About Me
I am based in Douglas, Cork city and offer both in person and online counselling via Zoom or phone. You can find out more about online therapy here.
I was trained in the Human Givens approach which is all about using the most up to date, effective psychological techniques based on a modern understanding of the brain/mind/body system. It focuses on our emotional needs and what people really need to thrive and be happy.
My counselling sessions are about encouraging self-reliance, confidence and lasting emotional health in a safe, confidential and supportive space. (My Appointments page has lots of practical information about sessions.)
Until a couple of years ago, I supported people of all ages, across a wide mental health spectrum – looking at managing stress and anxiety, depression, anger management, recovery from addiction, healing from trauma. Now that I’m in my 60s, I am especially drawn towards working with people who are facing life’s human challenges, including those who are in transitions (becoming a parent, end of a relationship, job or career change, menopause and midlife shifts, people feeling stuck or isolated.) I especially enjoy working with older people, looking at all that comes with the aging process including retirement, facing illness in self and loved ones, loss and bereavement. I also enjoy working with people of all ages, looking at relationships of all kinds – with family, friends, romantic partners, work colleagues and social groups.
This switch of focus has been especially satisfying because rather than a counsellor/client relationship, it’s much more about two “fellow travellers”. And we are looking at the emotions of anxiety, sadness, anger, loneliness, as a normal human response to modern lives, which are complex and challenging. Modern life can lead to people feeling “empty”, and looking for a sense of meaning and purpose – whatever that means for the individual.
My working life and my counselling credentials
It’s taken me a while to get to where I am today! I have run several small businesses (all types – software localisation, driving instructor, caterer, small business coach…) before moving into community development work in Co. Kerry and then lecturing in further education. Over fifteen years I taught a range of subjects including IT and business and in later years, psychology and personal development. Loving the psychology side of teaching, I decided to take the plunge and study it more intensively. I embarked on a Master’s Degree in psychotherapy and set up my own private practice here in Donnybrook, Douglas, Cork city in 2012.
My Master’s degree involved me carrying out research into managing uncertainty. I set up and ran a project with a group of fibromyalgia sufferers. (Fibromyalgia is a devastating condition – symptoms range from extreme fatigue to constant pain and disturbed sleep.) I taught the skills of mindfulness and breathing, pacing, drawing on our internal and external resources and setting new and realistic goals. Results proved that the mindfulness course did indeed really help their mood and sleep. I subsequently ran Mindfulness workshops for the Cork branch of the Irish ME Trust .
I was a founder member of MindfullyWell, a network of counsellors and psychotherapists in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Together with friend and life coach, the late Karl Hyden, I developed and delivered programmes to individuals and organisations in Co. Cork in the area of mental toughness. We worked with people who are interested in overcoming significant emotional, physical or life challenges, including unemployed adults, young people returning to work or education and those experiencing ill health or disability.
On a personal note
I am most proud of all to be a mother of two adult“children” and a grandmother. In my spare time I love to travel and to spend as much time as possible outdoors, preferably in the sun! I was born and brought up in the UK Midlands, moved to Ireland thirty years ago and am incredibly proud to have my Irish citizenship.