Deborah Derrickson Kossmann is the winner of Trio House Press's inaugural 2023 Aurora Polaris Creative Nonfiction Award for Lost Found Kept: A Memoir (originally titled What We Hold On To) which will be published in January 2025. See lostfoundkept.com for more information. She is currently working on a collection of essays, Complications of Captivity.
“Taking a Step Forward” and “Why We Needed a Prenup With Our Contractor” were published as “Modern Love” columns in The New York Times, and the "Tale of Two Primates" appeared as a "Menagerie" column in the New York Times Opinionator section. Deb won the Short Memoir Competition at the 2007 Philadelphia First Person Arts Festival. She has also received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Poetry Fellowship and an Individual Creative Artist-Special Opportunity Stipend for Literature (Poetry) from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Her poetry, essays and feature articles have appeared in a range of literary journals and other publications including most recently Nashville Review, Memoir Monday, The Woven Tale Press, Psychotherapy Networker, and Solstice Literary Magazine. She has been a fellow in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and The Ragdale Foundation on a number of occasions for both poetry and nonfiction.
A licensed clinical psychologist who has been in full time private practice for more than thirty years, Deb has experience in oncology, community mental health, and leadership consulting. She participates in PSYPACT which allows her to see clients in more than 35 states via telehealth. She has taught graduate courses on ethics, family therapy, trauma and counseling skills. A member of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, she sits on the Ethics Committee. She was formerly on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Psychological Foundation and was an Alumni Trustee on the Board of Trustees of Arcadia University. She is a member of Arcadia's President's Advisory Council.
Deb has her B.A. from Arcadia University, an M.Ed. from Temple University's Counseling program and her M.A. and Psy.D. from Widener University's Graduate School of Clinical Psychology. Prior to becoming a psychologist, Deb was the Public Relations Manager/Special Events Coordinator at the Philadelphia Zoo and also worked at KYW Newsradio as the Advertising and Promotions Manager.
Deb lives outside Philadelphia, PA with her husband, Marc, and Sofia Carmela, a cat with a whole lot of “tortitude.”
