Kathleen O'Connor, LICSW

Kathleen O'Connor is a Master’s-prepared clinical social worker who brings more than 25 years of direct service across a broad range of settings. She completed an MSW program that included participation in a multi-disciplinary consortium and earned a certificate as a Specialized Mental Health Provider, with training focused on work with people who are severely mentally ill and those who are dually diagnosed. She is currently licensed in Massachusetts as an LICSW (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker) and was previously licensed in Indiana and Ohio; she also held certification as a Chemical Dependency Counselor in Ohio.

Kathleen has worked with clients from age 3 through 102 and began her career as a Social Services Director in a 114-bed nursing home in 1995. Her professional background includes roles in substance abuse treatment, criminal justice settings, dialysis clinics, psychiatric emergency rooms, community-based crisis response, and in-home therapy. She has provided services in both rural and inner-city environments and most recently has offered telehealth care by phone and video.

Her approach centers on meeting people where they are, empowering them, and supporting movement toward their goals whether that is a short-term focus or a longer journey. Her counseling style is interactive with frequent check-ins to ensure clear communication. She emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and compassion, avoiding stigmatizing labels, and tailors treatment using a mix of motivational interviewing, mindfulness practices, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and trauma-focused techniques. Kathleen frames therapy as a collaborative process and welcomes those ready to take the next step toward change.