Couples therapists in Fayetteville, AR

Hi, I’m Deborah M. Rago, LCSW. I hold master’s degrees in both Social Work and Human Services, and I’ve spent more than three decades supporting clients across Arkansas in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings. My experience includes working with grief and loss, personality disorders, addictions, professional stress, and trauma.

If you’re facing a difficult season or feeling overwhelmed by what you’re carrying, you don’t have to navigate it alone. I’m here to offer compassionate, experienced support as you work toward greater understanding and meaningful change.

I help people who understand their struggles intellectually but still cannot seem to change how they feel, react, or relate to others. As a Licensed Professional Counselor and Clinical Hypnotherapist with more than 10 years of experience, I specialize in trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, grief, and painful relationship patterns. My advanced training includes EMDR, clinical hypnotherapy, somatic approaches, EFT tapping, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. I offer more than traditional talk therapy for clients who are ready to move beyond coping and begin creating meaningful, lasting change.

I’m a seasoned therapist, minister, and educator who supports clients navigating trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, and challenges with anger or emotional regulation. I believe therapy is a space for honest self-exploration, healing, and meaningful personal growth. My goal is to meet you with compassion and curiosity while creating a safe, supportive environment where you can better understand yourself, work through painful experiences, and move toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.

I’ve witnessed the power of therapy to bring healing and growth across many settings and life circumstances. Seeing lives change through this work continually reminds me what a privilege it is to step into someone’s story and walk alongside them toward greater understanding, peace, and resilience.

I work with adults who are ready for a more honest, compassionate relationship with themselves. In our work, we’ll slow down and make sense of your experiences, including the parts that may feel confusing, overwhelming, or hard to name. Together, we’ll explore unprocessed feelings, long‐standing patterns, and the stories you carry about yourself and others. My style is warm, collaborative, and grounded in genuine curiosity. I aim to offer a space where your innermost thoughts and emotions can be expressed without judgment, and where you can feel both gently challenged and deeply understood. I see adults in both individual and couples therapy and welcome people with diverse identities, relationships, and backgrounds.

Hello, and welcome. With over 15 years in the counseling field, I continue to feel deeply called to this work and honored to support people through life's challenges. Many of the clients I work with are navigating anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, PTSD, grief and loss, life transitions, relationship and family issues, and emotional overwhelm. I also sit with people in seasons that are hard to talk about anywhere else — living with chronic illness or other physical health issues, walking through infertility, caring for someone at the end of life, or asking real questions about identity when everything familiar has shifted. I see both male and female clients across adulthood, and men's issues and women's issues are equally welcome here. Sometimes people come to therapy feeling stuck, discouraged, or unsure how to move forward. My goal is to be a steady source of support where you feel heard, respected, and encouraged as you work through what is weighing on you and begin moving toward healing and growth.

I have over 15 years of experience within the mental health field. I hold a PhD in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Education and Supervision. I am also a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in AR. I am also a Principal Investigator on many clinical trials for various companies.

I am open minded, kind, direct, and empowering. I encourage others to improve their skills.

You might be feeling exhausted from holding everything together, anxious about the future, or stuck in patterns that no longer fit who you are. I work primarily with women and couples navigating anxiety, burnout, relationship stress, and trauma that can be hard to put into words. Many of my clients are new to therapy or haven’t always felt culturally safe or understood in past spaces. With me, you don’t have to shrink yourself or explain your whole identity just to be believed. Together, we’ll work toward you feeling more grounded, more confident, and more like yourself again.

I believe we’re all doing the best we can, and that belief guides my work as a therapist. I care deeply about people and feel honored to be someone you can bring the hard things to. I’m down-to-earth, professional, and shaped by a diverse background that led me to counseling as my life’s work.

I have been working in the mental health field for over 20 years, graduating with a Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology in 2004. I have experience working in diverse settings including acute inpatient psychiatry, community mental health, and outpatient ambulatory care and private practice. I have worked with all ages and various populations and bring a welcoming, open-minded perspective to therapy sessions.

Firm in the thought, patients are the expert and I am just a guide. I aspire to assist in the process of patients exploring the best way to achieve a healthy, whole, and full life. During my tenure in the mental health field, I have earned a Masters in Human Services and a PhD in Marriage & Family Therapy. I believe with proper support, understanding, and guidance patients can achieve the level their goals in a lasting way, setting them up for the future.

• I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Little Rock, Arkansas. I have been a practicing therapist for over 20 years and specialize in working with individuals and families to help them overcome the challenges they are facing. I love working with people and find being a therapist the most rewarding and fulfilling job.

For more information about my practice visit my website

www.cindywinartherapy.com