Emer holds an MA in Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy and Play Therapy and a BA (HONS) in Applied Social Studies in Social Care. She has extensive experience working with children who have experienced domestic violence and also with non residential parents and their children, maintaining and promoting quality contact. Emer has been involved in the Daphne III programme Responding to Child Parent Violence action research project, training in Non Violent Resistance and the Break 4 Change programme targeting services to families affected by Child Parent Violence. Emer has also completed Intensive Filial Therapy Training, and mindfulness training. Emer also provides a family support role with families affected by meningitis. She has developed a number of workshops to support adults such as “You, Your Thoughts & Your ACTions”, addressing stress and anxiety, “Don’t Just Survive, Thrive!, parenting children affected by Meningitis”. She has also developed and facilitated workshops to support whole families including “Reconnecting after Meningitis” and the sibling support workshop “Me Too!”. Emer has worked with the Brothers of Charity services and been involved in a number of Humanitarian aid projects in both Ethiopia and Peru. Currently Emer is in private practice at Acorns 2 Oaks Therapy Services and also provides trainings for professionals working with vulnerable children. Emer facilitates our Level 6 Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate in Galway and also works as a CTC supervisor.

Maggie has been a play practitioner for more than 30 years, gaining her first MA (Developmental and Therapeutic Play) at Swansea University in 2009, and she has been a Forest School practitioner since 2001. Maggie is a senior lecturer in the University of South Wales. She is a practitioner of Body & Earth experiential anatomy and authentic movement, investigating strategies for supporting developmental movement and sensory awareness during outdoor play. Maggie completed her training as a play therapist with the Children’s Therapy Centre, Ireland. She facilitates wild play, Forest School, and play therapy with children and their families in Wales, and she trains adults in developmental and therapeutic play. She has many published articles and book chapters, and a particular interest in neurobiology and the therapeutic use of movement and the outdoors in play therapy. Maggie is a wonderful addition to our staff team, she teaches on our MA, and is a fantastic dissertation supervisor for our 4th year MA students.

Majella is a very experienced child, adolescent and adult psychotherapist and utilises play therapy in her work with children. She has a strong interest in supporting healthy attachments and in how we as therapists use ourselves to form a therapeutic alliance with children and families. She specialises in working creatively with children, adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma. She has worked in a variety of settings including private practice, a family therapy service and in CARI for 20 years, where she held various positions including Head of Therapy and National Clinical Director. Majella is a supervisor for play therapists, creative arts therapists, and child, adolescent, and adult psychotherapists as well as social workers and social care workers. She consults and provides training to organisations who work therapeutically with children and families. She has presented on many topics related to Child Psychotherapy both in Ireland and UK. Majella is course leader on our Diploma in Creative Supervision, teaches on our MA Programme and our QQI Level 6 Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate in Limerick. Majella also facilitates group process at CTC and works as a CTC supervisor.

Carol has a BSc Hons in Social Psychology and Sociology from the University of Ulster. She also has a Diploma in Area Studies from the College of St. Elizabeth, NJ. She has a professional postgraduate training in child psychotherapy and play therapy and a diploma in creative supervision. Carol is accredited with IAPTP and IAHIP. Carol has been working with children for over fourteen years now and is employed by TUSLA as a senior play therapist. Carol works with children and young people of all ages and a considerable amount of her practice involves working with siblings and families of children who have been received into care. She draws from a humanistic and integrative point of view with a strong emphasis on an attachment perspective. Her practice incorporates offering a substantial amount of support to the family and care systems of her primary clients. It also entails a sensory integration element. Carol has significant experience of working with children in care and with children who have survived various levels of neglect and who have experienced child abuse. She is a strong believer in empowering the voice of children. She also works in private practice as a supervisor. Carol is a core trainer on our MA programme.

Rachel has been a lecturer in Trinity College, Dublin for the past 22 years. She also has a private child and adolescent psychotherapy and play therapy practice where she specialises in working with young people from a refugee background, including unaccompanied minors in the care of Tusla. Rachel is highly experienced in supervising research and enjoys guiding CTC students through the research process. She has also supervised PhD students in Trinity College. Her own research focuses on issues of identity and well-being of migrant and refugee children. Rachel teaches some of our research modules and is a dissertation supervisor for our 4th year MA students.

