About Me
Kathryn G. O’Brien, PhD
For more than thirty years, I have worked at the intersection of psychotherapy, education, identity research, and strategic thinking.
Across these different fields, I have remained interested in one enduring question:
How do human beings come to recognize what is true when familiar ways of thinking are no longer enough?
Most of the women I work with are thoughtful and capable.
They are accustomed to carrying responsibility, solving problems, and moving forward.
Until they encounter something that doesn't resolve.
A question, a transition, a disturbance.
A growing sense that something beneath the surface deserves attention.
More effort doesn't always bring clarity.
More thinking doesn't always reveal what matters.
Sometimes what is needed is not an answer, but a different way of seeing.
My Work
My work is grounded in the belief that recognition often begins with disturbance.
I am interested in those moments when something no longer fits, when familiar explanations lose their certainty, and when deeper patterns begin to emerge.
Through psychotherapy and Symbolic Insight™, I accompany people in exploring what may remain hidden beneath the surface of questions, decisions, and life transitions.
Not by offering answers.
Not by imposing meaning.
But by creating conditions for attention, recognition, and realignment.
Why I do this work
In clinical settings, professional environments, and in my own life, I have seen how easily capable women lose connection with themselves while continuing to function well on the surface.
They keep moving.
They keep carrying.
They keep solving.
Until something begins to disturb the pattern.
Over the years, I discovered that I am most fulfilled when something of depth in self-perception is excavated.
Not because insight itself is the goal.
But because recognition changes what becomes possible.
My approach
My work brings together more than thirty years of psychotherapy, education, and qualitative research with training in symbolic and intuitive practices.
I am a licensed clinical social worker, hold a PhD in education, and am a certified Crystal Wisdom Codes™ Practitioner and professional member of the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM).
Within Symbolic Insight™, I work with symbols, images, questions, and sometimes crystals as focal points for attention and reflection.
These are not used as belief systems or diagnostic tools.
They are used to create conditions for recognition—helping what may already be present, but not yet visible, come into clearer view.
Whether through a single encounter or a longer rhythm of companionship, my work is grounded in careful attention, thoughtful inquiry, and respect for the complexity of human experience.
Working together
There are two distinct ways to work with me.
Psychotherapy
Virtual psychotherapy for adults residing in Missouri.
Symbolic Insight™
A reflective approach for exploring questions, transitions, and patterns that may not yield to thinking alone.
Whether through a single Symbolic Insight Session™, the Symbolic Insight Circle™, or Seasonal Rhythm™, the work begins with attention.
Because not everything important lives at the surface.
Education and Licensure
PhD, Education (Teaching & Learning)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Missouri)
More than 30 years of experience in behavioral health
Professional Background Selected Publications
My professional background spans behavioral health, higher education, social justice, leadership development, and international business. Over the course of my career, I have worked as a clinician, educator, researcher, consultant, and facilitator of transformational learning.
Selected Publications
Books/Chapters
O’Brien, K. G. (2021). Chapter 10. Between two crises: Identity reconstruction through critical action research self-study. In Slapac, A., Balcerzak, P., & O’Brien, K. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on The Global Empowerment of Educators and Student Learning Through Action Research (pp. 219-244). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Slapac, A., Balcerzak, P., & O’Brien, K., Eds. (2021). Handbook of Research on The Global Empowerment of Educators and Student Learning Through Action Research. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Slapac, A., Coppersmith, S. A., Balcerzak, P., & O’Brien, K. G. (2021). Chapter 2. Resistance in crisis: Developing community through action research. In Slapac, A., Balcerzak, P., & O’Brien, K. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on The Global Empowerment of Educators and Student Learning Through Action Research (pp.23-48). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Doctoral Dissertation
O’Brien, K. G. (2017). Gender Identity Work: Oppression and Agency as Described in Lifespan Narratives of Transgender and Other Gender Non-Conforming Identified People in the U.S. (Publication No. 10681958) (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Missouri-St. Louis). ProQuest.
Peer Reviewed Publications
O’Brien, K. G. (2016). Feedback as a tool of engagement: A student’s perspective. PNRU Journal of Graduate Studies, 1(1), 9-16.
Rogers, R. & O’Brien, K. (2015). Review of T. Bartlett (2014). Analyzing power in language: A practical guide. Discourse & Society, 26 (6).
Rogers, R., Schaenen, I., Schott, C., O’Brien, K., Trigos-Carillo, L., Starkey, K., Chasteen, C. (2016). Critical discourse analysis in educational research: A review of the literature, 2004-2012. Review of Educational Research, 86, 1192-1226.
Additional Professional Details
Additional training includes symbolic exploration, reflective practice, intuitive development, transformational learning, energy awareness, and crystal-based approaches to self-reflection.
Crystal Wisdom Codes™ Practitioner
International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine, Professional Member (IPHM)
World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), Past Professional Member
Not everything important lives at the surface.
When you're ready to explore what may be asking for attention, Symbolic Insight™ offers several ways to begin.
