Meet Dr. Kara O’Leary
Kara Graziano O'Leary, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a background in social psychology and neuropsychology. Her training includes a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, a master’s degree from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Long Island University in Clinical Psychology.
KGO is more than a name. It is also a mission.
Founder Kara Graziano O’Leary was naturally drawn to the letters KGO, which also align with her belief about how psychotherapy changes lives.
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Knowledge
It begins with knowing you are not broken, just stuck. Knowing more deeply the connections between mind and body, knowing your emotions and behaviors — this knowledge helps us accept ourselves and others.
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Growth
With knowledge, we grow. We develop new perspectives, greater personal strength, enhanced relationships, and a deeper appreciation for life. A sense of increased possibilities prepares us for new opportunities.
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Opportunity
By promoting acceptance, healing, compassion, and growth, psychotherapy offers pathways to a more meaningful and balanced life. Whether through new relationships, professional changes, becoming a parent, or evolution in existing relationships with others and with yourself, a world of opportunities can result.
More About Kara
Her experience includes more than a decade at the V.A. Medical Center, counseling veterans recovering from a wide range of diagnoses, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, childhood traumas, and eating and substance use disorders. Dr. O'Leary left the VA to start KGO Psychology, located in Tenleytown, Washington D.C., where her practice focuses on helping adults heal from past traumas, thrive in the present, and improve their relationships. She blends her research expertise with a warm personality to provide psychotherapy to individuals and couples, and to provide supervision and education for mental health professionals.
Prior to her tenure at the VA, she worked at the New York State Psychiatric Institute on brain and behavior research in relation to impulse control disorders, especially substance use and eating disorders. She has also worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as a counselor for sexual assault survivors and later for homeless families at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics. She developed her work in the field of eating disorders at Washington University, serving as a family therapist on an interpersonal psychotherapy-based study on weight loss. Dr. O’Leary’s variety of training and early professional experiences led her to a deepened understanding of how trauma affects daily life, the significant influence of context and environment on mental health, the impacts of factors such as implicit bias and stereotype threat, the role of attachment in human development, and the role of asking empirical questions and using data to guide decision making. She completed her clinical psychology internship and post-doctoral training at the St. Louis VA Medical Center.
When not working, she enjoys singing, running, or resting in her backyard.
