Positive Psychology Ireland

22/04/2026

One hospital chose to do something deeply human for patients in intensive care. Staff began wheeling some ICU patients to the beach so they could feel sunlight, breathe sea air, and see something beyond hospital walls. That decision brought care into a space where hope could feel more immediate and real.

Serious illness can shrink a person’s world to machines, alarms, and ceilings. A short trip outdoors can break that feeling. Open air, natural light, and the sight of water can remind patients that life still exists beyond treatment rooms and clinical routines. That reminder can carry emotional force.

Medical care often focuses on what can be measured, and that makes sense. Still, recovery also involves mood, dignity, and the will to keep going. A beach visit cannot replace medicine, yet it can support the spirit of someone who needs every source of strength available.

Nurses and doctors who make this happen show a wider view of healing. They are not just treating symptoms. They are caring for whole people. Compassion like that does not weaken medicine. It deepens it and gives it a human face.

Fresh air cannot solve everything, but sometimes it can change a day, lift a mind, and give a patient one moment that feels free again. 🌊☀️

13/04/2026

I love the perspective in this poem.

10/04/2026

A win win - nutritious foods for kids and increased income for Irish farmers.

08/04/2026

I don’t think we need too much encouragement to talk to strangers in this country- O think we just do it a lot, naturally. But here’s some encouragement anyhow 😀

Based at UC Berkeley, Greater Good reports on groundbreaking research into the roots of compassion, happiness, and altruism.

08/04/2026

Research on the “three good things” exercise ( a very popular positive psychology technique) has shown in many studies that it is associated with increased longevity and better brain function/ less cognitive decline with age. What’s interesting about this new study is that it pinpoints the areas in the brain that grow as a result of a gratitude focus. Your brain is always changing and developing depending on what you focus on . I love the advice of neuroscientist and author of books on meditation , Rick Hanson “Be like Teflon for bad stuff, and Velcro for good stuff”. WRITING your three good things in a notebook daily makes them stick , so get going with that notebook today. There are of course apps on your phone for doing it, but research shows that actual WRITING makes them stick even more .

Most people don't realize that gratitude changes more than your mood. It changes your brain. Physically.

A study in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics used MRI scans on 478 older adults. People with higher gratitude had measurably larger brain volumes in the amygdala and fusiform gyrus, regions responsible for emotion processing, face recognition, and memory.

The researchers found that these brain regions actually mediated the link between gratitude and cognitive function. In other words, gratitude may protect against dementia by maintaining the very structures that typically shrink with age.

And a 2024 study in JAMA Psychiatry, tracking nearly 50,000 women, found that those with the highest gratitude had a 9 percent lower risk of dying from any cause over four years.

Two minutes. A small notebook. Three specific things you're grateful for. That's the prescription.

Not vague gratitude like "I'm grateful for my life." Specific gratitude. "I'm grateful for the way sunlight came through my kitchen window this morning." Specificity is what activates the neural pathways.

In my practice, I've seen this simple habit shift patients from rumination to presence. From dread to curiosity. From shrinking to growing.

Your brain is waiting for the signal. Gratitude is the signal.

Name three specific things you're grateful for right now. Go.

06/04/2026

Last chance to book for Spring/Summer course starting Tuesday 7th April at 7.30pm. The course runs for six weeks, 90 minutes each week.
Each evening is a mix of relaxation and meditation practice, connecting with your inner core. I also cover underlying concepts in neuroscience, positive psychology and CBT.
BOOK NOW https://positivepsychology.ie/product/take-the-steps-book-online-now-in-dublin/
Course notes on each lesson and access to my guided meditations are provided for each participant.

Learn to meditate, live mindfully and build lasting happiness and wellbeing. With Margaret Forde, Chartered psychologist and holistic psychotherapist.

04/04/2026

Spring/summer is a time of great transformation in our gardens and parks. Recently, I went away for 5 days , and when I came back, my cherry tree that had scarcely a bud before I went, was in full bloom . I love this photo which my daughter took of leaves transforming following their genetic blueprint. For us, as humans, change comes from inside too, often as a result of seeing or understanding something differently. That is the purpose of the Take the Steps Meditation and Wellbeing courses I run:to bring together the insights from psychology and neuroscience, so that people can understand more about themselves and the potential that we have for change, so that we may come into full bloom. In addition, the course provides a step by step pathway into how we can put this new understanding into action.
Last chance to join Sprig/summer course starting Tuesday 7th April, 7.30 pm IN PERSON, Dublin 3/5. BOOKING NOW
https://positivepsychology.ie/product/take-the-steps-book-online-now-in-dublin/

Meditation and Wellbeing: Take the Steps is a structured training in meditation and positive psychology techniques.Build happiness, peace of mind and emotional resilience while reducing stress, anxiety and low mood.Devised and presented by chartered psychologist, Margaret Forde

02/04/2026

Interesting!

Brain scans show that writing by hand activates memory, learning, and motor regions in ways that typing simply does not. And as we age, that difference matters more than you think.

A 2026 review published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience mapped the neural and motor mechanisms of handwriting across the lifespan. The findings confirm that handwriting engages a distributed network of brain regions, including the primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, supplementary motor area, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and parietal cortex.

Typing activates far fewer of these regions.

Research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that college students showed increased brain connectivity when handwriting words compared to typing them. The researchers suggested handwriting may boost learning and memory through greater neural engagement.

A separate systematic review found that writing-based therapies, including journaling and even simple handwriting practice, showed cognitive and emotional benefits for people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

Think about what this means for your daily life. Every time you write a grocery list by hand instead of typing it into your phone, you are giving your brain a workout. Every handwritten note, journal entry, or letter activates circuits that support memory consolidation and fine motor control.

This is not nostalgia. This is neuroscience.

In a world that is increasingly digital, picking up a pen might be one of the simplest brain-protective habits you can adopt.

Try journaling by hand for five minutes tonight. Your brain will thank you.

When was the last time you wrote something by hand?

24/03/2026

Some Quick fixes to get your nervous system from flight or fight into rest and safety mode .

19/03/2026

Delighted for Richard, graduate of Ballyfermot college and nephew of a much beloved friend , Tom Dolan , who passed some years back .

A huge congratulations to Ireland’s own Richard Baneham, now a three-time Oscar winner, for his incredible VFX work on Avatar: Fire & Ash! 💚