As a member of the Training Institute’s board of directors for over 20 years, Stephen O’Connell has been deeply involved with the organization through its many recent accomplishments as well as challenging times. Through this work and his assistance to TI in his primary field of real estate law, Mr. O’Connell has helped ensure the Institute’s continued growth in an increasingly uncertain world. I recently spoke with Mr. O’Connell over the phone to discuss his views on the Training Institute’s past, present, and future.

Mr. O’Connell’s involvement in the field of mental health stems from a long-held belief in the importance of therapy that has only grown throughout the years. What drew him to the Training Institute in particular, however, was the “remarkable selflessness” of the those involved with the institution. Mr. O’Connell attributes much of the Institute’s success throughout his tenure to this selflessness and a commitment by leadership to adhere to the organization’s stated values and goals. Although he has served on the board during the tenures of multiple directors with different approaches to leadership, O’Connell believes that they have all been unified in this regard. They each have been thoroughly committed to the Training Institute’s role as an organization that gives back to the community, its clientele and aspiring therapists with a high quality of service at affordable prices.

One area in which O’Connell has been particularly impressed by TI has been its ability to secure and allocate funds in an efficient manner. In his eyes, this ability has been principally important in the Training Institutes’ ability to follow through on its promise to keep its services affordable. Mr. O’Connell is particularly praiseworthy of the work of the Institute’s long-serving director of development, John McCaffrey, in raising the funds necessary to accomplish this lofty task. Throughout TI’s leadership changes, peeks, and valleys during these last few decades, “he has been the steady,” says O’Connell. But raising money is only half of the task, and the Institute’s ability to use these funds effectively has been equally important and impressive. “It is the most efficient use of donor funds I’ve ever seen," Mr. O’Connell holds, “most of the money goes to the direct cause of the organization.” The Training Institute’s success in both of these realms has allowed it to maintain its promise of affordability through multiple economic downturns, including that brought about by the current pandemic, and place it in a strong position to succeed moving forward.

O’Connell himself has helped the Institute achieve these goals by providing his pro bono legal services. A real estate lawyer by trade, Mr. O’Connell has played an important role in navigating lease agreements during his time with the Institute, including recent negotiations that lowered TI’s rent in response to the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the Institute’s growth had driven it to begin looking at larger spaces for its future operations, but any notions of physical expansion were halted with the move to working remote. As TI’s current space has remained unused during the pandemic, Mr. O’Connell’s work to lower its rent helped Institute keep its prices affordable as well as keep the door open for an eventual return to in-person working. While much is still uncertain, Mr. O’Connell is confident that the Institute will eventually rely once more on its physical location due to the nature of mental health work. “I don’t think there’s any substitute for one-on-one, in person… the strength of therapy is facial expressions, the body movement, looking into each other’s eyes. It’s not quite the same as a screen.” He hopes that eventually the Training Institute will again be in a position to possibly expand to a larger space and increase reach of great work in the community.

Although it may currently be difficult to imagine in a time when the current space is unoccupied, the hard work of O’Connell and many others like him at the Training Institute make this dream a not-too-distant reality. The Institute’s resilience during this and other difficult periods in its history only reinforces the notion that originally drew O’Connell to this organization—the commitment and selflessness of its personnel. This fundamental characteristic of the Training Institute has helped it to survive and thrive in face of many challenges and makes Mr. O’Connell optimistic about its future. In his own words: “I’m hopeful. We do seem to get stronger and stronger each year. I think the world of this organization… and I don’t see an end to the longevity of this institution.”