Monique has an MA in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy with a specialisation in Play Therapy, BA in Dance Movement Therapy and a Diploma in Creative Supervision. Monique works as a Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist for The Children at Risk foundation (CARI), is founder of the Listening Tree Play Therapy Centre, and a Trainer for CTC, Children’s Therapy Centre. Monique has worked for over 25 years supporting children and families in community and residential settings. Monique has extensive experience working with children, young people and their families with complex trauma, social and emotional difficulties, intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, communication disorders, and children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Monique teaches on a number of CTC courses including the MA programme and our level 6 Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate course in Mountmellick. Monique is also a CTC supervisor.

Cathy is an experienced and accredited psychotherapist with a specialisation in Play Therapy. She has worked as a teacher, trainer, workshop facilitator and psychotherapist in a variety of settings. Cathy joined the therapeutic team of CARI in 2014 where she worked in a systemic manner with children, adolescents, parents and siblings providing specialised child centred psychotherapy and support to families who have been affected by CSA and with children who engage in harmful sexual behaviours. Cathy now (since early 2018) maintains a full-time, busy private practice, where she works with children and adolescents presenting with a wide range of issues including anxiety, emotional regulation difficulties, developmental delays, learning and attentional difficulties, grief, parental separation, bullying and peer difficulties as well as more complex issues such as attachment difficulties and children who have experienced abuse and trauma. Cathy works from an integrative, person centred perspective and endeavours to build strong working relationships with parents/carers using creative approaches to empower parents towards greater awareness and presence in their parenting. Cathy is trained in Filial Therapy and Circle of Security Parent group facilitation. Cathy has also designed and delivered trainings and workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals on the power of play and unconditional positive regard when relating to and working with children. Cathy teaches on our MA Programme.

Laura is a humanistic and integrative psychotherapist and play therapist working from an adolescent and child centred perspective. She is also involved in the training and supervision of youth workers, play therapists, and psychotherapists. She maintains a private psychotherapy and supervision practice and specialises in palliative care therapy services, play therapy, group work with adolescents, and with groups dealing with bereavement issues. Laura teaches on a number of CTC courses including the MA programme and our level 6 Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate course in Claremorris. Laura also facilitates some of our introductory workshops and CPD courses.

Bernadette studied under Lisa Ulman at Goldsmiths University in London to become a qualified Laban Movement, dance and drama specialist and educator. Bernadette holds a 4-year qualification in the Feldenkrais Method® under Russell & Linda Delman in Marin County, California. She also qualified in The Embodied Life (a synthesis of the Feldenkrais Method, Zen meditation and Focusing) with Russell Delman in Switzerland. Bernadette studied under Anat Baniel in The Anat Baniel Method SM For Children in their professional training programme in Marin County and holds a qualification. Bernadette studied under Amy & Arny Mindell et al. in Process Oriented Psychology in Portland, Oregon & Dublin, and holds full certification. She is also a qualified play therapist and child psychotherapist. Bernadette has synthesized her training and experience into a somatic therapy that addresses the whole self through integrating the perceived split of the body & mind. She uses deeply rooted mindfulness and body awareness to enhance the full potential of each person, regardless of perceived abilities or function. She invites the body, through awareness, to become the immensely powerful and intelligent ally it was meant to be. Bernadette facilitates group sessions at CTC and runs the Tara Healing Arts Therapy Centre in Ennis. She is CEO of the Bluebox Creative Learning Centre in Limerick which operates 23 therapy centres. Bernadette facilitates group process session for us here at CTC.

Michelle is an experienced psychotherapist, group therapist and clinical supervisor who works with children, adolescents, adults, families and groups in her own private practice as well as in community, corporate and training sectors. Michelle has been actively involved in facilitating groups for over 20 years, working with community groups, development groups, outreach programs, special needs, positive mental health promotion, and has worked across all facets of the educational system from Montessori to Third Level. She advocates experiential and creative therapeutic methodologies in her work as fundamental to supporting body-mind harmony. Michelle facilitates group process sessions at CTC.

