Deb Skinner

I spent my first thirteen years post college working in a corporate environment, most of those years devoted to employee development, employee education, and leadership coaching. I worked with individuals and teams to increase work productivity and improve morale in the work environment. At that point, I was able to help people make some positive behavior changes, but I realized that education can only go so far when dealing with many individuals who needed, frankly, more help than I was trained to provide at that point in my career.

 

After my corporate years, while working as an adult educational consultant, I began a project with Dr. James DeVore to create a guide for improving relationships and communication between doctors and patients. We spent two years collecting data and interviews that we turned into a book called White Coat Wrinkle. Writing together was great fun, since we both seem to share a rather off-beat sense of humor. When the book was done, andDr. DeVore and I decided that actually marketing the book that we spent so much time writing “wasn’t our thing” I decided that becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist would allow me to finally work with individuals, couples, and families at a level that could facilitate more permanent change. While completing my 3200 trainee and intern hours, I worked in the Medi-Cal clinic at Social Advocates for Youth. I worked youth between 5-25, which often included working with families in order to provide a healthier and more stable environment for the child who was being brought in for treatment. after that, i interned in private practice, and thus was born my love of therapy. 

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In this Private Practice I met Will Gayowski, who introduced me to Esin Zamora, and all of us now practice together in my Office.