Kathleen O'Connor

Kathleen O'Connor is a Massachusetts-licensed LICSW with a Master of Social Work and more than 25 years of hands-on clinical experience. She completed a Specialized Mental Health Provider certificate as part of her MSW training, with a focus on work with people who are severely mentally ill and those with co-occurring diagnoses. Her background includes prior licensure in Indiana and Ohio and certification as a Chemical Dependency Counselor in Ohio.

Her work has spanned many settings and age ranges, from a 114-bed nursing home to substance abuse treatment programs, criminal justice contexts, dialysis clinics, psychiatric emergency rooms, in-home therapy, and community-based crisis work. She has provided services to people ages 3 to 102 and has offered telehealth by phone and video in recent years.

Kathleen describes an interactive counseling style that emphasizes meeting people where they are, setting achievable goals, and traveling alongside them as those goals evolve. She draws on motivational interviewing, mindfulness practices, cognitive behavioral techniques, dialectical behavior therapy, and trauma-focused CBT to tailor a plan to each person. Her approach is grounded in respect, sensitivity, and compassion without stigmatizing labels.