Edel is the founder and Director of Expressive play, a child and adolescent therapy centre. Edel has over 20 years experience working in a variety of therapeutic support roles with both children and adults. Edel has an a MA in Psychotherapy and Play Therapy and has also trained in Sandplay Therapy, Art Therapy, Puppetry and Social Care. She has a unique blend of experience in a variety of roles including; play therapy, integrative psychotherapy, family therapy, parent support and teaching. Edel is a highly skilled, and natural, therapist and trainer, she truly is a joy to learn from. Edel teaches on our Level 6 Therapeutic Play Skills Certificate in Kerry and also designs and facilitates a range of our CPD training events. Edel specialises in facilitating workshops in our series of training events which support the diversification of practice by play therapists and other suitably qualified professionals, including teachers, psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists, early years teachers, family support workers and project workers.

Karen is qualified as a Play Therapist, Psychotherapist and Supervisor. She runs a busy private practice in Boyle, Co. Roscommon. She has worked with children and teenagers presenting with a diversity of issues, and her specialist areas are in the areas of complex trauma and learning difficulties. Karen has extensive experience, spanning over 25 years, in service provision for people with special needs. Her original training was in nursing (Intellectual Disability), and she has worked in this role (and as a workshop facilitator, relaxation therapist and educator) in community, residential and day services. As a psychotherapist Karen has worked a lot with children and adolescents in foster care who have history of neglect and/or various types of abuse. Supporting and empowering parents and carers forms a significant part of her work also. Karen completed training in massage therapy in London in 1991 and she co -founded Karuna Flame Holistic Health Centre with her life partner, Kris, in 1996 and worked as a massage therapist for many years in their centre. Kris and Karen host bio energy meditation retreats periodically throughout the year. Karen teaches on our MA programme and is also a CTC Supervisor. We love having Karen on our team!

Maria M.IA.H.I.P, S.I.A.P.T.P. is a very experienced psychotherapist, play therapist, and a clinical supervisor. She holds an MA in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy and Play Therapy and a Diploma in Creative Supervision. Maria has worked extensively with children and their families/guardians for over 10 years. Maria specialises in working with children and families presenting with diverse and complex needs. She has wealth of experience working with children and teenagers with intellectual and/or physical disability. Maria is employed by St.Michael’s House as a Play Therapist and she also maintains a very busy private practice. Maria works with family centres and schools in Dublin’s inner city, alongside other multidisciplinary team members, providing education around play therapy, parent workshops and child psychotherapy. In addition to her child and adolescent work Maria works with adults whom are deaf and deaf/blind and highly values the use of creative mediums in adult healing work. Maria is a supervisor for CTC.

Charlotte is the founder and director of Over the Rainbow Children’s Centre. She is a child and adolescent psychotherapist, play therapist and clinical supervisor working in her own private practice and in a school setting in Cork. Charlotte has an MA in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy with a specialisation in Play Therapy and completed a post graduate diploma in Creative Supervision with CTC she supervises other therapists in their clinical practice. As a psychotherapist, she works with clients across the spectrum of needs including those with complex histories and significant clinical issues such as attachment disorders and experiences of abuse. Charlotte has a keen interest in attachment, neuroscience, sensory somatic psychotherapy and developmental trauma. She is a fully accredited member of IAPTP. As a clinician she provides one to one sessions with children using play therapy as an intervention. She also provides support for parents, social workers and teachers, in education about how children and adult brains work and on the interpersonal neurobiology of our relationships with each other. Charlotte is a qualified primary school teacher after completing a 4 year degree and has 16 years teaching experience. She has a post graduate diploma in Special Needs Education from Froebal teacher training college in Dublin. Charlotte also has a yoga diploma and is a fully qualified yoga, prenatal yoga and kids yoga teacher. Charlotte loves working with children and feels privileged to be given the opportunity to do so in so many different ways. Charlotte facilitates some of CTC’s foundation level training courses. Charlotte Lyne BEd, PGEd, PGDipPlayTherapy, MAPsychotherapy, PGDip.Sup, MIAPTP, SIAPTP.

