Our backgrounds combined with our practical and hands-on experience in diverse therapeutic settings provides clients and families with reassurance and compassion as they navigate the therapeutic decision-making process.
Katie Conroy Ciervo has extensive professional knowledge that gives her unique insight into families in crisis. For more than six years she served as Director of Admissions and Outreach for a young adult transitional program, where she developed her expertise and visited countless programs nationwide. She then transitioned to becoming an Independent Therapeutic and Educational Consultant in private practice. She enjoys assessing needs and guiding families through the continuum of care that will best support their children to reach their unique potential.
Katie brings a warm and non-judgmental perspective. Her calming demeanor creates a safe environment for people to share. Colleagues around the industry recognize her dedication to making each family feel heard and understood. Clients appreciate her thorough, individualized approach to placement.
Katie understands the interpersonal struggle and is accessible as a guide. Certified as a parent coach from The JAI Institute of Parent Coaching. Katie comes from a family with deeply rooted values in helping others. Today Katie has a big, blended family of six. Her husband and children have been her teachers, her inspiration, and her passion.
Although Kim has retired, she will always remain as the heart and soul of One Oak.
Maureen is a Boston native who values the experience of travel and exploring other cultures. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston College in 1985. After joining the Peace Corps where she served in West Africa, she decided to pursue a graduate degree from the London School of Economics followed by life and work in Hawaii, The Federated States of Micronesia and American Samoa. Maureen received a Master’s Degree in Public Health as a Peace Corps Fellow in 1996 and began working with pregnant and parenting teenagers on the Island of Oahu. After living and working in Micronesia and American Samoa, she settled on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1999 and continued her work with high school students followed by several years of working with at-risk adolescents and young adults to identify therapeutic needs and access necessary care. Maureen has been working in the mental health field with adolescents, young adults and their families in a variety of settings for over 20 years and ultimately obtained her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the University of Hawaii Hilo in 2009.
Prior to joining One Oak Therapeutic Consulting, Maureen was a primary therapist supporting adolescents, young adults and their families at a therapeutic wilderness program on the Big Island of Hawaii. In this role she witnessed firsthand the power of nature, combined with sophisticated therapeutic intervention and family support, in the lives of struggling adolescents and young adults. She became familiar with the plethora of therapeutic schools, residential treatment centers and other therapeutic programs for adolescents and young adults across the country and formed professional connections that continue to strengthen. She travels often to maintain relationships with these schools and programs towards the goal of advising families on the best possible fit for their struggling child, adolescent or young adult.
On a personal level, Maureen’s own two daughters left Hawaii and embarked on their own exciting journeys. One taught in Thailand for a year while the other did a gap program in Madagascar. With both of her children launched and on their own paths, she decided to return to her hometown of Boston to reconnect with family. In her free time, Maureen loves to travel, hike, explore “all things New England’, and spend time with family.
Maureen is based in Boston, Massachusetts and will be serving families in New England and throughout the United States.
This serves as disclosure that Maureen currently serves as a parent coach in a coaching and psychotherapy practice, with further details provided to all those seeking services to avoid any conflict of interest.
Sara Lynn has devoted her entire career to working with adolescents, first as a social worker with at-risk youth in Waterbury, CT and then beginning in 1997, as an administrator at the Park School in Brookline, MA, where her extensive experience and knowledge of independent schools began. Following her time in Boston, she worked for 20 years as a Director of Admission and Financial Aid at four independent day and boarding schools in CT, beginning with her alma mater Westover School, and later Forman School, The Frederick Gunn School, and most recently Cheshire Academy.
During her tenure as a Director of Admission, she conducted recruitment, selection, and retention of students in grades 9-12 and PG, always working closely with families to understand a child’s journey and determine whether the school could be a potential next step on their educational path. As a consultant, Sara Lynn continues her joy and passion for working with students and their families, first identifying their individual needs, and then helping them to navigate the vast array of independent day and boarding schools to meet those needs.
Sara Lynn holds a bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Connecticut. She has presented at numerous conferences for The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), the Enrollment Management Association (EMA), and the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). She served as Co-President of Western Connecticut Boarding Schools for eight years and has a long history as a member of boards and advisory committees serving nonprofits in her local community.
While she has many years of professional experience working with adolescents, she is currently experiencing first-hand the joy and chaos of raising teenagers as a mother of two high school age boys.
Susan Coulson is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (CADC) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services. Her unique life experiences allow for understanding and compassion, both for those suffering with addiction or mental health issues as well as their loved ones. Her belief in the individual’s ability to replace their anxiety, confusion, and depression with hope, empowerment, and insight is a big part of what she hopes to bring to clients and their families.
At One Oak, Susan supports families through the intake process and works alongside the family and their consultant throughout the placement process. She is also passionate about collaborating with clinical professionals and spreading the word about the unique role that therapeutic consultants play in ensuring that families have access to the best programs to fit their needs.
In her free time Susan enjoys traveling, interior decorating, walking her dogs, and spending time with family and friends.
