About Patrick
Patrick O'Leary is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 41 years of practice. He helps people facing anxiety, addiction, relationship strain, and big life changes. His work is straightforward and focused on what you want to change.
Patrick uses plain conversation to get to the heart of a problem. He listens first, then helps people name patterns that keep them stuck. He encourages small, practical steps that fit daily life.
Background and approach
Clients often bring worries about stress, grief, mood shifts, or family conflict. Patrick also supports people dealing with trauma, parenting challenges, substance concerns, and career strain. He pays attention to how feelings, thoughts, and relationships interact.
His sessions combine careful listening with tools from cognitive behavioral and mindfulness approaches. He also draws on client-centered and narrative methods to help people rewrite unhelpful stories about themselves. Sessions aim to reduce overwhelm and build clearer coping skills.
Patrick invites people to work at a steady pace that feels manageable. He focuses on improving communication, reducing shame or guilt, and strengthening self-esteem. The goal is clearer choices and more reliable day-to-day functioning.
Patrick welcomes people from varied backgrounds and belief systems. He emphasizes respect for each person’s values while helping them develop skills for long-term coping and healthier relationships.
Approaches for online work and what they do
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and understanding each person’s experience. It helps people feel heard, clarify their goals, and build motivation for change. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors connect; it teaches practical skills to reduce anxiety and manage mood. Mindfulness therapy introduces simple attention and breathing practices to reduce reactivity and improve emotional regulation.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their needs, goals, and preferences. Sessions can shift over time as progress is made or new challenges appear.
Online sessions make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls offer face-to-face conversation when interaction helps. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is preferred. Live chat and text-based messaging allow shorter, on-the-move check-ins or ongoing support between longer sessions. These options give flexibility so people can keep therapy consistent while juggling work, family, and daily routines.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Intimacy-related issues
Also listed
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 41 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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