Brendan O'Connell
LMSW · DC · VA · MD
he / him / his
This can be a space where you feel more like yourself again.
You're not malfunctioning. You're adapting in ways that make sense.
The ways you've learned to move through the world often began as protection. Family systems, relationships, life experiences, and cultural dialogue shape what it feels like to be you. What brings most of my clients to therapy isn't a character flaw. It's that the tools of the past are no longer serving the life they want to build.
In our work together, the goal isn't to fix those adaptations. It's to understand them with compassion and create more room for mind, choice, and connection. I bring a personalized, relational, and trauma-informed approach to every session, and I don't believe there's a one-size-fits-all path to healing.
I work with teens and adults navigating trauma, relationships, identity, grief, and the chronic stress of living in a world that often asks people to show up in ways that don't quite fit.
I've come to believe that most emotional and relational struggles make complete sense when you understand the system that created them. Parts of us that feel like the problem are usually parts of us that are still trying to protect us.
My job is to help you understand those parts, not to eliminate them. When we approach our inner world with curiosity rather than judgment, something shifts. There's more space. More choice. And eventually, more room to feel like yourself.
Most emotional struggles make complete sense when you understand the system that created them. I'm here to help you understand yours.
I work with people carrying things that talk therapy alone hasn't reached.
My clients often come in with a sense that something is off but can't quite name it. They're functioning, sometimes very well, but something underneath feels stuck. If any of these resonate, we might be a good fit.
Teens & Young Adults
Navigating identity, relationships, anxiety, and a world that can feel overwhelming. I create space where young people feel genuinely heard, not managed.
People with Relational Wounds
When patterns in relationships keep repeating, when connection feels risky, or when closeness brings as much fear as it does comfort.
Those Who Experience Dissociation
When the mind protects itself by creating distance: losing time, feeling unreal, or watching life from far away. This work honors dissociation as an adaptation, not a flaw, and honors your unique experience.
Neurodivergent Adults & Teens
ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodivergence, especially where they intersect with anxiety, self-worth, and relationship patterns. We work at a pace that fits your nervous system and the way your attention actually works.
Adults Carrying Unprocessed Pain
Grief, loss, chronic stress, or past experiences that still show up in the body as tension, reactivity, numbness, or disconnection.
Clients Ready for Deeper Work
Including those interested in therapy intensives: concentrated, extended sessions that allow for deeper processing than weekly 50-minute sessions can reach.
A safe place to heal, at the pace your body can trust.
A meaningful part of my work is with survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and domestic violence. This is tender ground, and I hold it with real care. You will never have to explain or prove what you went through before you feel ready, and we move slowly enough that your body can stay with us.
Most people who reach out for this kind of support are women, and many have told me that the idea of sitting with a male therapist felt like a barrier at first, too scary or too activating to picture. That hesitation makes complete sense. When harm has come from a man, safety with a man can be hard to imagine.
You always get to choose the therapist who feels right for you, and there is no wrong answer here. For some survivors, a steady and safe relationship with a man becomes part of the healing itself: a slow, felt experience of being met with patience and respect. My aim is to be a warm, steady presence and to let safety be something you feel over time, so trust can build gently and entirely on your terms.
Healing happens in relationship. Sometimes the relationship that helps repair the wound is the one that felt hardest to risk.
Things clients have said
"I don't have to bring a filtered version of myself to our sessions."
"I feel like I don't have to worry about being too much here."
"You take accountability when you make a mistake, and not many people do that for me."
"You respect my choices and don't push me to do things that don't feel right for me."
Therapy can hold both depth and laughter. Growth often happens in moments you don't expect.
Real change happens deeper than talk.
Most of my clients arrive having already done a lot of thinking about their situation. They understand the patterns, they can name the feelings, and yet something hasn't budged. That's because the part of us that holds onto pain isn't always the part that responds to insight.
The nervous system learns through experience. Changing it requires more than understanding it.
EMDR Therapy
Using bilateral stimulation, EMDR helps your brain reprocess memories that still carry an emotional charge. It works at a level below conscious thought, where much of our suffering actually lives.
Learn more about EMDR →Somatic Experiencing
A body-centered approach developed by Peter Levine that works directly with the nervous system to gently release trauma that is stored as physical tension, collapse, or chronic activation.
Learn more about Somatic Therapy →Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS helps you get curious about the parts of yourself that feel stuck, reactive, or self-critical. Rather than trying to eliminate those parts, we learn what they're carrying and help them release it.
Learn more about IFS →These approaches work well together, and I integrate them based on what you need in a given session. Some sessions feel more cognitive, others more somatic. We follow what's alive in the room, not a predetermined script.
Curious. Direct. Genuinely invested.
Clients tell me that sessions feel different from what they expected. Not clinical or detached, but engaged. I bring curiosity and directness in equal measure, I'll reflect things back in ways that might surprise you, and I'm genuinely invested in your specific situation, not a template version of it.
I also care a lot about what happens outside the room. Insights and skills need to make contact with real life to matter. We'll talk about how what we're doing translates to your actual relationships, work, body, and daily experience.
Therapy should feel useful. If it doesn't, that's something we talk about, too.
"You don't have to figure this out on your own. I'll be here to explore what approach might look like for you."
My approach may be a good fit for:
Who's a Good Fit
- Teens and adults wanting to heal the impact of past or present experiences.
- Clients seeking trauma-informed therapy that goes beyond insight and talk.
- People who've spent a long time suppressing emotional or somatic needs.
