Ruthie Duran Deffley

Ruthie Duran Deffley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who grew up in Mexico City, Mexico with her Mexican mother and American father. She attended an American school and is bilingual in English and Spanish. She moved to Washington, DC for undergraduate studies and worked in the inner city as an AmeriCorps volunteer helping children attain grade level reading and writing skills. After graduation, she moved to San Francisco, CA and worked as a research assistant for a trauma recovery center helping victims of violent crimes.

She translated research and resource materials for monolingual Spanish speakers in the Bay Area and began her advocacy work for the disenfranchised Latinx communities in the United States. She continued to work within the Latinx communities in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, where she obtained her Masters in Social Work and Masters in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota and in Savannah, GA where she works in private practice as a psychotherapist. She sees clients who only speak Spanish. She is passionate about helping others process their experiences so they can move forward into the life they want for themselves.

She takes a holistic approach to working with clients and connecting them to community resources is a constant part of her practice. Removing barriers to access for non-English speaking clients is extremely important to her and advocating for policies that ensure long-term change is part of her work outside of the "office".

When not working with her clients, Ruthie is with her amazing family- a husband of 12 years+, 2 beautiful children and the most recent addition, a Maltipoo puppy. Or you can catch her running around the beautiful city of Savannah or on the beach at Tybee.