Debra Jay is a noted author, speaker, and trainer for addiction professionals. She is the coauthor, with Jeff Jay, of the best-selling Love First: A Family’s Guide to Intervention and author of No More Letting Go: The Spirituality of Taking Action Against Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. Debra was a guest lecturer on addiction and related issues at Wayne State University for fourteen years. She has been writing a newspaper advice column on families and addiction since 1996. She has served as a board member for Brighton Hospital, St. John Providence Health System, and Dawn Farm. She is a recipient of the 2012 Letitia M. Close BVM Award in recognition of a significant ministry in helping women with the disease of addiction. Today Debra and Jeff run a national private practice, providing intervention training and consultation services for families.
Debra was the addiction expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show for three seasons and has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. She is a graduate of the Ohio State University and of the Hazelden addiction professionals training program.