Dr. Deborah
Cutter, Psy.D., MFT is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in California who holds a dual license in
Marriage and Family Therapy. As a freelance health/psychology author she writes
about a broad range of article topics including ADHD, learning disabilities,
parenting issues, autism, addiction, and motivational self-help. Her published
works can be found at brighthub.com,
helpguide.org,
soulaim.org, eduguide.org,
and parentsdigest.com. She is also Clinical
Director of Creative Behavioral Consultants (cbc-autism@sbcglobal.net),
a nonpublic agency certified by the California Department of Education which
provides behavior intervention services to children diagnosed with Autism and
related disorders in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
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The new millennium ushered in
a momentous and busy year for me. I doubled up on classes at Ryokan College to make sure I’d graduate with the rest of my class receiving
their doctorates in Clinical Psychology. Good thing I did because my son came along a month before graduation, and if that wasn’t enough, I turned 40
that year. Looking back, my graduate work in Marital and Family Therapy and balancing my daughter's needs in the whirlwind of studying and thesis writing felt calm in
comparison. Years earlier, after graduating from Beverly Hills High
School, I was
admitted to the regal campus of UCLA where I earned a Bachelor’s
degree in Psychology. After college without any set goals, I randomly fell into the legal world where I lifted left-brain weights for five years working as an insurance defense paralegal. Eventually, as chance would have it, I made my way back to a helping field.
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In private practice as a therapist I gained
experience working with individuals and families using an eclectic therapeutic
orientation. In other words, I used whatever worked. A little cognitive
behavioral therapy here, a pinch of object relations there, and a lot of Rogerian philosophy (being genuine and authentic as much as you can when you’re starting out
and trying to use all the tools and techniques they taught you in graduate
school). Working with mothers who had left their abusive husbands was inspiring. Their courage, determination and strength to make their children's lives better was emotional and moving. And although it was definitely challenging, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the men and women who were putting their lives back together after years of addiction to heroin and alcohol.
Through the years I gained experience creating curriculum and teaching parenting classes,
facilitating women’s support groups, administering psychiatric evaluations,
and writing medical-legal reports. More
recently, I learned the ins and outs of the managed care industry as a case manager. Boy, does
working on a crisis line get your adrenalin flowing! But I’d have to say the population that made me feel the most congruent was working with adults with
Down’s syndrome. If you’ve never had the pleasure of knowing someone with
a developmental disability, I highly
recommend volunteering at a place where you can meet them. They have the most
genuine and sweetest souls on the planet.