Dr. Hennessy received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University New England (AUNE) in 2018. Prior to entering AUNE’s doctoral program, she earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at Smith College as an Ada Comstock Scholar and served as a research intern at Austen Riggs in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. While at AUNE, Dr. Hennessy worked as a research assistant for the Center for Research on Psychological Practice (CROPP) leading to her dissertation, in which she created a preparedness assessment tool (PAT) that was implemented at New Hampshire Hospital to help guide hospital discharge planning and follow-up care and to examine the relationship between preparedness and hospital readmission for a psychiatric population.

She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral training at the Carson Center for Adults and Families (CAF) in Westfield, Massachusetts, where she received extensive DBT training and gained valuable experience providing treatment to individuals with parasuicidal behaviors and dissociative experiences. More recently, Dr. Hennessy’s commitment to serving disadvantaged populations within a community mental health setting has led her to take on the role of clinical supervisor for the predoctoral internship at CAF in addition to her current role as staff psychologist.

Dr. Hennessy’s clinical focus is the treatment of developmental and complex traumas. Her treatment approach is relational-dynamic and grounded in attachment theory. Having worked as a licensed massage therapist and yoga instructor for many years prior to entering the field of psychology, Dr. Hennessy also enthusiastically brings evidence-based psychotherapies that are body-oriented and mindfulness-based into her clinical work. She emphasizes relational attunement and self-reflective practice in all of her professional roles.