LEARN MORE ABOUT ME
I am a fully accredited therapist with the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) and I hold an honours degree in Counselling & Psychotherapy from CIT/MTU, and a Diploma in Integrative Adolescent Psychotherapy.
I work with people experiencing a broad range of difficulties including depression, anxiety, self-esteem and relationship difficulties. I am interested in work around trauma, adoption, neurodiversity, gender & sexuality and identity. I am also visually impaired and interested in supporting people through sight loss. I am a member of WPATH - the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
I balance my private psychotherapy practice based in Douglas, Cork with my work as a school counsellor.
I am drawn to working as a therapist because in a world that can be superficial, it's the most real thing to be allowed sit with someone and work through what is causing them distress.
WHAT IS THERAPY?
Therapy represents an opportunity to get some support for what’s challenging in your life. It’s not magic, but I’m here to help you find your own answers, which I absolutely believe you have within you.
Therapy is a space where, together, we can tease out what is difficult for you. While there is often a trigger that brings us to therapy, there can also be a nagging, underlying sense of unease that you can't explain. It might just seem that something is off. You don't need to have experienced trauma to avail of therapy. It's a way to look at our lives, how we came to be, our ways of relating and coping.
Confidentiality and ethics are of paramount importance, and I work within the Code of Ethics of the Irish Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy.
HOW I WORK
My aim is to provide you with a confidential and safe environment in which to explore the issues or difficulties that are causing you distress or worry, and to find the best ways to cope with them.
I work in a collaborative way, as more of a facilitator than expert. It's about helping clients unlock their own answers rather than me offering advice or telling people what to do.
I see therapy as an active process for the client – something you do, rather than is done to you. I strongly encourage clients to ask questions, to say how they feel about therapy, their experience of it and our relationship – without being overly concerned with protecting me! I encourage you to be as honest as you can bear. I don’t dictate what we discuss so it can help to come to each session with a view of what you hope to explore.
I am an integrative therapist which means I draw from many theories and ideas when working with clients. I have experience with the theories of Person-Centred Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt, Internal Family Systems, the NARM approach to trauma and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
"You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you."
Dan Millman
ADOLESCENT
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Adolescence can be a difficult time - in our current context perhaps more than ever. One of our central roles is discovering our identity as we move between childhood and adulthood, renegotiating parental rules and relationships as well as managing increased independence and social and academic pressures. I have 15+ years experience working in a school setting with young people both with and without additional needs.
There are all kinds of presenting challenges that bring young people to therapy such as:
Anxiety
Lack of motivation
Sleep disturbances
Querying gender and/or sexuality
Friendship difficulties
Desire to develop conflict resolution skills
Desire to develop self regulation skills
Dealing with a diagnosis - eg autism/ADHD
Complex parenting spaces - separation, divorce, adopted/fostered young people etc
Self harm
Thoughts of suicide
Parental concern
Academic/school challenges
CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality is an essential part of the therapy process.
Except in very particular circumstances (see below), no information about you will be disclosed to anyone else without your consent.
Limits to confidentiality apply in the following circumstances:
•If there is concern that you or another person may be at serious risk of harming yourself or others.
•If there are disclosures of serious criminal behaviour
•If there are child protection issues.
Therapists are legally obliged under the Children First Act 2015 to report child protection concerns and retrospective disclosures of abuse to Tusla or An Garda Síochána. If this arises in our work together, I will provide you with information and support. Under these circumstances I may be obliged to comply with legal and ethical requirements and take action that would involve disclosing information about you or others. All attempts will be made in the first instance to discuss this with you, unless the situation is such that this isn’t possible or the risk is so immediate that I would be obliged to act without consulting you first.
I am supervised by an accredited supervisor, with whom I discuss my clientwork with no identifying details presented.
SCHEDULE A SESSION
5, Saint Patrick's Terrace, Douglas, Cork, T12 D8W8, Ireland
089 214 9236
