorn, D. S. (2001). Business building: Why making psychopharmacology referrals is shooting ourselves in the foot. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 4(6), p. 21.

Hirschhorn, D. S. (2001). Physical Abuse: Screening and Treatment. The Annals of The American Psychotherapy Association, 4, (5), pp.15-17.