Aine Connaire Counselling and Psychotherapy

20/11/2025

Meet Claire, our new trainee counsellor and psychotherapist who will be offering low cost counselling to our clients in our office in Mullingar town centre ✨

There is an emerging need for therapists to provide a holistic approach to matters of well-being. With this in mind Claire as a therapist in training offers counselling and psychotherapy from a person – centred perspective, which is unique due to its holistic, spiritual and creative qualities. Her approach is rooted in the humanistic traditions and her focus is on meeting clients on a physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual and behavioural level.

Self – awareness is seen as vital to personal development and Claire’s intention is to establish a therapeutic relationship with her clients that enables them to go on a journey towards self-discovery and tap into their own inner wisdom and knowing. Using techniques that will enable clients to pay attention to their bodies physical sensations and observe their thought patterns without judgment helps to build self-compassion and allows their inner wisdom to be heard.

As no two clients are the same, she uses different modalities to support them. When using the psychodynamic approach, she is supporting them to bring to their awareness unconscious forces stemming from childhood experiences. In doing so she can help the client to see how their past experiences may affect how they are presenting in the here and now. Using a humanistic approach the client’s increasing awareness is utilised to emphasise their free will to make their own choices to determine their future life experiences.

Examples of issues explored are adverse childhood experiences, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, finding meaning in life and issues arising from loss. Claire also helps clients to develop tools to overcome maladaptive emotional regulation thoughts and behaviours by using emotional regulation techniques.

Get in contact today by DM or through our website to make an appointment with Claire 🌟

03/11/2025

A limited number of lost cost counselling spaces are now becoming available with our trainee counsellors and psychotherapists.

Low cost sessions are €30 per session and last approximately 50 minutes to 1 hour. These sessions are available for individuals over 18. Sessions available in person in our office in Mullingar town centre.

For more information or to see if this service is a good fit for you contact us today via DM, email or phone.

We are really looking forward to speaking to you soon 😊

31/10/2025

Clinical supervision is an essential component of my clinical practice and I believe should be an essential component of all practicing health care clinicians.

Supervision helps me to show up in my work as my most compassionate, resourced and skilled self as a psychotherapist. It helps to keep my passion for this work not just alight but burning bright. It gives me the space, fuel and tools that I need to be the best practitioner that I can. Without supervision I’m not sure if I would still be as effective as I am today as I practitioner. Without regular effective supervision, I’m not sure if I would still be working in this field at all.

Supervision has been a life line for me when I needed it and so since having the amazing opportunity to become a supervisor myself I am passionate about helping other counsellors and psychotherapists on their ever evolving professional journeys.

Currently in Ireland CORU is in the midst of creating the criteria for counsellors and psychotherapists and are outlining the necessities for regulation. At the moment it is stating that supervision will no longer be necessary in order to practice but instead it will be a personal choice of the clinician if they want to engage in their own private supervision. This is at odds with many current training and governing bodies criteria as most outline it as being necessary for ethical and professional practice.

I find it saddening that supervision may become not as prominent or used in the field in years to come but I hope that even if it isn’t included as essential under CORU guidelines that counsellors and psychotherapists will still understand its necessity for their own and their clients well-being.

I am delighted to share that I am currently taking on new supervisees at this time. Get in contact today for more information or to book an appointment ✨

22/07/2025

I was delighted to be able to contribute to this piece in the Irish Times. It is a wonderful piece that talks about the benefits of writing for our health

Tadhg Paul says writing helped him embrace to life again and regain mobility after his spinal cord injury

23/04/2025

I adore being outdoors in nature 🍃🌲 For me, connecting back into nature helps to ground and recharge me in a way that so few other things can.

Research by Bratman et al (2019) revealed that contact with nature is associated with increases in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interactions, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life, as well as decreases in mental distress (Science Advances, Vol. 5, No. 7, 2019).

Connecting with nature IS healing. It’s so simple to do, yet it’s something that we are neglecting to do. In these modern times, we are spending so much more time looking at our screens, spending time online, indoors and in urban areas that don’t contain much nature. This is having a big impact on our physical, mental and emotional health and on society as a whole.

How much time should we be spending outside to get these positive benefits I named above? White et al (2019) conducted a study with over 20,000 adults across the United Kingdom and they found that people who had spent at least two recreational hours in nature during the previous week reported significantly greater health and well-being.

So it only takes 2 hours a week outdoors in nature to gain significant positive benefits to your physical and mental health ✨

If you have been thinking about trying to get outdoors more let this be a little nugget of inspiration 🌈

How can you start to incorporate getting out in nature into your week?

28/03/2025

Walk and talk therapy has shown to have so many benefits like the ones named above ✨

Getting out walking in nature is so therapeutic in and of itself as you become grounded in the natural world aware of your physical body and connected to the present moment. On top of this, you gain all of the benefits of physical exercise, like the release of mood boosting and stress reducing endorphins. Finally, with walk and talk therapy, you are connecting to and being supported by a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist who is able to help you work through whatever may be causing you unhappiness.

