Psychotherapists are grouped into sections based on their different therapeutic approaches. Each section has training standards, a code of ethics and complaints and disciplinary procedures. Each adheres to the study and training standards set down by the Irish Council for Psychotherapy in order to maintain high standards.
Couple and Family Therapy
In couple and family therapy, the client and psychotherapist examine the emotional, psychological, and interpersonal problems that arise in the way people understand and make sense of their experiences and their relationship to others. When two or more people live in close proximity, we can expect that differences, and inevitably conflicts, will ensue.
This is part of the rich weave of our lives which continue to challenge us and to teach us. Sometimes our adult lives may be thrown into turmoil by difficulties which would be relatively small or manageable difficulties for others and even for ourselves in somewhat different circumstances. Options are provided for different ways to respond and relate to problems.
Goals are usually achieved over a relatively small number of meetings with intervals of two to four weeks between appointments. Read More >>
Humanistic and Integrative Therapy
The Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy approach supports people to develop awareness as to what may be preventing them from accessing their own true nature in the inner and outer expressions of their life. It is aimed at the person as a whole: body, feelings, mind and psyche. It invites people, through the therapeutic relationship, to develop awareness and insight leading to an integration of the internal and external self and embrace greater authenticity.
It explores each person’s own resources and capacity for self-determination and ability to improve their lives. Integrative practice means the psychotherapist will adapt their approach according to their range of skills and the needs of the individual client. Read More >>
Psychoanalytic Therapy
The Psychoanalytic approach to psychotherapy endeavours to reach the underlying, often unconscious, sources of a person’s distress.
The Psychotherapist works closely with the experience of clients, including in relation to the nature of their current experiences, and all that has brought them to the present time, including from across childhood and adolescence. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is usually a longer-term involvement, and brings in all aspects of the person’s life – including emotional states, reflections, memories, dreams, etc. Clients are encouraged to speak freely – to freely associate, allowing them to move to experiences they may not ordinarily explore with others or even think about themselves.
This work helps to explore those protections that have developed in the client’s life, which may have been at one time necessary for psychological survival, but that have come to limit their lives and leave them engaged in repetition and compulsion.
This section is composed of seven organisations each with a unique approach to Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Read More >>