Kathleen O'Brien

My counselling approach is deeply rooted in my personal values of authenticity, empathy, and hope. I believe that counselling should provide a safe, non-judgmental space where clients can explore their experiences and emotions with acceptance and compassion. These values guide me in building a relationship of trust, fostering a collaborative journey toward personal growth and healing.  Through my personal lived experiences with counselling and trauma, I understand counselling as mode to become our true selves through non-judgmental guidance, awareness, and acceptance of ourselves presently with an intention to grow for the betterment of ourselves and others. By comprehending and processing our past experiences and emotions, I understand counselling as a means towards awareness of our past, present and future. This puts the client in the best position to evaluate and understand their experiences. I believe every individual has a unique experience and working collaboratively with you to achieve the outcomes you need is foundational to my approach.  

Through Person-Centered Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy, I aim to empower clients to recognize their self-worth and capabilities. I acknowledge that each individual is unique and shaped by their own experiences. Person-Centered Therapy allows clients to lead the session, enabling me to respond to their distinct cultural and systemic experiences or needs. This approach also fosters collaboration to identify and address truths about the client and their culture that may require adjustments within the therapeutic space. Utilizing Emotion-Focused Therapy, I assess and address clients' emotional needs by integrating an attachment-based perspective that respects and incorporates their unique cultural and individual differences in emotional processing. This method enables me to tailor interventions to help clients identify, process, and transform their emotions within the context of their personal and cultural experiences.