Radford Alum Deborah Cobourn Empowers Others with Inspiring Autobiography

Deborah Cobourn graduated from Radford’s MSW program in 2012 with an emphasis on school social work. She went on to receive another MA from Hollins University in 2017. Her thesis consisted of an autobiography about her own survival from child abuse, neglect, and molestation. It was endorsed before publication by her long-time heroine, Dr. Ruby Payne, who wrote A Framework for Understanding Poverty: A Cognitive Approach-whose work she became acquainted with at Radford.

The book, “Them, Us, and me” is a novella, inspired by Maya Angelou’s, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is her own story of survival and how she set herself free. As both degrees came together in the creation of this work, and as she worked with survivors in the field, she could see that her story is typical in so many ways of others’ people’s stories. It is her greatest hope the book can inspire those who are carrying that burden so they can know they are not alone. She also very much hopes that her book can be an applicable case study for MSW students. Not many people can claim a 10 on the ACE score and be where she is today poised to write another book and start to teach, to inspire others about the hope of a better life.

She currently is working on licensure through National Counseling Group and hopes to test early next year for the LCSW. She has held many positions, from a case manager to an executive director of a local non-profit, always with focus on women and children and their survival through abuse, neglect, and lack of resources.

May 18, 2023
School of Social Work
540-831-7690
cwhitehea2@radford.edu