What is Counselling and Psychotherapy?

Counselling and Psychotherapy offers you the opportunity to talk confidentially with a qualified practitioner who is trained to listen to you attentively and with understanding. In Counselling and Psychotherapy a professional, confidential, reliable and safe relationship is formed with a qualified and experienced Therapist in order to enable change. The relationship with the therapist provides the space to explore difficult and often painful experiences and emotions such as anger, loss, isolation, loneliness, depression and anxiety. Counselling and Psychotherapy encourages and supports you to talk freely and openly, to share your concerns and explore your thoughts, feelings, values and beliefs in order to make sense of your current difficulties.

My style of Counselling and Psychotherapy

I am an integrative pluralistic therapist, which in essence means that I am trained and qualified in various therapeutic approaches which is important, as I believe no one type of therapy suits every client. There are many reasons why people come to therapy and therefore “different clients need different things at different points in time”. As a pluralistic therapist I appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of each client and in collaboration with my client, I tailor make each session to meet their particular needs and issues.

In my practice I draw on a range of main stream therapeutic approaches/therapies such as, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Choice/Reality Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Existential and Gestalt therapies, Lifestyle Coaching, Mindfulness, Motivational Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy etc. I offer, short, medium or long term therapy, face to face, by telephone, Zoom or online.

I am happy for you to contact me if you have any questions or queries or to arrange an appointment.

My areas of specialisation:

Abuse
Addictions
Anger Management
Anxiety
Bereavement and Loss
Body image
Child related issues
Cultural issues
Depression
Disability
Domestic Violence
Eating disorders
Emotional and Behavioral problems in children and adolescents
Family issues including issues arising from addiction
Finding meaning and purpose in life
Financial
General Counselling
Health related issues including pain management
Life Stage issues
Low motivation
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Phobias
Pornography
Post-traumatic Stress
Relationship issues,
Redundancy
Self-Esteem
Self- Exploration
Self-Harm
Sexual abuse
Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual identify
Spiritual issues
Stress,
Suicidal Ideation
Transgender/ Gender Variance
Trauma
Weight Loss
Work-related issues

After living with anxiety for a number of years it had slowly taken over my life, I could no longer function without giving the majority of my thinking power to battling obsessive irrational fears and catastrophising – I felt very alone and resided to the idea that this was my life.

That was until I met Dawn, she empathically and systemically empowered me with a diverse range of tools and techniques to help rebuild and take control of my mental health, to break the negative habitats I had become so used to living with, and to girder me when I was at my weakest. Professional and intelligently guided sessions, yet Dawn cultivates a safe space with the warmth and light-heartedness of talking to a friend.

James / Co. Waterford

I have been attending Dawn for counselling on a regular basis for over 2 years. Whilst the initial reason I sought Dawn’s help was for an issue that a family member needed help with, the fallout of that same issue and the impact on my own life necessitated me to subsequently seek Dawn’s help for myself. Dawn has a warm and caring manner which puts me at my ease, she is a great listener and she sets out an action plan at the end of each session to aid my progress forwards. With Dawn’s guidance and support I have learned how to manage my fears and anxieties, and I continue to meet with her for ongoing counselling. I would highly recommend Dawn to anyone that needs counselling services and I can’t thank Dawn enough for everything she has done for me.

Catherine / Co. Waterford

We contacted Dawn for couple’s therapy as she came highly recommended. As soon as we met her we knew that we had made the right choice. She gave us some really useful and practical advice and guidance and helped us come through a really tough time in our relationship. We are indebted to Dawn for helping us find the light at the end of the tunnel.

C & B / Waterford

My sincerest thanks to Dawn for the unrivalled professionalism, care and compassion shown to my son and family over these past months. Prior to meeting Dawn we were concerned and confused re. my teenage son’s behaviour and the impact same was having on family and school life. To quote Alfie Kohn, ‘if children feel safe … [they] … learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow’. From the outset we felt confident that we had found someone who genuinely cares, someone who actually listens in a non-judgemental way, someone who possesses the child and family focused creativity, resourcefulness and resilience/perseverance that has finally led to our son’s diagnosis. Dawn’s practice, to quote Ernest Agyemang Yeboah is one that is very much entrenched/grounded in the principle that, ‘children are under our care; we need to take good care of them!’

While our journey continues Dawns exceptional/peerless commitment to working with both our son and us, the parents, affords us the insight, guidance/support, understanding and optimism necessary to keep focussed on what are the positives while making the choices that will help our sons development and effect a positive outcome. For her ‘children are not things to be moulded but are [instead critically] people to be unfolded’. [Jess Lair] Dawn O’Brien is both an exceptional person and practitioner and in so being we as a family would unreservedly/unequivocally endorse and recommend her to parents/families that may feel the need for clinical help and intervention.

John & family