Deborah Mostert is a Licensed Professional Counselor with 20 years of clinical experience in both private practice and public mental health centers.  She received her Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts & Sciences, with Honors, from the University of Illinois, in 1973, and her Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Illinois in 1975. She became certified by the National Board of Certified Counselors in 1994 and by the National Board of Clinical Counselors as a Master Addiction Counselor in 1995.

     Ms. Mostert has been a training specialist for the Mental Health Substance Abuse Division of the Virginia Beach Department of Human Services, where she implemented a federal grant project providing intensive outpatient services to clients diagnosed both with severe mental illness and substance abuse disorders. She has a long history of provision of Employee Assistance Services (EAP), working closely with employers to help employees who are experiencing cognitive, affective, and behavioral disorders.  And, she has given about 30 professional presentations and workshops on a variety of subjects including approaches to the treatment of addiction, solution-focused approaches to working with challenging families, and solution-focused, brief therapy in the schools.

     Ms. Mostert works in two areas of Parker, Schlichter & Associates: in  secular private practice and in the Hope Christian Counseling Center, which uses a faith-based approach to mental health problems, consistent with teachings of Christian churches.

     In her secular private practice with Parker, Schlichter & Associates, Ms. Mostert’s work with clients is based upon principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy, which she provides to individuals, couples, families, and groups. Her special interests include treatment of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and substance abuse and dependence. Working with children, adolescents, and adults, she focuses on resolution of marital conflict, difficulties associated with divorce, and parenting problems.

     For clients seeking therapeutic services in the context of a Christian theological perspective, Ms. Mostert provides services through the Hope Christian Counseling Center, a division of Parker, Schlichter & Associates.  While her Christian therapeutic approach incorporates the important teaching and beliefs of Christian theology, it is distinguishable from other Christian psychotherapy practices which may iterate Biblical principles but may not provide direct, clear-cut, and operational therapeutic suggestions and directives as to how to implement desired behavior changes.  She provides an accessible, straightforward, commonsense, and skilled approach with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the input of His Holy Word, the Bible. 

     Ms. Mostert recognizes the importance of helping clients develop a clear awareness of the changes they wish to make, establish specific goals defining those changes, develop specific steps and processes to reach the goals they have set, and establish ways of measuring the achievement of those goals as therapy proceeds. With her results-oriented approach, she is able to help her clients develop less self-defeating and more rewarding lifestyles.

For a complete listing of Ms. Mostert's professional experience, click here.