Deborah Starr

Dr. Deborah Starr has been with the Narrative Medicine department at Columbia for ten years, teaching in both the Masters and Certification programs.  She is a licensed therapist with a private practice in New York City.  Her dissertation and early work focused on eating disorders and before pursuing Narrative Medicine, she spent ten years in litigation consulting, researching the importance and power of language and visual communications.  Her interests led her to focus on how healthcare is delivered and received in contemporary culture, including wellness trends and end-of-life issues.  During her fellowship in Narrative Medicine, she created an animated film called “Plain Talk,” to encourage individuals and families to discuss death/end-of-life concerns and to change the cultural norm on these topics.  She is also a long-time leader and researcher in the use of psychedelic medicines, meditation, and the arts for mental health, having led programs in the U.S., Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa.  In recent years, she has been closely working and teaching with Shipibo indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon to explore plant medicines for deep healing.