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About Me
My path to becoming a therapist is rooted in my own lived experience. I spent my twenties trying to deny and suppress feelings of depression and related anxiety. My ways of trying to cope were unhelpful and often unhealthy. I eventually found myself in a place where the weight of it became too heavy and the impact on my life too great, for me to continue to try and manage it on my own. Through the support of my GP, I began to engage with the mental health services. I, also, had my first experience of attending therapy. It wasn't easy, but doing something so meaningful rarely is. It was hard and progress was very slow to begin with. I knew that for life to change in any meaningful way, I had to stick with it. I had someone explain it to me like this - the work you are doing on yourself is all about strengthening the foundation and if you attempt to put the roof on too early, the whole thing will collapse. With this in mind, I gave myself permission to take it as slowly as it needed to be.
I began to think, at that time, that maybe one day I would become a therapist.
Through my interactions with the mental health services, I became part of a working group tasked with the development and establishment of a mental health recovery education centre, only the second of its kind in Ireland. My role as a voluntary member of the group later became the voluntary Service-User co-lead, alongside a clinical co-lead. Subsequently, I applied for and was appointed as the Peer Educator of the recovery education centre, becoming one of the first in the country to hold this position. The mental health recovery education model equates clinical/professional expertise with lived experience expertise, or experts by profession and experts by experience. This helped me to reframe how I saw myself and the challenges I had faced. In favour of this new role I made the decision to decline a place on a therapist training program.
The mental health recovery education model can be a powerful resource in therapy. It is strengths based and takes an adult education approach. The model is all about seeing recovery (healing or growth) as a personal, ongoing journey, when we often expect it to be something that happens all at once or in a straight line. It encourages people to focus on their strengths and resilience, and to believe in their ability to grow and heal, even when facing tough times.
I found myself drawing on these concepts and principles in the face of living with chronic illness. A new challenge that made it hard to stay connected with the things and people that make life meaningful. Through that struggle, and continuing to engage in therapy, I really began to acknowledge my vulnerabilities. This included how I responded to stress and the impact it was having on my overall health and wellbeing. It was also that period of time, that while being very challenging, brought me back to the possibility of becoming a therapist. And so, I began my training with ICPPD (International College of Personal and Professional Development).
In this, I began to find a new sense of purpose and hope, one that was in tune with both my strengths and my vulnerabilities. It meant understanding there are aspects where I thrive, and using those qualities to move forward, while also acknowledging the areas where I feel more fragile. It became about embracing the whole of who I am—celebrating my resilience and nurturing the parts of me that need extra care. The human experience is defined by the fact that we all possess both strengths and vulnerabilities, regardless of how it might appear on the surface. Carl Jung might call these vulnerable parts my shadow parts. Jung also said that the most learning comes from our shadow parts, when we meet them with open curiosity rather than judgement or criticism. This approach helps me to create a path that feels more authentic and sustainable. I meet my clients, and all of their parts, in this same way.
While I bring this authenticity into my work with clients, I also respect the client's individual experience. What I share will always be in the best interests of the client and aimed at enriching their therapeutic process. I recognise that while experiences differ and what works for any one person differs, my insights might offer a starting point from where clients can begin to explore and develop their own understandings, techniques and practices.
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