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. 

 Sierra Negron is currently serving as our intake specialist and front desk receptionist. Sierra previously worked with Crown Relocations for 4 years where she led the volunteer program which led her to know more about Cy-Hope. She has also worked for the US Navy as a front desk clerk and is a Navy wife with four boys. She enjoys photography, crafting, Harry Potter, and loves coffee and Chick Fil A! She will be happy to help you set up an appointment with any of our talented counselors! 

I graduated from The University of Oregon with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis on child development and family theories. I earned a Master’s degree from Sam Houston State University in clinical mental health counseling where I specialized in play therapy and couples counseling. My areas of interest are developmental psychopathology, pediatric therapy, teen issues, marriage counseling, and child-parent interaction therapy. My goal is to help my clients realize their potential in life to reach wholeness, health, and happiness. In order to achieve treatment goals I use a variety of approaches depending on my clients needs including cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy (children), and Gottman (couples). I have experience with ages 3-8, adolescents, teens, couples, individual, and parental training groups. I enjoy helping clients who struggle with depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive, divorce, marital issues, trauma, child behavioral issues, suicide ideation, parent training, and parent-child bonding. 

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.

Valerie earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas A&M University in Business Marketing. She began her career in the classroom as a special education teacher. She later earned a Masters of Arts degree in Communication Disorders from the University of Houston. She has worked as a speech language pathologist for a large school district, as well as worked in Home Health settings as a Speech Language Pathologist, Supervisor, and Clinical Coordinator. In addition, Valerie is very involved with organizations such as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo where she is active in the Special Children’s Committee and Gatekeeper Committee.

Valerie's specialties include working with receptive/expressive language delays, fluency disorders, and pragmatic and social language difficulties. She also has expertise in articulation and phonological processes disorders, where someone may be pronouncing words incorrectly or omitting consonants leading to a reduced intelligibility. Over the years, Valerie has worked with a variety of diagnoses and feeding disorders in children and adults of all ages. In addition, Valerie is able to work with individuals with reading comprehension difficulties. Valerie also has experience working with children and families on the autism spectrum disorder. 

Valerie has a passion for working with children, adolescents and families. She is excited to partner with Cy-Hope to provide speech and language services. Valerie is eager to work with a child's counselor, when applicable, in order to provide a consistent treatment plan and collaborate with sessions.

Lannie Cox completed his master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at West Texas A&M University.  His passion is helping you find a new way to approach the challenges and questions you bring to counseling by being real, warm, and listening until the real problem is found.  He wants to build on the strengths you have now and help you to get where you want to go as a person, in relationships, and in life. 

Lannie has experience in various theories and techniques shown to help individuals, couples, and families.  He believes opening a large toolbox to find the best tool that fits your challenge is key.  He wants to focus on solutions, thinking about old problems in new ways.  He wants to help you change the current behaviors you believe will help you get fresh results.  He may consider approaches such as solution-focused brief therapy, CBT, family systems, Gottman, Adlerian, and others that fit your needs.

In addition to his therapeutic experience, Lannie had a 15-year career in the corporate world in communications and public relations.  He has also worked for several years in Christian ministry, helping people find ways to get unstuck in life situations that get us all entangled.  He is a husband and father and understands from the inside what individuals, couples and families are seeking.

Lannie looks forward to hearing you out completely and helping you find the change you want to have.

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).