Deborah Richardson

Deborah Richardson is an experienced licensed clinical social worker in Tennessee, holding TN LCSW 3405, and she explains that listening has been part of her life for as long as she can remember. She did not begin her career planning to be a therapist - she expected to work in social service administration until a stint covering for a full-time therapist revealed a deep and lasting sense of purpose. That moment led to more than 45 years in the helping professions.

Her path has included a teaching degree and a master of social work from The University of Tennessee, and decades of varied clinical experience. Deborah has worked in in-patient and out-patient settings, a nursing home, a group home, and a prison. She spent fifteen years in forensic psychiatry and maintained a twenty-four-year private practice. Over the years she has supported people of all ages from many walks of life.

Deborah describes her approach as practical and adaptable - she uses whatever therapeutic techniques fit an individual, whether that means walking in the sunshine, listening to music, painting emotions, writing about heartache, or reading stories together. She has shared moments that range from reading The Giving Tree to watching Attack on Titan to singing It’s Not Easy Being Green, always choosing what helps a particular person express and heal.

On a personal level she has navigated significant life changes: two marriages, two daughters, the loss of one husband, a divorce from another, and the gradual letting-go as her daughters grew and left home. She is now waiting for grandchildren. Along the way she has also cared for many pets and thousands of clients, experiences that have shaped her compassionate perspective.

Her office companion was a ten-pound Shih Tzu named Amanda-Grace, known as Gracie, who served as an office pet therapist when Deborah met clients in person. Gracie struggled when in-person visits stopped but brightened again with simple pleasures like videos and hearing clients’ voices on speakers. Deborah notes, with a touch of humor, that everything was totally confidential with Gracie.

Deborah works with a wide range of concerns, including stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, coping with life changes, ADHD, relationship and family issues, grief, parenting, self-esteem, bipolar disorder, and compassion fatigue. She is a female, older therapist who identifies as liberal, and she brings a straightforward, empathetic style that values remembering small personal details and keeping communication real. Her goal is to help each person mend, build, or bridge what is needed so they finish therapy feeling stronger and more whole.