My Professional Story

Over the past 30 years, I have always worked in some professional capacity serving persons affected by mental illness.  Those years have informed my complete understanding of how mental illness erodes a person’s independence, financial viability, and longterm wellness.  I’ve been a counselor, interventionist, and care manager in a variety of arenas - community mental health, occupational health in the workplace, estate planning for persons with disability, and even psychiatric interventions across the US.  I have been privileged to be part of it all.

In the 1990s, I primarily helped executives and others with depression re-enter the workplace and trained employers in disability management in the workplace. From 2001 - 2014, my private case management firm (O’Connor Associates LLC) delivered long term recovery outcomes  for our clients nationwide (averaging 81% reduction in their inpatient hospital days and 53% reduction in transitional hospital days). Over the past fives years, I have been providing interventional planning and financial case management for families supporting a loved one during their adult life. 

In sum, I have enjoyed a reputation of a trusted advisor to parents and families, bringing outside critical thinking and advocacy to an overwhelming problem that holds them emotionally and financially hostage . . . and felt very privileged to participate in managing this difficult life circumstance.

Navigating The World Of Mental Healthcare

The world of hospitals, therapists, psychiatrists, and addiction treatment does a great job marketing its services to families ... but makes little or no effort to help them-

understand it;

competently shop for it; or

identify providers who deliver real outcomes.

Then, there is the financial cost of treatment and aftercare.  Most families want to make investments in quality treatment that (hopefully) deliver sustained recovery - but cannot judge who or where the best places are to invest precious family dollars.  Why? Because this mental healthcare world does not measure quality outcomes -leaving families and consumers with no real way to compare providers and cost/benefit of using their services.  (From 2000-2014, my care management practice defined - and measured - outcomes as number of days our clients stayed out of the hospital, or stayed employment, lived independently, and managed disabling illness symptoms as a result of receiving our oversight.  Yet the largest or most expensive private facilities (or even therapy practices) cannot answer the basic question “what are your outcomes?”

No other medical field is such a mystery to consumers, can charge so much, but yet make (let alone keep) the fewest promises about real stability or change for the consumer. It’s as if the world of mental healthcare has settled into an identity of a body shop for repairs and maintenance instead of a place that can deliver hope and change.   And this is due, in no small part, to the lack of collaboration or cooperation with its patients’ true recovery stakeholders - the parent, spouse, or family back at home. 

And this is why I help families navigate the world of mental healthcare, treatment, and rehabilitation – so they can be competent thinkers and managers of a loved ones’ illness and its consequences to family stamina, money, safety, and long term quality of life.