How I came to this work
I began training in psychotherapy and counselling in 2016. By then I was already in therapy myself, and that experience had given me a growing curiosity about what happens when we begin to understand ourselves differently.
I went on to complete a four-year MSc in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy at Turning Point Institute in Dublin. The training was demanding, both academically and personally, and placed a strong emphasis on the therapist's own development. In fact, the first year was dedicated primarily to personal and experiential work. Throughout the training, we were encouraged to examine our own assumptions, patterns, relationships and ways of being, and to become more aware of the things we might otherwise bring into the therapy room without noticing.
I believe this is the most important aspect of becoming a therapist: doing the same work that they will eventually help others to undertake, rather than only learning theories and techniques.
Following my MSc, I completed two years of clinical placement and practice as a pre-accredited therapist before becoming a fully accredited member of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP). Accreditation requires meeting the IACP's standards for training, clinical practice and professional development, and maintaining those standards throughout my practice.
I complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing professional development each year, alongside ongoing clinical supervision and reflection on my practice.
Most recently, I completed a Level 9 Postgraduate Certificate in Addiction Studies, with a particular focus on gambling and the wider psychological and relational context of addictive behaviours.
How I understand the work
I tend to think of many of the difficulties people eventually describe as anxiety, depression, low self-worth or problems in relationships as the expression of something that has been developing for much longer. We all have needs. We also learn, usually through our relationships and experiences, what happens when those needs aren't met.
Sometimes we adapt by hiding parts of ourselves. We might learn to keep the peace, become what other people need us to be, avoid difficult and vulnerable feelings, suppress what we want, or stay constantly alert to what might go wrong.
These adaptations usually make sense. At some point, they helped us manage something that felt difficult, unsafe or unavailable. The problem is that what protects us at one point in our lives can become restrictive later on.
Over time, we can become increasingly disconnected from what we actually need, feel or want. The result might eventually show up as anxiety, depression, burnout, low self-worth, difficulties in relationships, addiction, or simply a sense that something isn't right.
Therapy is not about simply trying to remove these experiences, at least not directly. It just doesn't work that way. What does work, in my experience, is cultivating a curiosity about the patterns that have led to these experiences. When we can begin to recognise the patterns that have developed, and understand what they have been protecting us from, we can then start to find other ways of supporting ourselves that don't compromise our wellbeing.
Slowly but surely, we can find ways to move towards the experiences that we once had to protect ourselves from. Whether it's risking being vulnerable, setting boundaries or developing a different relationship with parts of ourselves that have been difficult to accept.
It can sometimes feel like becoming a different person, but it's really just becoming yourself.