About Us

Principal Psychologist

Aisling O Connor

I am a psychologist with a special interest in Counselling Psychology who is registered with the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) with over 10 years clinical experience.

I have been fortunate enough to have worked in various roles in schools, family services, private practice and university settings.
I have worked with people across the lifespan and from many different cultural backgrounds. After completing a Degree in Psychology at National University of Ireland Galway, I then studied a master’s in Counselling Psychology at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

I then continued my love for learning with Play Therapy Australia and completed the Clinical Program in Child Centred Play Therapy and Filial Therapy.

I am extremely passionate about working with children and their families. Opening “Connections” has been a lifelong dream that started over 20 years ago when I went to see a child therapist due to my parents separating.
I really do understand how difficult it can be as a child to walk in the door of a therapist’s office and then to have to try and open up about your feelings! My clinical work is guided by evidence-based theories such as Interpersonal Theory, Attachment Theory and Interpersonal Neurobiology.
I am trained in many different modalities but my preferred way of working with children is using Child Centred Play Therapy.

Play Therapist

Olivia

I am a qualified play therapist with a Post Graduate Diploma in Play Therapy from NUI Galway (Play Therapy Ireland). I have almost twenty years experience working as a primary school teacher and have been fortunate enough to work with many children and their caregivers during this time. I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Special Education from Trinity College and have recently completed training with the Children’s Therapy Centre in Westmeath.

I believe in the therapeutic powers of play and in the ability of children to explore their lives through play. Play is the natural language of children and children have an innate ability to communicate through their play. Children are not able to describe complex thoughts and feelings in words, but their play gives us a window into their inner world. Play therapy helps children to work through a range of difficulties in a way that is safe, natural and developmentally appropriate to children.

I love working with children and I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to do so. I work in a child centred way and appreciate the uniqueness of each child that I work with. I provide a safe and warm environment for children to freely express themselves. I am fully garda vetted and I work under the Children’s First Guidelines.

Birds fly, fish swim, children play

Gary Landreth

Therapist

Emma McBride

After being a primary teacher in England for six years, I re-qualified as a Play Therapist in 2005. I was struck by the number of children unable to access the curriculum due to emotional distress caused by a wide range of different experiences, including parental separation and bereavement. From 2005, I set up and helped to run Play Therapy services in several London Primary schools. I found that using a systemic approach through Play Therapy brought about positive change for the
children, their families and the schools as a whole.

As well as having my own private practice in England, from 2010 I worked for a team of child therapists in Surrey. I completed an additional training in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) in 2022 and am now a fully certified DDP practitioner. This allows me to draw on my experience of Play Therapy as well as developing my special interest in working with looked after and adopted children and their families.

Having now moved with my family to Sligo, I am really excited to be working with children and their families again. Depending on the need of the child, I use a variety of therapeutic models in each intervention, including Theraplay and Therapeutic Life Story Work. My clinical practice is rooted in a PACE-ful approach, and is always child and family centred.

Psychologist

Ewa

I am a psychologist specializing in clinical and personality psychology and a member The Psychological Society of Ireland (M.A. Psych., M 12924). I graduated with honors from National Louis University in Poland.

In 2022, I wrote a research paper on the emigration of Polish people to Ireland and their feelings of stress and anxiety in the process of acculturation. The research work initiated the process of expanding knowledge about emigration and the difficulties associated with it.

My professional path has always been associated with working with youth and adults. I gained experience working in a center for young people with difficulties from pathological environments and in a Psychiatric Hospital in Poland.

I am constantly expanding my knowledge and participating in trainings on selected clinical issues and in scientific conferences.

I have always been passionate about working with people. My goal is to make young people feel safe and happy, I try to create a good atmosphere at meetings full of respect and acceptance, where everyone feels important and needed. In my work, I use an integrative approach, using methods tailored to the individual needs of the child.

I am perfectly aware that when a child needs support, it is also not easy for parents, which is why I also try to support parents in building a safe parent-child relationship.

I work also in Polish language.

CHILD PSYCHOLOGY & COUNSELLING