Dr. Richard O'Connor
(860) 364-9300

About Dr. O'Connor and his books

"When I was 15, I came home to find that my mother had committed suicide. Until two years before, she had seemed happy, confident and outgoing. When I look back at the course of my own life, I realize now how much it has been shaped by my need to understand what happened to her. I told myself I was tough and smart, and that her illness need not affect me. But when I left home I had no direction except away; and in my 20s and then again in my 40s I suffered through powerful depressions myself.

"I believe now that depression can never be fully grasped by mental health professionals who have not experienced it. Though I can't claim to know everything about depression, I have a unique and powerful perspective: as a suicide survivor, as a sufferer myself, as a patient, and as a therapist. I know that people who are depressed work very hard at living, but much of their effort is fruitless, a waste of energy. It is as if they are in over their heads and don't know how to swim; the harder they work, the worse things get."

Richard O'Connor is the author of four books, Undoing Depression: What Therapy Doesn't Teach You and Medication Can't Give You, Active Treatment of Depression, Undoing Perpetual Stress, and Happy at Last.  A fifth, Rewire: Change Your Brain to Break Bad Habits, Overcome Addictions, Conquer Self-Destructive Behavior, is a manual for gaining control of self-destructive behavior, published in 2014 For fourteen years he was executive director of the Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health, a private, nonprofit mental health clinic serving Litchfield County, Connecticut, overseeing the work of twenty mental health professionals in treating almost a thousand patients per year. He is a practicing psychotherapist, with offices in Canaan, Connecticut, and New York City.

"I was moved to write Undoing Depression out of some frustration with my career. I've always believed that we know a lot about how to prevent the suffering that conditions like depression cause, but for 20 years in mental health I — and everyone else — have been kept busy trying to help mend people who are broken already; there's no time for prevention."

A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, O'Connor received his MSW and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, followed by postgraduate work at the Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Family Institute. He has worked in a wide variety of settings, from inner-city clinics to wealthy suburbs.

Dr. O'Connor and his family live in Lakeville, Connecticut. He speaks to consumer and professional groups on various mental health issues and is available for personal and telephone consultation. For scheduling information, call (860) 824-7423.

Dr. O’Connor maintains an office in Lakeville, Connecticut; arrangements can be made for phone sessions or Skype.  Call 860 824-7423 or 917 455-7220 or email rchrdoconnor@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation.

Updated
September 3, 2012

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2 comments on “About Dr. O'Connor and his books”

  1. This post was most helpful in many perspectives. I not only reading for myself, but for my young niece who is struggling with addiction and depression at this time. I am a 57 yr old woman who has suffered from depression since I was five yrs old. I have struggled cconsistently, yearly, since I can remember, however the older I've gotten the longer and more severe these episodes last. I've been on several medications since age 35, with help for a time. I was finally diagnosed at 45 with major depression and anxiety. At 53 I had my first panic attack which came out of nowhere. I was told my body was not releasing stress correctly. I have never been hospitalized, thankfully, however, my episodes have been more severe, so I'm looking for a good doctor for the help I need at this juncture. The stigma of depression as I was growing up was much more hush hush than now. It wasn't admitted or talked about, much less treated, and our society today still sweeps much under the rug, with a snap out of it attitude. As the doctor stated, until you've experienced it yourself or have been a caretaker of a friend or loved one, the only way to understand as much as you can, is by reading and study to really learn how to help someone. Talking with a professional can help give you more guidance of what to say or do, and when more help is needed. God speed to all in need of more help.

Undoing Depression

Dr. Richard O'Connor maintains an office in Sharon, Connecticut. Call 860-364-9300 or email rchrdoconnor@gmail.com to arrange an initial consultation.
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