Work Experience: John started by completing a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and then a master’s degree in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and continued his education by enrolling in a special modality training course in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. After 8.5 years in education, John began his work as a student counsellor in NCAD, Thomas St. He then moved to the Dublin Simon Community where he saw clients on a one-to-one basis and ran multiple drop-in clinics for Dublin Simon. John has trained in CAMS (a suicide prevention method) and has given many courses in how to best prevent suicidal ideation and open the possibility for hope and growth. 

Underpinning Philosophy: John’s psychotherapeutic foundation is a psychoanalytic one. This means that the structure of a session itself can be loose, you can speak about whatever you see fit, the most important thing that happens during a session is that you come, and you speak about whatever is on your mind in a completely free and non-judgmental environment. Psychoanalysis is most interested in you, who you are as a person and in understanding your story so as that in gaining understanding of you and your past you loosen its shackles and find a certain ease and liberty “you can’t shout at a rose to grow, but you can provide the fertile soil, the enriching environment and the occasional tendering hand to help it see the light itself”.