“Brendan is one of the best education consultants I have ever worked with. He is incredibly knowledgeable, dedicated, experienced, responsive, and an adept problem solver. He is in tune with his clients’ day to day ups and downs, his families’ concerns and challenges, and always keeps in mind his clients’ strengths and areas for growth. As a therapist, I feel I have a true team member and partner in Brendan as we work together to support our clients and families on their individual paths toward healing and growth. I highly and unequivocally recommend Brendan O’Neil to any family in need.”
Carrie Graham, LCMHC, Ph.D. Student, Young Adult Program 2022/23
“Brendan is a hard person to overlook. He is a provider and healer for clients and their families. His energy reserves are limitless and his strength and support are the glue for all involved in the clinical “healing” process. We have worked together and I have seen his clients thrive.”
Laura Meals, M.A. MFT
Clinical Psychology, Pepperdine University
“Brendan has been an advocate for my son’s complex needs and a mentor for me when I felt alone as a divorced parent. I knew I was running out of options and needed an objective professional to consult with my existing treatment team. My teenager had participated in residential treatment prior to Brendan’s involvement, and we decided to bring him home early, and unfortunately pre-treatment behaviors were reemerging within less than a year of his new school placement.”
“Brendan consulted with current providers, including the psychologist, and helped me process updated psychological testing and identified different levels of care based on my circumstances and my son’s profile. Even after decisions had been made and our family pivoted with challenges within the family system, Brendan remained a steadfast, supportive, and consistent ally during a really difficult time for us. I am grateful for Brendan’s professional and honest presentation of different solutions based on fluid circumstances. Before I hired Brendan, I only saw our challenges. Now I feel confident that I can see choices and opportunities.”
Mother, MD, 2022
“My husband and I were at a loss for how to help our 19-year-old son who had been struggling with mental health issues and instability for a sustained period of time. He had started college and had a major psychotic break resulting in psychiatric inpatient hospitalization. We were given Brendan’s contact information by my son’s psychiatric practitioner. From the very beginning we were so impressed by how detailed he was as he dove into our son’s complete academic and mental illness history. No other mental health professional devoted so much time towards learning his history. Once he fully understood his history, he made excellent recommendations for residential facilities that were very appropriate for our child. The idea of putting our son in a longer-term (6 months to 1yr) facility was terrifying for us but Brendan calmly explained why this measure made the most amount of sense.”
“He interviewed the facilities and arranged for us to interview them as well. He assisted us with planning and coordinating safe and nurturing transportation to the facility directly from the hospital and followed our son’s treatment throughout the entire stay.”
“Unfortunately, at the outset of treatment, our son resisted and attempted to leave the facility. This behavior resulted in an inpatient hospitalization at a facility local to the program. This was very unnerving for us, and we were ready to go there and bring him home. Brendan asked us to trust the process and he advised us not to go, rather, to work with the program and the hospital staff to develop a shared language of support and encouragement for engagement in the program that he was enrolled with. While this was initially difficult for us, Brendan was ultimately correct, and his advice made the critical difference as our son did return to the program and had a very successful treatment experience.”
“I’m so glad we placed our trust in Brendan. He checked in weekly with our son’s care team, he would report back to us with his impressions and recommendations, and his insights were very helpful to the process. Several months later, our son was able to work at a job with consistency and is taking college classes. We are so grateful that we had Brendan guide us through this incredibly difficult year. I highly recommend Brendan.”
Cottman Family, Boston MA, 2022
“Brendan is a thoughtful, caring, honest consultant who has gone the extra mile for our family. Even before I hired him, Brendan called a few times to follow up and offer his insights. Impressed by his willingness/desire to help, I hired him. Brendan spent many hours calling wilderness programs to find a suitable placement for my son, which wasn’t so easy given some quirks on our end. After we’d selected a wilderness program, enrollment was delayed due to complicating factors on our end. Brendan and I then processed various ways to safely get my son to wilderness with help from professional support. Brendan went back to the drawing board and offered up several approaches, including the option of using a skilled interventionist. Other consultants I had spoken to had only discussed two methods of transport: by parent, or by transport company. I was hugely relieved after Brendan assessed the situation and suggested not only the idea of an interventionist, but one of the most skilled interventionists available. The interventionist developed a rapport with my son over a few days of talks and persuaded him to travel with him (the interventionist) to the wilderness program. As my son was preparing to leave the wilderness program, Brendan offered strategies for a smooth transition back to the home setting, including drawing up a list of expectations that would be reviewed and agreed upon before my son left camp. Brendan has checked in on us a number of times even after his “job” was done. Brendan is a consummate professional with a heart of gold. I recommend him without reservation. A+++++++”
Mother, 2021
“My daughter was born in 2010 after a very traumatic pregnancy and delivery. She suffered a stroke in utero and spent over a month in the NICU. I knew early on, after she failed to meet the recommended milestones, that I would have a very long and challenging road ahead to care for her. As any first time parent with a special needs child, I struggled to find resources and a support system to help me navigate the medical and educational communities. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and a mood disorder, she always had an IEP but her school district follows a fully integrated model for mainstream and special education students. As my daughter advanced to each grade, she became more aware of her social, physical, and educational differences compared to her peers and she started to exhibit behavioral outbursts. These tantrums escalated and by the time she reached the third grade they had become very violent and frequent.”