Professor Sue Jennings is the pioneer of Neuro-Dramatic-Play which is an important developmental paradigm in understanding Infant Mental Health.  Her doctoral fieldwork in the Malaysian rainforest has been a major influence in understanding child well-being. Her focus on infant mental health and early years has innovated new techniques for parents and child-care workers.  Her initial work in dramatherapy was influenced by her theatre work with ‘special needs’ groups.  Sue has worked in play and dramatherapy in the UK, as well as Romania, Greece, India and Malaysia.  She has recently been appointed Senior Research Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.  Sue’s work includes creativity with couples at the Royal London Hospital fertility clinic as well as ‘Creative Care’ with older people with dementia.  She was awarded the Winston  Churchill Fellowship Medal In 2014. Sue has published many books on her work including ‘Working with Attachment Difficulties with School-Aged Children’, ‘Creative Play with Children at Risk’, and ‘Healthy Attachment and Neuro-Dramatic-Play’.  Sue is co-editor with Dr Clive Holmwood of the International Handbook of Play, Therapeutic Play and Play Therapy.

Paris Goodyear-Brown, LCSW, RPT-S, the founder and director of Nurture House, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor with 20 years of experience in treating families in need. While she specializes in treating trauma (sexual abuse, physical abuse, maltreatment and neglect) and attachment disturbances, she often provides help for anxious, angry or depressed children and teens. A child development expert, she frequently provides parent consultation, dyadic assessment and parent coaching to help parents manage and resolve their children’s behavior problems. She is an Adjunct Instructor of Psychiatric Mental Health at Vanderbilt University, guest lecturer for several universities in middle Tennessee, and has an international reputation as a dynamic speaker and innovative clinician. She provides play therapy and licensure supervision and consults with various school districts, agencies and mental health organizations to help develop play therapy programs and create more developmentally sensitive programming. With trainings in Morocco, Australia, Ireland, and Sweden, as well as frequent domestic presentations, she is best known for developing clinically sound, played-based interventions that are used to treat a variety of childhood problems. She has received the APT award for Play Therapy Promotion and Education. She is the author of multiple books, chapters and articles related to child therapy. Her newest books include Tackling Touchy Subjects, the Handbook of Child Sexual Abuse: Identification, Assessment, and Treatment, Play Therapy with Traumatized Children: A Prescriptive Approach and The Worry Wars: An Anxiety Workbook for Kids and their Helpful Adults. For the whole of her career, she has carried a vision of a place – a home – in which the space itself would help children and parents feel safe, nurtured and ready to do the deep work of healing. Although it looks like a playhouse – and her child clients call it  “the kid’s palace” - the fun, highly playful environment helps the hard stuff go down easier. See Paris’s TED Talk click Here See Holding Hard Stories click Here For details of her Therapy Centre in Tennessee click Here

Ber has over 30 years experience working with children firstly as founder and director of Sonas Montessori School in Mullingar and now as an experienced Play Therapist, Parent Mentor and Practitioner in Sensory Attachment Intervention. She holds a BA in Humanities (Psychology) and a Level 9 Post Grad Cert in Teaching, Learning and Research at 3rd level. She lectures with UCC on Level 7 and Level 8 Relationship Courses. She established the Midland Parenting and Child Therapy Centre in 2007 where she supports the relationship between parents and children whether biological, adoptive or foster parents. Ber believes that all behaviour makes sense and is a form of communication. When we understand what lies beneath the behaviour, the reason for it, we will be able to resolve the challenges it presents. Ber also offers training, workshops and seminars to teachers, child care workers, social workers, family support workers, and all professionals working with children and families. Ber is a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland, British Psychological Society, Teaching Council of Ireland. Irish Association of Play Therapy and Psychotherapy and is a founder member of the Irish Association of Relationship Mentors and of Parent Matters.

Lorri Yasenik PhD, RPT-S, CPT-S is the co-founder and co-director of Rocky Mountain Play Therapy Institute in Calgary Alberta Canada and the founder and co-director of the Centre for Children and Family Law in Sydney Australia. Lorri is a registered Play Therapist- Supervisor with Association for Play Therapy (APT) and a Certified Play Therapist-Supervisor with the Canadian Association for Play Therapy (CAPT). Lorri provides child psychotherapy and play therapy and delivers national and international training related to children’s issues and specialized child and play therapies including treatment of trauma, developmental issues, children of high conflict separation and divorce, attachment, domestic violence and adjustment issues.  Lorri has co-authored three books, multiple chapters and articles related to specialized child therapy and child related practice.

