Meet
Kerynne O'Malley, RN, AMFT
AMFT 143893 // supervised by Ali Vogt LMFT 47693
SHE/HER
TELEHEALTH & IN-PERSON AVAILABLE in SAN RAFAEL
I join you in the dark of doubt and uncertainty—as we rebuild trust in the wisdom of the body and your basic wholeness.
Change can be a welcome guest or an unexpected intruder. Regardless of the invitation, the possibility of change presents each of us with choice.
However, choice and change can be darkened by the long shadow of doubt. "Should I have become a mother?" "I have invested so much time and effort, can I really leave my career? What comes next?" "If I leave my partner, would the world crumble or come alive?" "Did that friend know how much I loved them?" "What if I never live my life before I die?" This long shadow of doubt can cast itself across the whole of our lives, and we can feel alone and trapped in its darkness.
My offer to you is to join you here in the dark of doubt and uncertainty. Instead of working to banish doubt, together we can rebuild trust in its honor. Trust in the wisdom of the body and the truth of your basic wholeness.
I have faith in the experience of grief as medicine that opens us to life and grows our capacity to love. And I have faith that while darkness and doubt can overwhelm us, that relationship and community can provide, as John O'Donohue might say, "a path of yellow moonlight/to bring you safely home."
I blend insights from:
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Gestalt therapy: a humanistic & existential approach
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Parts work
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Attachment theory
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Neuropsychobiology
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Somatic/embodiment practices
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Transpersonal therapy
My clients often include:
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Transitional age youth (TAY) embarking on school or career
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Adults in career change or approaching retirement
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People with serious illness or dramatic health changes, especially in mid-life
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Folks who are childless, whether by choice or circumstance
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Caregivers, especially career healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, therapists [PT, OT, RT, etc.], first responders)
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People at the end of life & loved ones helping them through death
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Folks questioning their roles & responsibilities (as a mother, as a son, as a caretaker, as a citizen, as a couple)
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Folks questioning their identities, especially queer/questioning folks
Who I work with:
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Adults
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Couples
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Older teens
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Anyone at the end of life & their family
My background:
I am the daughter and granddaughter of Irish Catholic families. I am an eldest sister and an aunt. I have made my friends my kin. I find relief in music; dance and song are the greatest human technologies. On a lucky day, I feel connected to the universe on a long distance run.
I completed my undergraduate studies first with a BA in psychology from Villanova University (2003) and then a BS in nursing from New York University (2007). I spent 16 years caring for pediatric and adult oncology patients. I worked in hospitals (UCSF, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital), outpatient clinics, and in research. I was a travel nurse and collaborated with teams in some of the country's best teaching hospitals and oncology programs. Fittingly, I ended my nursing career with a brief period in home hospice care.
I completed my graduate degree at the California Institute of Integral Studies in the Integral Counseling Psychology program (2023). My clinical training and immediate post-graduate work at Church Street Integral Counseling Center was under the skillful care of Deb Stone. In addition to Big Life Change, I also presently work with system-involved youth and families navigating the foster care system.