Cogs Psychotherapy

03/02/2026

Eating Disorder Awareness ✨

I wanted to highlight something important:
eating disorders don’t have a certain look. Many people can appear “fine” and functioning on the outside. You also don’t need a formal diagnosis to get support.

I often use the term disordered eating and eating difficulties here, because this page is about understanding and support, rather than labels and pathologising.

Many people don’t tick every box of a formal diagnosis, yet still struggle with:
• food and weight concerns
• rigid rules around eating
• cycles of restriction and bingeing
• over-exercise
• ongoing body dissatisfaction

These patterns can have a real impact on daily life.

Many people may not access support due to not having a diagnosis, not meeting criteria, or not seeing their symptoms as an eating disorder. Unfortunately disordered eating is common and diet culture has normalised many behaviours and thoughts around food, exercise, and bodies that keep people stuck without realising help is available.

What are some phrases around food/diet/exercise that you think have become normalised in today's culture?

02/02/2026

Hi and welcome 👋
My name is Orla, I'm an Accredited CBT and Pre-Accredited EMDR Therapist. I have worked for many years in NHS & private services. I now work for myself in private practice and within an eating disorder clinic.

I work with adults who may struggle with an eating disorder, eating difficulties or "disordered eating" patterns, and body image concerns, as well as with trauma.

I integrate CBT evidence based practice, with Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, inner child work, nervous system education and resourcing and EMDR.

🌿🐴 I am a horse & nature lover, happiest when outside on an adventure with the dog & with the horses. Because horses have helped me in so many ways, I have trained in Equine Assisted Services, and offer this in Avoca, Co. Wicklow. This is a non-traditional approach to therapy, which is somatic based and very powerful due to the nature of working with and learning alongside the horses.

📍online Ireland, UK, internationally & in-person Avoca, Ireland
🔗 Link in bio for new clients intake form
email: info@cogspsychotherapy.com

02/02/2026

This September, Athena's Foundation certificate in Equine Assisted Services, taking place here in Avoca, Co. Wicklow.



🌿🐴

We are very excited to be back in Ireland again this year.

❓Did you know that the Athena training programmes are externally accredited by international and internationally recognised organisations and run by local experts either on the AAHEP accredited register or international equivalent❓

📍In Ireland we have Cogs Psychotherapy and the Foundation Certificate is recognised by the IACP - Irish Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, Aahep: Association for Animals, Horticultural & Equine Practitioners, ACCPH for 42 hours.

30/01/2026

When we restrict food (whether that's due to dieting, trying to lose weight, or because we forgot), our bodies respond in the way they are designed to, for survival.

🧠 Our body doesn't know about our diet or want to lose weight for a holiday. It responds to hunger, so it ramps up food thoughts to encourage us to eat. This is survival. Pretty clever, right?

💪 This isn’t a lack of control, but because when food does become available, the body wants to make sure it stays alive and keeps functioning, it may mean that eating feels out of control, but this is actually a very normal response to restricted eating.

🌊 More often than not, there are difficult feelings experienced post-binge, and in attempt to regain a feeling of control, feel better, and compensate for the binge, we may continue to restrict the next day, or engage in other behaviours, including purging and over exercising.

🌀 This creates a self-maintaining cycle between restriction, bingeing, (and other compensatory behaviours).

✨ Starting to better understand this cycle is one of the first steps if you are trying to change your relationship to food and your weight/shape.

22/01/2026

✨🐎Year of the Horse Promotion 🐎✨
For use in January & February

To celebrate the Year of the Horse, I’m offering a deal on session bundles, for anyone who has previously attended a taster session, equine therapy session, or regular session with me.

You can book a block of 3 equine assisted therapy sessions for the price of 2.

Limited spaces, message or email me to book.

Orla 💛🐎

21/01/2026

Thought defusion, used in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), is a useful way to create distance from difficult thoughts, rather than getting into a battle with them, or trying to push them away, or distract from them.

16/01/2026

Equine Assisted Therapy?

I have a very small number of spaces available for equine assisted therapy sessions, including one Saturday morning appointment.
My regular therapy caseload is full, but this alternative approach to therapy may be suited to you, or someone in your care.

These sessions are groundwork-based (no riding) and suitable for ages 11+ and adults, with no horse experience required.

Equine assisted work can be especially supportive for those with anxiety, sensory sensitivities, ADHD/autism, ARFID, or anyone wanting to build emotional awareness, confidence and coping skills in a calm, nature-based setting.

If you’d like to enquire or join the waiting list, please get in touch:
info@cogspsychotherapy.com

Visit my website for more information about me, my approach and equine assisted therapy: https://www.cogspsychotherapy.com/

And with the Year of the Horse approaching, I will be sharing some session offers to use in February. Stay tuned 🐴✨

Orla

12/01/2026

A really special development has happend with our rescue Shetland in the last two weeks. It doesn't look like much, but he has only just this week allowed me to rub him.

