About Kathleen
Kathleen O'Connor is an LICSW who helps people navigate addiction, trauma, mood disorders, ADHD, anxiety, stress, and relationship or parenting concerns. She brings 25 years of hands-on experience and a practical, down-to-earth approach. Kathleen focuses on meeting people where they are and working toward realistic goals.
She trained in clinical social work and earned a Master of Arts before becoming a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. Her background includes work in substance abuse treatment, psychiatric emergency settings, dialysis clinics, criminal justice programs, nursing home social services, and community-based crisis care.
Background and approach
That variety shaped her ability to work with many kinds of challenges. In sessions she combines straightforward talk with skills practice. She uses client-centered methods so people set the pace and priorities.
She also draws on cognitive behavioral techniques to address unhelpful thinking and on motivational interviewing to build readiness for change. Mindfulness and elements of dialectical behavior therapy are woven into her work to help with emotional regulation and stress management. Kathleen says she avoids stigmatizing labels and focuses on practical steps that fit each person’s life.
Her style includes frequent check-ins so clients feel heard and involved in planning. She has worked with people across wide age ranges and in rural and urban settings. Recently she has provided therapy by phone and video as well as community-based services.
Kathleen aims to empower people as they move toward clearer goals and better day-to-day functioning.
How Kathleen blends approaches and online care
Client-centered therapy places the person’s goals and priorities at the center of work. The therapist listens closely, follows the client’s lead, and builds plans that match what matters most to the person. This approach helps when someone needs a respectful, paced way to tackle hard problems.Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and changing behaviors that keep problems going. It is commonly used for anxiety, depression, ADHD-related struggles, and sleep problems because it teaches concrete tools to try between sessions. Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, adds skills for managing strong emotions and improving interpersonal interactions when stress or anger feels overwhelming.
Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, try strategies, and adjust the plan together. That collaborative process helps tailor methods to the person’s needs and preferences rather than imposing a single technique.
Online formats make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls let people work face-to-face from elsewhere, phone sessions can be a simpler option when bandwidth is limited, and live chat or text messaging can be useful for brief check-ins or between-session support. These options increase flexibility and make ongoing care more accessible for people with work, caregiving, or transportation limits.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Addictions
- Trauma and abuse
- Bipolar disorder
Also listed
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Stress, Anxiety
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- Massachusetts
- Languages
- English
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