Bairbre Kelly: Counselling&Psychotherapy

15/11/2025

Another day of online learning! Current view is courtesy of storm Claudia and iron man socks!

My son asked me yesterday “why are you doing that course, are you not finished with college?”
Isn’t it funny how a remark like that can trigger all kinds of feelings. In that moment I noticed I felt a little embarrassed, a little shamed. A voice in my head said “surly after all these years working in this field you should know enough, or maybe you are just not that good “

The truth is, we will never be done with learning! And if someone ever says they no longer need to learn then I’d recommend running as fast as you can! Nobody knows it all, nobody is the expert of everything. But many portray themselves to be that.

I look forward to putting my new learning into action in the counselling room and in my personal life.

Have a lovely weekend peeps, keep warm and stay safe ❤️

11/11/2025

Fantastic Workshop being held at Four Swans Therapy and Wellness in Duleek by Dr Richard Hogan for parents wishing to develop their tools to positively manage the challenges of raising children in the digital age. His bestselling books, Parenting the Screenager and Home Is Where the Start Is, have made him a leading public voice on modern family life and wellbeing in Ireland. You may also recognise him from the recent RTE series Traitors and Raising a Village.

Tickets are now on sale at eventbrite link below (and in bio):

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parenting-the-tech-savvy-child-tickets-1964786826288?aff=oddtdtcreator

We are absolutely delighted to welcome to Four Swans Therapy and Wellness as part of our new Winter Workshops series.
In this talk Dr Richard Hogan will empower parents so that they have the tools to positively manage the challenges of raising children in the digital age.

Dr Richard Hogan is an Irish family psychotherapist, author, and media commentator. He is Clinical Director of the Therapy Institute and writes the Learning Points mental health column for the Irish Examiner.

A Fulbright Scholar and lecturer, he focuses on family systems, parenting, and adolescent mental health. His bestselling books, Parenting the Screenager and Home Is Where the Start Is, have made him a leading public voice on modern family life and wellbeing in Ireland. You may also recognise him from the recent RTE series Traitors and Raising a Village.

Tickets are now on sale at eventbrite link below (and in bio):

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parenting-the-tech-savvy-child-tickets-1964786826288?aff=oddtdtcreator

06/11/2025

Just out from the launch of this proposed Bill at Leinster house, if this bill is passed it would mean that survivors of sexual assault, r**e and violence would be able to secure a protection against their abusers once they are released from prison. As it stands, so many survivors are living in fear and dread at the prospect of their abuser being released and potentially finding them! Survivors deserve to heal, survivors deserve to regain their power so survivors must be protected against any further harm, be that emotionally, physically and sexually! Well done to all those survivors who spoke today and helped make the statistics real! ❤️

04/11/2025

Update on the campaign:

28/10/2025

Please take a moment to vote for an incredibly vital new service:

19/10/2025

On this wet and gloomy Sunday, as I settle into another day of online learning, I can’t help but feel like I’m being watched 😂 🐾

11/10/2025

Another day of learning!
Delighted to have started the DAWN programme with AUSOME Training, a neurodiversity-affirming course on working with autistic clients ❤️

09/10/2025

Another opportunity this evening to speak to fellow therapists about the campaign to ban counselling notes being used in court cases of sexual assault, r**e and gender based violence

01/10/2025

Éist-Saying No To Silence will host their first coffee morning in Mullingar for survivors on Monday 13th October from midday. Please spread the word ❤️

26/09/2025

This Tuesday, 30th September 2025 Éist will stand alongside ROSA and Therapists Against Harm outside Leinster House, continuing to call for a complete ban on the use of counselling notes in trials.

Éist co-founder Hazel Behan has been invited to address the Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration — ensuring that a survivor's voice is heard directly by those with the power to change our legislation.

For survivors of r**e and gender-based violence, having deeply personal counselling notes accessed in court is profoundly damaging. This invasive practice not only retraumatises victims but also deters many from seeking the care and support they need and deserve. No survivor should have to choose between justice and healing.

The government's proposed changes fall short. Half-measures are not enough. What is needed — and what we demand — is a complete and unequivocal ban on the use of counselling notes in trials.

This issue is rooted in a wider culture shaped by a misogynistic patriarchy — one that too often silences, disbelieves, and retraumatises survivors. Éist is committed to challenging this culture, to amplifying the voices of survivors, and to pushing for meaningful, lasting change.

We will continue to highlight not only this injustice but all barriers faced by survivors. Our message is clear: survivors deserve dignity, safety, and justice — nothing less.

23/09/2025

Just a reminder:

RISE ABOVE THE BULLSH1T ❤️

From a neurodivergent mother of two incredible neurodivergent children and married to a neurodivergent partner! ❤️