- Adults carrying post-past pain that still shows up in the body and in relationships.
- People looking for deeper work and more sustained change, including intensive formats.
- Neurodivergent adults and teens (ADHD, autism) who want support built around how their nervous system and attention actually work.
Who's Not a Good Fit
- Those seeking purely structured, skills-focused therapy without exploration.
- Clients who need a higher level of care or crisis stabilization (I can provide referrals).
- Those who prefer a more passive approach where the therapist directs everything.
- People looking for medication management (I'm not a prescriber).
Not sure? A free 20-minute consultation is the best way to find out if we're a match.
Education, training, and licensure.
Licensed in DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Trained in evidence-based, body-informed modalities including EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and IFS.
Education
- BSW, Bachelor of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- MSW, Master of Social Work, University of Maryland
- LMSW: Licensed Master Social Worker (DC, Virginia, Maryland)
Active Licensure
- DC: Graduate Social Worker, LG200004711, exp. 01-31-2028
- Maryland: LMSW-Master, #33598, Active / In Good Standing, exp. 10/31/2027
- Virginia: Licensed Master Social Worker, #0903004687
EMDR Training
- EMDR Basic Training Parts 1 & 2, Manhattan Center for Trauma Studies (completed Feb 27, 2026)
- Trained by Dr. Pria Alpern, PhD, an EMDRIA-Approved Trainer
- 40 total instructional hours (20 hrs didactic + 20 hrs practicum)
- Ongoing EMDR consultation and continuing education
Somatic & IFS Training
- IFS Level 1 Training Program (89.5 hrs), IFS Institute, Lisbon, Portugal (Sept-Nov 2025)
- IFS Level 2 Deepening and Expanding (32 hrs), Israeli Institute for IFS (May 2026)
- Both programs certified by Richard C. Schwartz, PhD, Founder of IFS Institute
- Somatic Experiencing Training, Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), ongoing advanced training
Brendan has excellent listening skills, attention to detail in conversation, and a rare intuition for personal dynamics. He brings a wealth of experience to Full Self Psychotherapy with his practice of EMDR, IFS, and Somatic therapies. Highly recommend!
Dr. Thomas Pacheco, MD
What do these approaches actually look like in therapy?
What is therapy like with you when using IFS, EMDR, or Somatic Experiencing?
Sessions tend to feel collaborative and exploratory rather than prescriptive. We might start by noticing what's present: a feeling, a body sensation, a thought that keeps showing up. From there, we follow what feels most alive. Some sessions lean more cognitive, others more somatic. The approach adjusts to where you are on any given day.
What might IFS look like in therapy with you?
In IFS, we work with different "parts" of you: the self-critical part, the anxious part, the part that shuts down. Rather than treating these as problems, we get curious about them. What are they trying to protect? What are they afraid would happen if they let go? Over time, this builds a different relationship with your inner world, one based more on curiosity and compassion than on fighting yourself.
What might EMDR look like in therapy with you?
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, taps, or tones) while you hold a difficult memory or feeling in mind. This helps the brain complete a processing cycle it may have gotten stuck in. You don't have to describe the experience in detail. The bilateral stimulation does the work at a neurological level, which is why EMDR can create shifts that feel surprising even to clients who've done a lot of therapy before.
What might Somatic Experiencing look like in therapy with you?
Somatic Experiencing focuses on body sensations rather than narrative. We might track where in your body a feeling lives, notice what happens when you bring attention there, or work with very small movements and impulses that the nervous system wants to complete. It's gentle, paced, and designed to help your system process experiences it couldn't fully integrate at the time.
How do you decide which approach to use?
Honestly, we figure it out together. I don't come into a session with a predetermined protocol. We start with what you're bringing that day, and the approach emerges from there. Some clients have a strong preference for one modality; others want me to lead. Either way is fine. What matters is that you feel oriented and have a sense of what we're doing and why.
I'm nervous about working with a male therapist after what I've been through. Is that okay?
Completely okay, and very common. If your hurt involved a man, feeling wary of a male therapist is a protective response that makes sense. There is no pressure to push past it. We go at your pace, you stay in control of what we talk about and when, and you are always free to decide this is or isn't the right fit. For some survivors, slowly experiencing safety with a man becomes a meaningful part of recovery. For others, a different therapist is the better path. Both are valid, and the choice is always yours.
Washington, DC Office
📍1350 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 1030, Washington, DC 20036
🕐Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 6:00pm
📞(202) 868-8996
✉️admin@fullselfpsychotherapy.com
Learn more about the DC officeHealing from the comfort of home
I offer virtual therapy for clients throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC via a secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. Most approaches I use, including EMDR and IFS, work just as well via video as in person.
Life is already full, and starting therapy can feel like one more thing to fit in. Telehealth makes it easier to build a consistent practice without the commute.
Washington, DC
Telehealth
Virginia
Telehealth
Maryland
Telehealth
You don't have to figure this out on your own.
When you're ready, book a free 20-minute consultation. We'll explore what you've been experiencing and what support might look like for you.
Schedule a free consultation
Full Self Psychotherapy
Full Self Psychotherapy is a trauma-focused group practice in Washington, DC, offering in-person therapy at our Dupont Circle office and telehealth sessions throughout Virginia and Maryland. Our team specializes in EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Therapy Intensives for adults and teens. We are committed to culturally inclusive, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-affirming care.
Full Self Psychotherapy does not provide crisis services. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room.