“The world is full of magic things,
patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. ”
Debbie C. Sturm, PhD, LPC (VA), LPCC-S (OH)
I am a counselor educator, scholar–practitioner, and consultant whose work sits at the intersection of climate, place, mental health, and human systems. Across more than two decades of teaching, research, clinical practice, and leadership, my work has focused on how people—and the systems meant to support them—navigate complexity, disruption, and change.
My professional identity has been shaped by sustained engagement in counselor education, clinical supervision, climate-informed mental health, disaster behavioral health, and place-based approaches to healing and learning. I work across academic, clinical, and community contexts, with a particular commitment to ethical, relational, and justice-oriented practice.
Credentials & Affiliations
I hold a PhD in Counseling & Supervision and am licensed as a Professional Counselor in Virginia and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor–Supervisor in Ohio. I am a certified sylvotherapy (forest) practitioner. And I maintain active involvement in national and regional professional organizations related to counseling, counselor education, climate psychology, and environmental justice.
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My Professional Work
Counselor Education & Academic Leadership
I am currently a Professor in the Counseling & Supervision PhD Program at James Madison University, where I have served in multiple leadership roles including Program Director, Clinical Coordinator, and long-standing CACREP Liaison. My work has involved guiding programs through accreditation, curricular redesign, faculty development, and doctoral training, while mentoring students across the full arc of professional identity development—from practicum to dissertation.
My teaching spans master’s, doctoral, and undergraduate levels and includes coursework in counseling theories, supervision, crisis and disaster response, trauma-informed practice, multicultural counseling, leadership and advocacy, and nature-connectedness. I have also designed and led multiple international and study-abroad programs focused on sustainability, mental health, and place-based learning in Scotland, Malta, and the United Kingdom.
Across these roles, I have been deeply engaged in mentoring doctoral research, chairing and co-chairing dissertations that address climate anxiety, disaster response, ethics and supervision, counselor identity, eco-wellness, and social justice–oriented practice.
Clinical Practice & Supervision
Alongside my academic work, I maintain an active clinical and supervisory practice. I provide counseling and clinical supervision in Ohio and Virginia, working with adults and children around grief, loss, trauma, anxiety, and life transitions. My clinical orientation is relational, systems-informed, and attentive to the broader social, environmental, and cultural contexts shaping mental health.
Supervision is a central throughline in my work—as a clinician, educator, and consultant. I am particularly interested in how supervision supports ethical decision-making, sustainability of practice, and clinician well-being in contexts of chronic stress, crisis, and climate-related distress..
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