“I knew that I had to find an alternative for her educational, therapeutic and medical needs. After a fruitless attempt that lasted an entire year, I was incredibly fortunate and blessed to have met Brendan in 2021. His extensive experience and knowledge was invaluable; he uncovered resources and institutions that I didn’t even know existed. Brendan’s approach is versatile; he understands that each child is unique and requires a holistic analysis. He is a strong voice and advocate for the children and their families that need desperate measures. After a short time, he presented dozens of schools that he would personally review and visit.”
“I am most thankful to him for his testimony that he provided during a legal proceeding with my daughter’s school district and our attorney. His statements before the hearing officer were compelling, evidentiary, and convincing. Brendan presented as an expert in his field and was the voice that I had been seeking for years. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I would have had such a favorable outcome for my daughter.”
“Brendan spent months on our case, and not only did he find the most appropriate placement for her, but he even took the time to visit her after she went to observe her and her cohort in their daily setting. He cares so much about these kids and ensuring they get their legal rights met to receive an appropriate and accessible education. My daughter is thriving at her new school, she is receiving adequate therapies and her tantrums have almost completely subsided.”
“This has given me peace of mind that I didn’t know would ever be possible; and this is all thanks to Brendan and Cloverlea Consulting. I will forever be grateful.”
Jessica in CT, 2021
“I give the highest possible accolades to Cloverlea Consulting for their patience, support, dedication, and service to myself and my daughter. We were really struggling following a very tumultuous divorce. In instances where us parents were not able to communicate and make decisions regarding our daughter’s mental health struggles, Brendan was there to consult and coordinate with us and helped us make very difficult decisions at a critical time. Thanks to his expertise and fortitude, we are engaged with a highly comprehensive and beneficial therapeutic services program and have seen significant growth in a very short period of time. I am forever grateful that we have received this help.”
Mother, 2021
“Brendan has been interested in my son’s progress since first meeting him. He went the extra mile and offered a home visit and spent as much time as needed with my young adult son to assure that he felt comfortable with him. My son has complicated mental health issues that accompany his Asperger’s. Brendan was very tuned into my sons needs as well as the family system. He was patient with us and worked diligently to identify the best possible therapeutic program options for him. He even visited one out west to be certain of its credibility. He kept in contact with me and helped me through the entire process, including program decision making, logistics, and placement coordination. Furthermore, he has followed the progress every step of the way. We have weekly calls with his treatment team, and I view Brendan as a critical member of the team, as he asks probing questions to confirm that the program is making every effort to treat my sons needs as best as possible. He is always available to me for support and processing. I consider Brendan to be an extreme asset and recommend him highly.”
Father, 2021
“Brendan is a charismatic, energetic, highly experienced and credentialed
professional in the educational and therapeutic fields. He will leave no stone
unturned, he will fight every fight, and rest assured your child will be given
credible and reliable options that will make the difference”
Client, 2020
“Brendan is a true gem! Under his guidance our son has grown tremendously, and we feel blessed to have had him as an advisor. He was with us from the very beginning, and we know we would not be in the position we are in right now if not for him. His patience, kindness, dedication, and devotion are all unparalleled. We had many ups and downs, and he was with us through it all, guiding us to always do what was best for our family. Our son has grown in leaps and bounds socially, emotionally, and academically, and that is in large part due to Brendan’s influence. We are so thankful for the solid foundation our son received under Brendan’s guidance and feel confident that the skills he helped our son learn will serve him well throughout his life!” He has since graduated from a traditional boarding school and enrolled in College as of Fall 2022.”
