Psychotherapy & Counselling

Director of Oscailt

Mary O’Callaghan

Mary O’Callaghan, MA, EAP, is the founder-director of Oscailt. Mary is an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor and has also been exploring meditation practices for nearly 40 years. During that time, she spent eight years living as a Buddhist nun and underwent intensive training in Eastern psychology and meditation. She has led meditation retreats in Europe and Asia and is passionate about integrating mindfulness into everyday life.

Psycho­therapist

Antonella Riciniello

Sometimes life can be difficult. We resist our pain and try to push it away. When we accept our difficulties and understand what is going on, we struggle less and become more empathetic towards ourselves and the world. I feel very passionately about helping my clients reconnect to their own strengths and resources. I aim to offer a safe and non-judgemental space where they feel supported in sharing their difficulty and understand what is happening. Person-centred and humanistic at its core, my work combines different modalities, including Mindfulness, Psychodynamics and CBT. Originally from Italy, I work through English and Italian.

I am an Integrative and Humanistic Psychotherapist, accredited with the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy. My professional portfolio is extremely eclectic, combining work in private practice, acute mental health services and student counselling.

Some of my skills come from my previous experience in a multinational company where I developed a strong interest in multicultural and multifaceted relational dynamics in the workplace. A great passion for personal and professional development informed my decision to retrain as a psychotherapist. I believe we never stop learning and being curious about ourselves and the world.

Mindful­ness Teacher

Carmel O’Hara

About Carmel

Carmel O’Hara M. Med Sc/Psychotherapist, MSc Mindfulness (UCD), Dip Counselling (Reading University), RN, RCN

Carmel holds an MSc in Mindfulness and is a registered systemic family psychotherapist and addiction counsellor for 30 years. She also has a background in nursing and has worked as a therapist with those with a cancer diagnosis and their families over many years. Carmel facilitates the weekly drop-in Mindfulness Hour at ARC House Cancer Support Centre in Dublin as well as running an eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy programme at Oscailt at different intervals throughout the year, and she facilitates the drop in weekly mindfulness session at Oscailt together with other mindfulness practitioners. Carmel has been practicing mindfulness for over 15 years.

Other areas of interest to Carmel

Carmel is also interested in working with those who are in recovery from various addictions, and with their families and she runs mindfulness groups to support those in addiction recovery. She is also a registered supervisor with FTAI and she is available to supervise clinicians work as well as consult with relevant organisations as her working approach is working with people within their relational, work and environmental contexts.

Creating a safe space for those whom she works with is central to Carmel’s work as a therapist and mindfulness practitioner.

Carmel is also available to run days of mindfulness with groups, and having one to one mindfulness sessions for interested persons.

Registrations FTAI (Family Therapy Association of Ireland), ACI Addiction Counsellors of Ireland, ICP (Irish Council of Psychotherapy,) EAP (European Assoc. Psychotherapy)

Psycho­therapist

Francess Kenny-Denneny

Francess Kenny-Denneny: Psychotherapist & Clinical Supervisor. MIACP, SIACP, MIAHIP, SIAHIP, MBACP, ICP Reg.

Francess who has nearly 30 years experience as a psychotherapist, practises within a holistic framework so therefore all aspects of the human condition are engaged with therapeutically and thus the nature of the presenting concern by the client can be wide and varied. Her theoretical approach incorporates many modalities including gestalt, existential, person-centred and psychodynamic psychotherapy along with inner child work. However the over-riding lens which informs Francess throughout all these approaches is John Bowlbys attachment theory and the lasting implications of early childhood traumatisation on the individual into adulthood. An area of specialty in their practice is the Highly Sensitive Person in which they have carried out research.

Cert C NUI, Dip Couns TCD, BA Hons Counselling & Psychotherapy, Adv Dip Supervision, MSc Psychotherapy.

Psycho­therapist

Katarina Krausova

Katarina has worked as a therapist since 2011, practicing a pluralistic approach to therapeutic relationship. Her theoretical approach incorporates theories of gestalt, CBT, person centered and psychodynamic therapy with emphasis on individual strengths and limitations as well as environment and culture.

Katarina qualified as a child and adolescent therapist concentrating on art and play therapy as a vessel leading towards uncovering and managing individual difficulties. Her beliefs derive from conviction that every person is different at different times of their life journey, therefore the choice of their treatment cannot be reduced into limitations of an individual therapeutic approach.

Katarina holds BA in Counselling and Psychotherapy from DBS, MA in Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy from IICP, Diploma in Child and Adolescent Counselling from IICP and attended numerous courses including couples Counselling training, Anger management training and Reality therapy training.

Psycho­therapist

Marcus Donnellan

Professional Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy — Tivoli Institute

Marcus began his foundation training in Psychotherapy in 2006, continuing on to completing his professional diploma in 2013 from the Tivoli Institute in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Marcus works with a wide range of client issues and has a strong interest in working with people presenting with low self-esteem, depression, self-criticism or feelings of anxiety or panic.

He firmly believes that becoming aware of negative and destructive habits and behaviours, developing assertiveness and self-confidence are all key to leading a happier and healthier life.
Marcus is an accredited member of the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Drama­therapist

Marianne Marcote

I am a Dramatherapist MIACAT, performer and Assistant Lecturer at Maynooth University. I have clinical experience working with adults suffering from depression, mothers struggling with stress and anxiety and children with special and emotional needs. I am especially interested in women’s mental health issues, parenting and difficult life transitions. I offer individual and group dramatherapy, depending on your needs.

Testimonial:

Dramatherapy has been very helpful in order to get to know myself a bit better, also it has thought me to find a better place in my mind and more importantly, in my heart.

M.L.

