Somatic Counselling in County Offaly

Are you struggling with current life situations? Or do you have behaviour patterns that are keeping you stuck instead of enjoying your life? I am here to support you on your journey to overcome these challenges. Together we can explore these patterns & beliefs to shift them so you can live from a place of trust & confidence. You are enough and it's time to rediscover your unique super powers.

My goal as a therapist is to make you, my client, feel welcome, heard, and understood. I treat a range of issues, but I especially enjoy serving those who feel burnt out, overwhelmed, and stuck. I have experience treating anxiety, depression, bereavement, and cPTSD, and I help my clients work towards their goals of feeling relaxed, competent, and able to face life's challenges. I have a lot of experience treating perfectionism and self-criticism, and love helping these clients foster self-compassion and perseverance.

I am so happy you are here and well done on taking this first step - I am here to help. Perhaps you are struggling to find or reconnect to the innate stable and strong roots within yourself and wish today to begin to gently face your current dilemma and/or be supported to heal from past experiences. I am passionate about supporting you by standing by your side as we navigate a clear path back to you feeling happier in your life. I work with Adults.

Welcome. My name is Áine and I am an accredited Psychotherapist. I have many years of experience working in different therapeutic environments. I am trauma informed and use a person-centered approach. My practice includes Gestalt therapy, Internal Family Systems, Transaction Analysis and CBT. I incorporate somatic experiencing, mindfulness, and self-care practices into my work. I am currently studying a heart based relational neuroscience program with Dr. Bonnie Badenoch.

As a therapist I have attended my own counselling throughout the years and I understand how difficult it is to take those first steps as a client. So well-done in taking the first steps in to therapy. You can expect a warm welcome from me, in a non-judgement, safe space where you will receive empathy and understanding, kindness and compassion. You don’t have to be alone.

Are you experiencing mental health challenges from any of the following issues? Anxiety, Bereavement, Childhood Abuse, Depression, Grief, Loss, Suicide, Stress and/or Trauma. I have particular expertise and interest in working with clients experiencing challenges around these issues. I also provide Couples and Relationship Counselling. I will work with you in a way that identifies your challenges, what you want from therapy and how to work with those challenges. Trust and safety in the therapeutic relationship between me and you is the most important. I will do my best to build this from our first contact onwards.

For the last 20 years I have engaged in therapeutic work with adolescents, young adults and adults facing various difficulties. I have a special interest in develpmental and relational trauma, complex - PTSD ( Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), integrating traditional talking therapy with mind-body techniques and somatic approaches. I am also interested in the psychological aspects of auto immune disorders, anxiety related physical symptoms (gastric/digestive symptoms, IBS), sub optimal fertility issues, psychosomatic illness. Depression and mood disorders, family dynamics, emotional dysregulation, stress related issues,

I am a somatic therapist working in Dublin 1 with adults and adolescents recovering from past trama and managing difficult emotions in their daily lives. Somatic experiencing is a proven technique for releasing trauma held in the body. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills helps adults and adolescents manage difficult emotions in their daily lives. Having taught adolescents for over 30 years I have accumulated vast experience in helping young people achieve their goals, despite the challenges they may face.

Do you feel you put the needs of others ahead of your own, feeling overwhelmed, guilty or unable to say no to others? Maybe it has gotten to the point where you don’t even consider yourself, putting everyone else’s needs before your own. I can help you to grow in confidence, speak your mind and establish healthy boundaries. Do you feel anxious and worry a lot? Perhaps you feel suffocated, or berate yourself and wish life didn’t have to be so hard, or maybe worry about what everyone else thinks about you. I can help you understand where all these thoughts and feelings are coming from so you can begin to have peace in your life.

My practice is tailored to mothers navigating the transformative journey of parenthood. They come seeking balance amidst the whirlwind of raising children, maintaining careers, and rediscovering their personal identities. These women strive to be fully present for their families, yet often find themselves overwhelmed, battling stress, and feeling disconnected from their own needs. Their goal is not just to cope, but to thrive, embracing motherhood while retaining a sense of self and achieving emotional well-being.

If you have experienced trauma, or have had difficulties in your life you would like to to work through, I can support you to heal and feel better in your daily life. Using Integrative and Somatic Experiencing TM approaches, I can help you to connect to life and living, to others and the world around you, some of the things we lose connection to when we have experienced trauma. Symptoms such as anxiety, depression, physical health issues, people pleasing behaviours, and feeling disconnected are some of the issues that are recognised and worked through from this approach.

As an accredited therapist, I provide both short term counselling and longer-term psychotherapy on a one to one basis (not couples) in a confidential and safe environment including online. The process empowers you to explore issues and understand thoughts, beliefs, feelings and behaviours which cause suffering and facilitates the safe space to achieve greater awareness, insight, healing and growth. I work using a humanistic and integrative approach to psychotherapy. My approach is grounded in Person-Centred psychotherapy, while drawing on Psychodynamic theory, somatic psychotherapy and CBT where appropriate.

My interest in psychotherapy, spirituality and meditation began after the end of my marriage several years ago, which like many other types of losses, triggered a lot of suffering. ​Life transition, family and friends losses, the breakup of long-term relationships, stress, anxiety and depression are all part of human suffering. However, we have an innate capability, which we can strengthen, that allows us to navigate and, more importantly, learn from our most difficult life experiences.

A client describes her experience of therapy: 'For the first time I felt heard and understood. My feelings and thoughts were of importance and I felt accepted and validated in being me. No one had ever told me that it was okay to have my own experiences, to be sad, angry, frustrated, etc. And now through the experience of therapy I can accept who I am and I am embracing change in new and exciting ways'. Underpinning all my work is the belief that change and healing can only take place within relationship and within and through the experience of the therapeutic encounter an individual comes home to their true potential

Individuals attend counselling due to an issue they are experiencing. Allow me to share at this point, that the Latin root meaning of Issue, "is go out, exit" and move forward, to grow. Different meaning from what we are familiar with. Hear the difference. I am fully accredited with the Irish Counsellors and Psychotherapists IACP and I am an experienced Psychotherapist with at least 15 years experience. The emphasis is placed on trusting the process and allowing the progress to unfold for the desired outcome.

We all want to feel empowered to live our best life. The problem for most of us is that we don't know how and end up feeling depressed, anxious, frustrated or stuck – and we usually turn to food, alcohol, drugs or other behaviours to help us feel better. If this seems familiar, I can help YOU take back control of YOUR life. Working integratively I include all of the elements that make up your whole person including conscious thoughts, unconscious senses, behaviours, somatic sensations and systemic influences. Contacting me is the first step towards YOU becoming empowered to create YOUR best life!

My intention is to accompany you in a collaborative, receptive and active way in making a positive impact on your life and moving towards your goals by offering a non-judgmental space where you can explore parts of yourself and connect to your needs and resources to break out from old patterns and step into your highest potential. I view therapy as a joint creative process and I believe that each person has already what is needed to overcome their struggles when given the appriopriate environment and that through compassion for all parts of ourselves we step closer to reaching inner freedom and living the life we truly want.