Both counselling and psychotherapy seek to help the person who is experiencing difficulties in their lives. Counselling involves working toward dealing with a particular problem in the short term. Psychotherapy involves a look at the client’s experience more widely. It tends to seek out underlying issues, work at a deeper level, leading to longer term personal growth and towards a lasting change.

Person centred psychotherapy was developed by psychologist, Carl Rogers, in the 1940s and 50s. This approach puts you, the client, at the centre of the therapeutic relationship. Your life-experiences, concerns and anxieties are truly listened to and understood, with a non-judging and authentic response. Painful life experiences may have created a disconnection from who you really are; from the real you. This disconnect may come in many forms such as anxiety, defences, panic-attacks, the feeling you don’t belong, addictions, unwanted thoughts, a sense of dread, perhaps feeling sad or angry, depression, confidence or self-esteem issues. Person centred therapy helps you reconnect to the real you.

The experience of being truly listened to, to connect at a deep level with another human being, gives you the space to speak openly about the issues you are struggling with. Talking through what bothers you, you begin to understand yourself better and realise the weight you have been carrying. When you truly accept who you are, you stop being the self-critic that you learnt to be, you learn to love yourself more, feel hope, see choices, and guided by an inner compass you begin to make decisions that are right for you.

As your psychotherapist, I am here to accompany you in this, to help you reconnect with yourself. You may let go of harsh judgements and accept the whole of you. You may learn to trust yourself and feel more secure in who you are and how you relate to others. You may begin to feel less overwhelmed, feeling more able to cope, because when you understand yourself, when you accept and trust yourself, you operate from a more secure sense of who you are.

• anxieties and disorders
• social anxieties
• self-esteem or feeling low in confidence
• trauma
• career, leadership and management stresses
• depressed or worried feelings
• relationship difficulties
• feelings of loneliness or isolation
• loss, grief and bereavement
• concerns around sexuality
• issues of self-identity

The number of sessions can vary as it depends on the needs and wishes of each individual. Some clients have benefited from six sessions, feeling they have had sufficient space to explore a particular issue, whereas some clients are interested in longer-term psychotherapy for a more in-depth experience. Most clients have a sense of when they feel they are ready to end and this can be reviewed on an ongoing basis. The ethos of my practice is clear: it is your decision and we can work together for as long as the work is generating results and positive change.

Ideally sessions are weekly, as longer intervals tend to be less beneficial in maintaining that depth of personal exploration to bring about long lasting change.

I am a trained psychotherapist, with a Masters in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy from University College Cork. I am a fully accredited member of the Irish Association of Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP) and the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP). I am also a qualified business coach and I have more than twenty-five years’ experience working in the not-for-profit charity sector.