About Debra Jay and Jeff Jay

Debra Jay, MA

President & Co-Founder

Debra Jay is a nationally recognized addiction specialist, author, and lecturer with a focus on the entire family system. She is the co-founder and co-principal of Love First®, a private practice established in 1994. Debra currently serves as President of the firm—a role she first held in the early years of the practice and has now resumed as her husband and co-founder, Jeff Jay, steps into a new leadership role as President and CEO of a respected inpatient treatment center.

From the beginning, Debra has shaped Love First into a national model for ethical excellence and clinical integrity in family-focused addiction services. She has played a central role in elevating the field of intervention—both through her widely respected books and her insistence that intervention is not an entry-level job. Under her leadership, Love First employs only seasoned addiction professionals—both clinical interventionists and Structured Family Recovery® counselors—who have served as inpatient counselors and meet the highest qualifications to guide families through the recovery process.

Although Debra no longer conducts interventions herself, she oversees the practice’s team of highly skilled addiction professionals. Each team member is experienced in working with families who want to help a loved one accept treatment and actively engage in a program of recovery that results in lasting sobriety.

Innovative Professional Training

Debra has designed professional training programs in Love First Clinical Intervention and Structured Family Recovery® that are regarded as among the most innovative and rigorous in the field. Admission is reserved for experienced clinical professionals, ensuring the highest standards in participant qualifications. She also developed a distinct track for treatment administrators, recognizing the unique responsibilities of leadership within treatment organizations.

These trainings incorporate the latest research in academic learning theory and use immersive, action-based curricula. They are intellectually demanding, practically applicable, and highly engaging—drawing students from across the United States and internationally.

Author and Thought Leader

Debra is the author and co-author of several influential books, including:
– Love First: A Family’s Guide to Intervention (co-author, Hazelden Publishing, 2000, 2008, 2021)
– It Takes a Family: Creating Lasting Sobriety, Togetherness, and Happiness (Hazelden Publishing, 2014, 2021)
– No More Letting Go: The Spirituality of Taking Action Against Alcoholism and Drug Addiction (Bantam, 2006)
– Aging and Addiction (co-author, Hazelden Publishing, 2002)

Her books have become essential resources for families and professionals alike and have helped define standards of care across the addiction treatment field.

Clinical Background

Debra began her clinical career at Hanley-Hazelden in West Palm Beach, Florida. There, she carried a full caseload in the inpatient treatment program for both men and women. She was the first coordinator of the Older Adult Track, facilitated the family program, designed the outpatient family program, and served as interim supervisor for both the women’s unit and the Fellowship Club (a highly structured Hazelden inpatient, extended care program).

National Recognition and Service

Debra appeared frequently on The Oprah Winfrey Show over three seasons, as well as on Oprah After the Show and The Dr. Oz Show. She was a guest lecturer for 14 years at Wayne State University’s graduate program in substance abuse studies. Her board service includes Ascension St. John Hospital’s Care Continuum Board, Dawn Farm, and Brighton Hospital. She was honored at the 54th Annual Detroit Bishop’s Dinner with the Sister Letitia Close Award for her work helping women affected by addiction.

Debra is also a longtime newspaper columnist, writing a popular advice column on addiction and family recovery since 1996.

Education

Debra earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Ohio State University and her master’s degree with a focus on multifamily group programming in the addiction field. She also completed the 14-month Addiction Professional Training Program at Hanley-Hazelden, followed by a three-month inpatient clinical internship.