If you want any more information on our walk and talk therapy service get in contact today via DM, email or phone.

You deserve to live a life you enjoy.

21/03/2025

Walk and talk psychotherapy now available in Mullingar and surrounding areas ✨

Walk and talk therapy does exactly what it says on the tin! Our sessions would be on the go out in nature. Research has shown there are so many benefits to walk and talk therapy which I will talk about in more detail in another post.

If you are interested in booking in for a walk and talk session get in touch via DM, contact 0877763103 or email aineconnairecounselling@gmail.com

10/02/2025

Pennebaker’s Expressive Writing Method is one of the most widely researched journaling methods in psychology. Dr. James Pennebaker, a social psychologist, pioneered this method in the 1980s, and since then, hundreds of studies have examined its effects on mental and physical health. Due to its strong scientific backing, it remains a gold standard in therapeutic journaling. Have you tried it yet? ✨

To learn more about this journaling practice and other journaling techniques, check out my self paced online course ‘Writing to heal: An introduction to therapeutic journaling’ on my website www.aineconnaire. Link to website in bio 🌈

09/02/2025

Journaling is healing. Let the words flow. 💜

Writing an unsent letter can be a deeply therapeutic exercise, offering emotional release, clarity, and healing.

Here are some key benefits:

1. Emotional Release & Processing
• Helps you express feelings you might struggle to say out loud
• Allows you to process grief, anger, or unresolved emotions

2. Finding Clarity & Closure
• Organises your thoughts and brings understanding to complex emotions
• Provides a sense of closure, even when no real-life resolution is possible

3. Reduces Stress & Anxiety
• Releases pent-up emotions in a safe, controlled way
• Lowers stress levels by putting thoughts into words

4. Improves Communication Skills
• Helps you articulate your thoughts and emotions better
• Can prepare you for future conversations by clarifying what you truly want to say

5. Empowers Personal Growth & Healing
•Encourages self-reflection and emotional growth
•Strengthens self-awareness and helps break negative thought patterns

💡 Try it today: Write an unsent letter to someone who has impacted your life—positively or negatively—and notice how it makes you feel. 💜

➡️ Want more guided prompts? My online course Writing to Heal is now available! Visit www.aineconnaire.ie to start your journey. 🌿

08/02/2025

📖 Writing to Heal: Start Your Journaling Journey Today! ✍️

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with emotions but didn’t know how to process them? Therapeutic journaling is a powerful way to release your thoughts, gain clarity, process your emotions and care for your mental wellness.

In my self-paced online course, Writing to Heal, I guide you through practical techniques to use journaling as a tool for self-discovery and emotional healing. 💜🌿

✨ No writing experience needed
✨ Proven therapeutic techniques
✨ Lifetime access for just €35

Ready to start? Visit www.aineconnaire.ie to learn more! Link in bio 💫

Journaling has played a major role in my own therapeutic journey since entering into the field of psychotherapy. The practice of journaling has helped me to grow and heal in ways that have amazed and humbled me. I am forever grateful to this practice for giving so much to me when I needed it.

Since beginning my work as a psychotherapist I have also had the privilege of helping my clients to develop and utilise their own journaling practices too. It has been a joy to witness my clients experience amazing gains from journaling alongside their own psychotherapy work.

If you are ready to start your own journaling journey today check out my online course in the link to my website today. You deserve to heal and grow 🌈

01/02/2025

We all have a right to feel anger. Our anger deserves to be listened to and understood just like all our other feelings and emotions. Anger is a really important emotion that tells us when something is wrong or a boundary has been crossed. Without anger we might not be propelled in the same way to take action to care for or protect ourselves.

How can you start listening to the messages that your anger is telling you with curiosity? How can you start showing that anger compassion and care?

Anger is actually our friend that wants to stand up for us. Our anger is a part of us that actually cares for us. We can listen to our anger and then CHOOSE consciously how we respond to the angering situation.

Writing a compassionate letter to our angry selves allows us to get to know and build a relationship with this part of ourselves. This is key to self regulation.

14/01/2025

Showing self compassion for our sadness can be a powerful experience that helps us to process the emotion in a gentle way. Many of us can feel afraid of feeling our sadness, fearing that it will consume us if we let it in. However, sadness like all of our emotions, are fleeting experiences that do pass. Showing ourselves self compassion can help us to care for ourselves in helpful ways while our sadness is present and in turn can help to alleviate this suffering. Compassionate letter writing is a fantastic tool for showing ourselves compassion when we need it. This post gives a brief example of some elements that a self compassionate letter could contain. Journaling is a wonderful tool for befriending all of our difficult emotions ✍️