Deborah 'Rachel' Friedman, LISW

Deborah 'Rachel' Friedman is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) based in Ohio with more than 32 years of professional experience. Her practice centers on supporting people through stress and anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief and loss, and issues related to LGBT identity. She also addresses depression, panic and mood disorders, social anxiety, and the complex emotions that accompany life transitions such as midlife challenges and end-of-life concerns.

In addition to her clinical work, she trains pet and service dogs with a sub-specialty in psychiatric service dogs, a complementary area that informs her understanding of therapeutic support and daily functioning. Rachel approaches each person as the expert of their own story and looks for strengths that can be mobilized to meet difficult challenges. She uses a collaborative, empowering stance to help clients build coping skills, process painful experiences, and pursue greater emotional wellbeing.

Clients working with Deborah can expect a respectful, steady presence aimed at practical progress and emotional healing. Her broad experience includes addressing control issues, family conflicts, forgiveness, guilt and shame, isolation and loneliness, traumatic brain injury, and hospice and end-of-life counseling. Rachel brings decades of practice to offer guidance, support, and tools tailored to each individual’s needs and goals.

Therapeutic Approaches Offered Remotely

Deborah 'Rachel' Friedman draws on several established approaches to meet a wide range of needs. Client-centered therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and collaboration so that clients can explore their values and make choices aligned with their goals; it is helpful for people seeking greater self-understanding and emotional support. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is skills-oriented and works by identifying patterns of thought and behavior that contribute to distress and teaching practical strategies to change them; it is often used for anxiety, depression, panic, and mood disorders. Trauma-focused therapy attends directly to processing traumatic experiences and building coping strategies to reduce their ongoing impact, which can be important for those recovering from abuse or post-traumatic stress.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Rachel works collaboratively with each person to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, and she adjusts the plan as progress unfolds.

Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect with licensed professionals and therapists through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, access care from different locations, and maintain continuity of support when in-person visits are difficult, all while letting the person and therapist focus on achieving meaningful steps forward.