Your compassionate partner on this journey of self-discovery.
Hi, I’m Rosemary O’Connor, LCSW MA.
If you’re curious about my credentials, you can jump over here. Otherwise, I’d like to share a little more about myself first and why I do this work.
There’s a quote from Gregory Boyle, S.J. (who wrote Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, a book I wholeheartedly love!) that seems to encapsulate how I aim to live and how I approach working with my clients. The quote is, “Just assume the answer to every question is compassion.”
If you have a moment, allow yourself to pause right here. Drink that in.
Assume the answer is compassion
This feels so potent because the reality is that each and every one of us experiences suffering. In our own way, each of us has had and will have moments with feelings of helplessness, heartbreak, and disappointment with ourselves, relationships, and life.
If we are able to suspend judgment and instead let compassion be our guide, we open ourselves up to other possibilities of what might be or what might have happened.
With compassion leading our way, we then might tiptoe into the realm of forgiveness or even step fully into love.
Compassion feels pleasant.
Compassion softly connects with suffering and looks upon it with pure care, absent of any agenda to control or get rid of it.
Compassion is radiant, atmospheric like the northern lights or the sun, and the more we practice it, the more it infuses our thoughts, emotions, actions, and relationships.
Compassion asks us to seek another perspective than our own.
Compassion asks us to consider what other factors might be at play.
Compassion supports us in creating kind boundaries that protect all of our hearts and align with our inner refuge.
When we feel safe enough, compassion might even ask us to lay down our wounds and consider that we are not the ones to blame.
Ultimately, compassion really is the answer. As we learn to incline the mind to compassion as our default, it changes how we connect with ourselves and others.
We understand more deeply how connected we all are. We understand our judgments and responses come from endless streams of conditioning that are outside of our control. We understand that compassion nurtures inner peace and a boundless heart, which is where real sanctuary and happiness are found.
This is more than talk therapy.
As a meditation practitioner and a student of neuroscience, what I have learned is that talk therapy has a tendency to keep us in our brains. We analyze and over-analyze. A never-ending cycle of commenting on our experiences (and others) keeps us from unearthing the truth that lies beneath the content.
In order to penetrate that layer deeper where an unadulterated truth lies, we must let the thinking and feeling breathe.
Give them space.
Allow them to exist without judgment.
Simply witness.
This is at the heart of a mindfulness practice.
My credentials
Licensed clinical social worker in the state of New York.
Received my Bachelor of Arts from Boston College.
Earned a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University with a concentration in Neuroscience.
Completed a Master of Social Work from New York University.
Study and train in Theravada Buddhism/ early Buddhism, including Vipassana (Insight) and Brahmaviharas (Lovingkindness practices).
Certified in EMDR, an evidence-based practice that alleviates grief and trauma.
Trained in Focusing-Oriented Therapy, an approach that promotes radical self-acceptance.
A couple of other things about me…
I’m a part of a cold water swim group that meets daily throughout the year.
I aim to attend at least two meditation retreats every year that are at least 2 weeks each. It’s how I stay in touch with my own meditation practice.
