Meet Our Staff

Kristin O'Connor is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing with Cy-Hope Counseling. In addition to her counseling services, Kristin serves as the Marriage & Family Therapy Program Coordinator and Supervisor for Cy-Hope Counseling, overseeing the work of practicum student interns.

Kristin graduated from Texas A&M University receiving a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. During her time at Texas A&M, Kristin volunteered at Giddings State School for incarcerated youth where she created and ran a Youth Mentor Program for adolescents. Upon graduating from Texas A&M, Kristin completed her Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Oklahoma State University where she worked as a clinical intern at The Center for Family Services seeing clients for marriage counseling, family counseling, and individual counseling. During her time at OSU, Kristin served as a clinical student intern at Payne County Youth Services, counseling teens and their families in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Kristin also served as the clinical student intern at Ripley High School, and Ripley Middle School counseling students and running counseling groups for teens. 

Upon graduating from Oklahoma State University, Kristin joined the Cy-Hope Counseling staff as a founding member and helped build and establish the counseling center. 

Kristin specializes in working with couples, families, adolescents, and individual adults. Kristin is a certified Prepare-Enrich pre-marital counseling provider and is also trained in play therapy, Filial Therapy, and Parent-Child Interactional Therapy. Visit Kristin's website, http://www.kristinoconnortherapy.com/, to learn more about Kristin's counseling approach. 

Elizabeth graduated from The University of Texas with a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and a minor in Psychology and has completed several years of graduate work in Communication Disorders-Speech Language Pathology and Linguistics. She has a passion for and experience working with children of all ages in a variety of settings, including schools, speech clinics, hospitals, and a residential treatment center. Elizabeth hopes to return to school soon to pursue a graduate degree in Social Work, with the goal of becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working with children and adolescents. She is happy to be part of The Center and looks forward to matching you with the right counselor.

Kamilah is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 12 years of experience working with adolescents and adults who have endured symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, and relationship issues. Kamilah has been able to help clients tackle some of life’s most difficult challenges by creating a non-judgmental and safe place to process emotions, identify dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors, and begin using healthy coping skills.

Kamilah earned her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Master of Social Work degree at the University of Houston. Her experience includes working with youth involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, at-risk adolescents in a residential treatment center, facilitating parenting classes for voluntary and court-mandated adults, and providing individual and group therapy sessions to adolescents and adults in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings.

In her spare time, Kamilah enjoys cooking, traveling, being physically active, and spending time with friends and family.

Sara Yearout earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Houston in 2014. She is currently earning practicum hours towards her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Sam Houston State University. She has enjoyed her time working with adolescents and utilizing creative methods tailored to meet their needs. Sara has experience working with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, she has worked with clients in a community counseling center, private practice, and non-profits, and truly enjoys working with a variety of clientele. Counseling isn't always about fixing what's broken; instead we take those broken pieces and create something even better. Sara takes an integrative approach and enjoy applying cognitive-behavioral interventions when appropriate.

Ashley Malone is a practicum counselor who is currently pursuing a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Abilene Christian University. Ashley previously worked in the Human Resources field for ten years and also has recently lived abroad in the UK for several years.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harding University in Psychology and Human Resources and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Dallas.  She is a married mother of two boys and enjoys spending time with her family, watching sports and playing with her Goldendoodle puppy.  As a practicum counselor, Ashley is accepting couples, individuals, adolescents, and children.  Ashley believes in instilling hope into the lives of her clients and giving them tools to improve their outlook and situation.

Danielle Mikeska holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She is currently completing her Master’s of Education degree in Counseling from the University of Houston. Although she has not picked a specialty yet, she enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. Life is full of trials and triumphs, and her hope is to help her clients work through their struggles and celebrate their achievements. 

Halle earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Texas at Austin. During her time at The University of Texas, she was a member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association as well as a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society. 

While at The University of Texas at Austin, she gained key research and clinical experience working with a variety of populations from children to adults. Following gradation, Halle was employed at a learning center in Austin helping improve language comprehension and phonemic awareness in students. 

Speech therapy, and aiding people of all ages to gain confidence in their communication and social abilities is truly Halle’s passion: the excitement and unique opportunities in getting to know an individual and seeing them overcome challenges by reaching their full potential is the ultimate reward.Additionally, Halle’s outside interests include reading, finding new ways to stay active, and volunteering in the Cypress community. 

Angie graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Christianity from Houston Baptist University.  She then earned her Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Liberty University. Angie enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults, and couples. In particular, Angie enjoys helping people through difficult seasons of life including loss, divorce, mid-life changes, and other life-altering situations. Angie's goal is to come alongside her clients and assist them in navigating the path that is laid before them. In order to achieve treatment goals, Angie uses a variety of approaches depending on clients needs including person centered, cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy (children), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). 

Yarely holds a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Sam Houston State University and a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Stephen F. Austin State University. She is currently in the process of becoming a Licensed Professional Counseling Intern. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Yarely is comfortable conducting sessions in both languages. Her training includes play therapy, family counseling, and individual counseling, and enjoys working with a wide range of ages including children, adolescents, and older adults. Yarely wishes to help the community in Cypress by addressing personal, familial, and systematic issues to help the individuals and families reach personal, educational, and emotional goals. Yarely also has a passion for art therapy, and when appropriate, will often incorporate expressive arts activities into her counseling sessions.

Yarely obtuo su Licenciatura de Sociología en la Universidad de Stephen F. Austin y termino sus estudios con una Maestría de Consejería en la Universidad de Sam Houston. Yarely esta en proceso de obtener su licensia de consejería profesional. Ella conduce sesiones en Español y en Inglés. Su entrenamiento incluye terapia de juego, terapia familiar y terapia individual, y disfruta trabajando con una amplia gama de edades, incluyendo niños, adolescentes y adultos mayores. Yarely desea ayudar a la comunidad Hispana en Cypress a superar obstáculos personales, familiares, y sistemático para que ellos puedan alcanzar sus metas. Yarely también se especializa en terapia de arte, y cuando sea apropiado, incorporará actividades de artes expresivas en sus sesiones de consejería.