“A reluctant expert” is what friends call Kathleen O' Hara. Although true, it is a distinction Kathleen never wanted. In 1999, she was a mother of three children, a psychotherapist, with an optimistic viewpoint of the world and life. Then an event happened that would change her life forever.

On Memorial Day, 1999, her oldest son Aaron and his roommate Brian were abducted from their off-campus home, beaten, tortured, taken to the woods in nearby Pennsylvania and shot to death. They were left there until the search party found them five days later. Two young men, Terrell Yarbrough and Nathan Herring were apprehended and convicted of murder.

The years since have been a journey of grief and recovery. Kathleen has written about these experiences and because of her experience as a psychotherapist, was able to develop a seven-stage model that will help guide readers through their journey. She has transformed a devastating experience into something that will help others not only survive trauma, but find a new life.

She has been asked to give retreats, keynote talks, write articles, and help individuals in her private practice. She has given presentations on her new trauma model to groups of Catholic Charities caregivers with excellent results. She has been a guest on National Public Radio, Catholic Family Radio and been interviewed by Fox news, (national and local), KYW3 and NBC. She continues to expand her work in private practice, media, writing and public presentations and speaking engagements.

She has studied human nature and comparative religions since 1971, when she lived in London, England. Interested in archeology, she has traveled to many important sites in the world, such as the pyramids in Egypt, where she attended a conference on world population. She has visited Macchu Picchu, Peru, The Acropolis in Greece and Stonehenge, England, as well as Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya, Africa.

She has been involved in the al-anon and AA twelve step community since 1982, applying their principles to her life and work. She has been actively involved in different forms of mediation for the past 23 years and in 2003, recorded a CD called Modern Meditation, which teaches people a simple, secular method of relaxation. She teaches this method today to groups and individuals.

Kathleen enjoys life today, despite the grief and tragedy she has experienced. She finds hope in the possibilities of a new world after trauma. As a reluctant expert, she hopes her book, A Grief Like No Other, will help others make their way through loss and trauma and find a new life ahead.