We’ve had him for 5 months and up until now he has shown that he is not ok with a lot of forms of touch. Having his headcollar put on and being seen by the dentist (surprisingly), have been ok. But brushing, handling, or touching other parts of his body were very much a no. From what we know of the trauma he experienced before he was rescued, this is very understandable.

Since arriving with us, he's always been curious and appears friendly, often coming over to investigate, but this would usually flip quickly into biting or defensiveness.

Recently I have noticed how he has been initiating more connection with me. He has been following me around while I’m fixing fences (the same fences he took down!!!), standing quietly beside me when I’m doing the other horse’s feet or brushing them, simply being with me without needing anything from me.

What has led me to being able to rub him this week has come from months of not asking or expecting anything of him. The priority has been him adjusting to his new environment and herd mates. No forced brushing, no pushing past his boundaries, no “getting on with it.” He’s had time to settle, to understand that forage doesn’t run out, that he has freedom to move, a herd to belong to, and shelter to choose. His nervous system is slowly adjusting.

I couldn't demand trust from him, but I've shown it by listening, waiting, and being patient even when he has bitten or not known how to be around us.

Experiencing him now choosing connection, without having his defences up, is the most special feeling, but with no expectation that he will be like this everyday. It's enough just knowing he's starting to trust me.

09/01/2026

So much feeling, so much presence.
It's a privilege to spend time with these animals 💛🐴

06/01/2026

I went to the beach for sunrise on Christmas day morning, something that’s become a tradition in the past few years. As there are animals to sort out first, it meant being up far earlier than most would consider on a day off. 🌅

I’ve been thinking about how on days like this there is a voice in my head that pops up saying “you should be resting”, “slow down”, “you can’t just take it easy”.

It sounds like the online advice we’re constantly surrounded by. Sleep in. Take it easy. Don’t do too much. And while all of that can be really valid, it doesn’t always feel right for me.

I’ve been thinking about the difference between being mindful of doing too much, versus doing what I enjoy. I actually like being up and out early!! 🤷‍♀️

I like the quiet, the empty beach/woods, the easy parking.
I like that it fits around meals as I’m not halfway through a walk when I’m suddenly hungry for lunch.
And I really like being home by afternoon, because that’s often when my energy dips and I want to be doing my “down time” then. Cosy and satisfied.

That is what works for me.

There is always a need for balance, and this for me is knowing that I can be flexible when needed, because not everyone wants to meet for a hike at 9am 😉!! But that doesn’t make the preference wrong, or something I “should” be changing.

It’s so easy for our own voice to get drowned out. We are surrounded by advice about what we should be doing, how we should be living, resting, coping. Over time, that can chip away at our trust in ourselves and we start seeking that external reassurance.

I notice I can feel resistant to being told what to do. Maybe you feel some version of that too.

From an ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) perspective, no behaviour is good or bad, right or wrong. What matters more is whether it aligns with what’s important to you and your values.

And I can now confidently say that being out on an adventure at an unfathomable hour is very much in line with mine. 🪾

That doesn’t mean every day looks like that. But I’m now trusting that inner sense of what I enjoy and what suits me.

Orla 💛

05/01/2026

You don’t need to relive the past to heal from it.

EMDR is a structured therapy that helps reduce the emotional intensity of difficult memories, so they no longer feel as powerful in the present.

It is known for treatment of trauma and PTSD, but can also support anxiety, panic, phobias, self-esteem difficulties, and experiences that continue to show up in your body or nervous system.

I’m Orla, a BABCP Accredited CBT therapist, and EMDR practitioner, currently working towards EMDR accreditation.

I have space for 2–3 EMDR clients, offered online across the UK, Ireland, and internationally, or in person in Co. Wicklow.

If you’re curious about whether EMDR might be a good fit for you, please get in touch by following the links on my page, or via email at info@cogspsychotherapy.com

Orla

Assessment sessions are online only and last for 50 minutes. If you would like to arrange a shorter 30 minute, or longer 90 minute session, please get in touch to arrange this. Please complete the below intake form prior to your first assessment session. https://form.jotform.com/252311596684362 info...

05/01/2026

First day back to work. I had plans for how to ease back in before seeing clients later today. Then things got in the way of my plans.

Chasing the Shetland out of a field he’s not meant to be in.

Fixing the fencing that he took with him.

Frozen water troughs and taps.

Buckets of water.

Cold hands, rushing about.

By the time I sat down, my brain had gone blank. It was a reminder of something I see often in therapy:
We ask our minds to focus before our bodies feel settled.

So, this is my reminder today: plans can change, it’s ok, do what you can, and try not to slip on the ice.

❄️