Peter OBrien

I work with adults who may appear to be managing life well but privately feel anxious, lonely, stuck in their relationships, or caught in patterns they understand intellectually but can't seem to change.

Originally trained as a psychologist in Australia, I bring nearly two decades of clinical experience to my work in the US. My style is warm, straightforward, and engaged—I won't simply sit back and nod.

You may be overthinking a relationship, adjusting to a loss or major life change, struggling with anxiety or OCD, or simply realizing that the way you've been coping isn't working anymore. Therapy can be a place to understand what's underneath those patterns—and begin changing them.

Therapy with me is active and conversational. I'll listen carefully, but I'll also ask questions, point out patterns and sometimes gently challenge ways of thinking that may no longer be serving you.

I draw particularly from schema therapy, ACT, CBT and psychodynamic approaches. That means we can work on what is happening now while also understanding where longstanding patterns came from. I don't believe you have to choose between insight and practical change—we can do both.

There is room for seriousness, uncertainty and humor. My aim is for therapy to feel human rather than clinical, while still having a clear purpose.

You can expect me to be engaged, thoughtful, and genuinely interested in understanding what is happening beneath the surface. I won’t simply sit back and nod—we’ll work together to identify the patterns keeping you stuck and find practical ways of responding differently, while making room for the parts of your experience that need understanding rather than fixing.