Lisanti Family, NY, 2019
“It is an honor and pleasure to know Brendan O’Neil. We first met when he was serving as an administrator at a highly reputable therapeutic boarding school that my son attended for three years. It was an incredibly difficult time for me, having to send my only child away from home at such a young age. As I was seeking help, I felt a great deal of uncertainty, I had a tremendous amount of questions, and no straightforward answers. I was undergoing a very difficult divorce and we needed to assure that our child was cared for. Brendan was the first person I encountered at the school. He was very well-organized, respectful, and patient with me and my son. He was truly giving and genuinely devoted to his work. With his extensive background in therapeutic and educational programming, he deeply understood the underlying problems and all the issues associated with them and tried very patiently to accommodate both students and parents. In my particular case Brendan served as a bridge of communication between me and my son during a very difficult time. He has extensive knowledge in child and adolescent development, social skills, family issues, and academic needs. Time and time again Brendan would go out of his way to find a reasonable educational and therapeutic solutions in critical situations, all the while maintaining respect for the child and family needs. Brendan even went out of his way to help our family during a vulnerable time over the holidays. I have witnessed Brendan organize and facilitate critical parent-teacher meetings, co-participate in sensitive legal matters with judicial representatives, and continue to develop enriching and dynamic activities and trips, critical interventions, and basically anything that would be beneficial to my child’s development and maturation. Brendan shows his character and professionalism in every corner of his work. You genuinely have a feeling of a decent and caring individual who is a true expert in the clinical and educational field.”
“I highly recommend him” Dr. Joseph Shyknevsky, New York City, 2019
“Brendan O’Neil began working with our 13 year old son upon his arrival to a therapeutic boarding school a few years ago. He was a mentor and supporter for our son, and a guide for my husband and myself, as we journeyed on this road together. The goals and strategies Mr. O’Neil provided were invaluable. Each time we were with our son, we saw the beginnings of a highly-functioning, self-sufficient young man. Where he would spiral out of control prior to his work with Mr. O’Neil and the staff at the school, our son learned in time to remain in control and discuss his feelings and he was more able to compromise and advocate for himself.”
“Mr. O’Neil always made himself available to discuss any issues that arose pertaining to our son. An example that comes to mind is at the beginning of our son’s stay, Mr. O’Neil created a strategy to help him engage in positive discussions on his phone calls home. He discussed “goals” for our calls together and pointed out the highlights of his week to share with us. This approach gave our son a foundation to communicate with us in a way that brought us closer and made the most of our time together. Mr. O’Neil took small, methodical steps with our son and his approach worked. We also know now how to ask our son questions (motivational interviewing) to prevent him from becoming sad or fearful.”
“We have learned, under Mr. O’Neil’s guidance, tools that brought us closer together, and our son continues to learn how to be the best he can be. Our family is at a much better place than we were prior to our son’s participation with Brendan and staff, due significantly to his work with Mr. O’Neil.”
Phyllis Lindy Gutterman and Lawrence Gutterman, 2018
“I have known Brendan since my oldest son began working with him in 2012. We remained in frequent contact over the three years of my son’s placement at a therapeutic boarding school. Following his graduation, I have kept in contact with Brendan and received council regarding my son. Brendan is one of those people in the field who “gets it.” He is compassionate and supportive but firm. He has a strong presence about him without being overbearing and maintains a calm demeanor. The boys trust for him is a reflection of his professional abilities and his absolute dedication to his work. Brendan has always been available to talk with me and I still call him for advice even though my son has graduated over a year ago. Brendan has always been calm even when I was not and has given me spot on advice. His patience with everyone is a gift most of us do not process. My son is now in traditional school. I have no idea what would have happened to him or our family without Brendan’s help.”
Mother, CA, 2017
“I am writing this letter to recognize the outstanding work that Brendan O’Neil has done with my son. My son spent two years under Brendan’s direct supervision. During this time my son’s emotional growth was the equivalent of four or five years. I owe much of this to Brendan’s hard work with my son in all aspects of his life.
I can truly say that I was very fortunate to have my son work with Brendan as his primary education coordinator and mentor. As a parent, Brendan consistently communicated with me and it was apparent he always had my son’s sincere interests at heart.”
“Brendan receives my strongest endorsement for potential clients”
Father, MI, 2016
Cloverlea Consulting, LLC 