Dramatherapy is a creative arts therapy that integrates the person as a whole ? body, mind and imagination as part of its practice.

Sometimes moving away from discussing something just verbally can help us to understand ourselves, our feelings and relationships better. Getting in touch with our creativity can also strengthen our confidence, self esteem and sense of well-being, as well as providing us with new insight and building up our resilience.

Dramatherapy may involve: working with stories and poetry; exploring feelings through conscious movement; ritual structures and mask-making; guided meditation and breath work; creating images with objects or art.

Psychotherapist

Monica Haughey

As an experienced Psychotherapist and supervisor, Monica enjoys working with those seeking to become aware of how they can clear blocks and limiting beliefs to create more of the life they desire and take more agency of their lives. She sees psychotherapy as a tool to help people live more fully in alignment with themselves and their heart’s desires. As society evolves and structures collapse, she recognises the importance of this healing for ourselves, nature and the planet. Her work with therapists as a supervisor involves support for the clinical aspect of their work and helping them shape their practice in a way that ensures value, growth and challenge. In addition, she runs ongoing groups for psychotherapists seeking to connect with other psychotherapists who wish to grow and evolve their practice in their unique way.

She has spent a lifetime working in the area of mental health as a Mental Health Social Worker, psychotherapist, EAP provider and wellbeing trainer for the corporate world.

The issues she works with include anxiety, depression, relationship issues, work related issues and general mental health issues. She especially enjoys working with creatives wanting support in bringing their creative ideas and projects to fruition and supporting them to overcome their fears and limiting beliefs.

She provides supervision for psychotherapists which address both the clinical aspects of their work but also the growth and development of their practice. She provides one to one supervision and has a waiting list for her next in person group supervision forum in Oscailt.

Art Therapist

Margherita La Gioia

I am a professionally qualified Art Therapist and hold a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy from Crawford College, Cork Institute of Technology. I am fully registered with the Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists, (I.A.C.A.T.) and have successfully completed the Garda Vetting Clearance, as well as the Children First Training.

Previous to this, I hold a professional Certificate in Psychology, a Certificate in Special Needs Assisting, a Certificate in Neurolinguistic Programming and a Degree in Artistic Studies. I work as an art therapist in Dublin with children, teenagers and adults in educational settings and in mental health services, using art to support individuals though their challenges, fostering self-agency and empowerment. My clinical experience includes also art therapy in acute psychiatry.

Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses the medium of art to enable people of all ages to access feelings and thoughts that may be difficult to be expressed verbally. I adopt a person-centred approach in which I value the uniqueness of each individual, their difficulties and strengths, in a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space. I recognise the importance for all individuals to be able to integrate mind and body in their life experiences.

Art therapy can address issues such as: anxiety, depression, autism, behavioural and emotional difficulties, trauma, bullying, grief and loss. In my art therapy practice, I use a holistic approach and include mindfulness, meditation and gentle movement into the sessions. I am originally from Italy and can provide individual art therapy sessions both in English and Italian.

If you’d like to reach out and book an appointment, I would be very glad to hear from you.

Integrative Psychotherapist

Eva Garcia

Eva is an Energy Healer, Integrative Psychotherapist, Play Therapist & Creative Art Therapist fully accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) follows its code of ethics and attends regular supervision. For her is very important her self-care, personal and professional self-growth as a parallel process to help others.

Eva’s humanistic-integrative approach has the aim to help in the spiritual, emotional, physical and cognitive levels, and for that she uses a wide range of techniques and methods that enable to work with all dimensions of the client, where all difficulties are placed within a larger context of growth, and deeply trusting in the client’s resilience and inner strength. In Oscailt, she mainly works with her holistic energy and ancestral healing toolkit integrated in the psychotherapy processes or as a one-time session: Reiki master and Seichem energy healing, EMF (Electro Magnetic Field) balancing technique, Psych-K advanced (reprogramming limiting core believes), Pellowah energy healing (shift of consciousness), Pineal Gland Activation and Quantum Biology protocols, and Family Constellations.

She will help you to identify the psychological issue to be treated during the psychotherapy session, taking care to have sufficient time to use these techniques. Be aware that using energy psychotherapy techniques certain changes can be so fast that they require specific psychotherapeutic times and spaces to be integrated in a constructive and harmonious way in a coherent path. The sessions with Eva will help you discover a better way, one that can lead to a life of happiness and fulfilment, helping you to improve your quality of life by promoting high self-confidence, to be more inspired, motivated and empowered, help you to develop successful relationships, to recover from traumatic events, to boost your immune system and energy levels, reduce your stress & anxiety, and help you to transition if you are experiencing important life changes.

She offers sessions in Spanish, Italian and English.

Body Psychotherapist

Alison Clancy

Alison has completed her core training in body psychotherapy. She works as an academic in UCD and has a background of working as a nurse. She is a holistic practitioner and a yoga teacher and attempts to bring all aspects of her numerous trainings into the therapy room.

Body Psychotherapy is a form of psychotherapy that works specifically with the body. The underlying assumption is that the body is an expression of our psyche, our emotions and our spirituality. Various techniques are used, but the primary focus is on connecting to our essential self with the aim to access our intrinsic health and by doing so understanding the interconnectedness of being. Body psychotherapy is about dissolving the illusion of separation – within and with our environment and thereby uncovering meaning. If we can track how we feel in our bodies and notice what is truly happening in the moment, we can dissolve old patterns and move towards a position of more choice and joy. Body Psychotherapy essentially creates space for you to connect back to your body and to maybe feel if for the first time in a long while. 

Since people’s needs differ body psychotherapy employs a wide range of different techniques, ranging from talking, working with imagery, fantasy, breath, movement and the arts. Body awareness exercises and meditation can also be part of the session.