Debra Madaris Efird

Debra Madaris Efird was born in North Carolina and has lived there all her life except for a couple of childhood years in Virginia and Tennessee. She has worked as a School Counselor for over 20 years, primarily with middle school students. She appreciates the workings of group dynamics and is known in the Cabarrus County school system for conducting a myriad of groups each year. The American Counseling Association has published many of her articles about groups over the years. She received a 2010 National Health Information Merit Award for her article about a Juvenile Diabetes group that was published in "Diabetes Self-Management" magazine. Recognizing that she had something to offer, she worked several years polishing her book of groups that "get it" and was thrilled when Routledge published "Groups in Practice: A School Counselor's Collection" in June 2012.

A member of the NC Writers' Network, she has also published many fiction and travel articles. She considers among her highest fiction accomplishments being selected as a Finalist in the 2012 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Contest and the 2006 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Novello Literary Award contest. She is still focused on producing a novel of Southern literary fiction that will see publication someday.