Karen Stagnitti is Emeritus Professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University. She has been working for over 40 years with children and families who have a child with issues with their development. She is now retired from teaching and research, however she continues to train and write. She is the developer of several play assessments: the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, the Pretend Play Enjoyment Developmental Checklist, the Animated Movie Test and the Pretend Play Checklist for Teachers. From her research in the development of the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, she developed Learn to Play Therapy, which aims to build the spontaneous ability of a child to initiate their own pretend play. Her work was developed when she was working in community based early childhood intervention teams with families who had children with developmental issues such as autism spectrum disorder. She has over 130 publications across peer reviewed journals, book chapters and books.

Dr Judi Parson PhD MA Play Therapy, RN, BN., is a qualified paediatric Registered Nurse, Play Therapist, Senior Lecturer in Play Therapy and Course Director for the Therapeutic Play and Child Play Therapy courses at Deakin University, Australia.  Judi is a Registered Play Therapist and Supervisor with the Australasia Pacific Play Therapy Association (APPTA) and full member with the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT). Judi, a founding board member and past Chair of APPTA, continues as an active board member and she also sits on the Advisory Board for the International Centre for Children and Family Law Inc (ICCFL). The focus of her research is based on the establishment of evidence to understand how to best serve at risk populations, such as children who are vulnerable due to play deficits, ethnicity, health status and/or socioeconomic situation. She has a special interest in working with children who have experienced medical trauma and life limiting illnesses. Judi has authored over 15 international peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters and she is often invited to provide keynote presentations throughout Australia, Asia and Europe.

Mary is a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist specialising in Play Therapy. She has over 30 years’ experience working with parents, children, and adolescents in an educational and supporting capacity. Since 2012 she has worked predominantly in private practice.  She also has a Diploma in Creative Supervision, is a member of the Irish Association of Play Therapy and Psychotherapy (IAPTP), and currently provides clinical supervision to a variety of people who support children and families. Mary is also trained in Filial Therapy and Circle of Security Parenting facilitation.

She practices Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy and engages in a variety of techniques and approaches to encourage the deepening of the therapeutic process. Mary believes that the therapeutic use of self is an extremely important and powerful way of building a strong therapeutic relationship between client and therapist. It is the cornerstone of her work with children, adolescents, and secondary clients. She has extensive experience working as part of multidisciplinary teams in both primary and secondary schools, training organisations, and agencies such as TUSLA, Five Rivers Fostering, and MurIosa Foundation. Adhering to professional and ethical guidelines, Mary works collaboratively with social workers, guardian’s ad litem, and various other professionals to achieve a common purpose.

She has a strong belief in the importance of providing support to the secondary clients, parents, carers, and foster carers, and this has become an increasingly larger part of her work. This includes providing psychoeducation and parenting guidance in various guises, including parent groups, one to one basis, family settings, and In-Service training for teachers, and special needs assistants. Mary is a practical, conscientious, caring and dedicated professional and her overall aim is to build a strong therapeutic relationship with the child or adolescent that presents in front of her. She believes that from there, everything is possible.

MIAPTP, SIAPTP, MIAHIP, MICP.

Elaine is an Accredited Psychotherapist, Play Therapist and Supervisor who works with Adults, Teenagers and Children from the age of 3 years using psychotherapy, play therapy and parent-child therapies such as Theraplay and Filial Therapy. She runs her private practice from Leixlip and Kilcock on the Kildare – Meath boarder. Elaine’s background is in nursing and caring for the sick, where she quickly moved to a Degree in Applied Social Studies from her work with children in HSE residential care. Moving into working with children and parents in a Family Centre using a Community preventative model, Elaine achieved a Post Graduate Diploma in Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy & Play Therapy for children and adults, followed by a Diploma in Creative Supervision. Elaine has worked with children, teenagers and adults since 2000. In 2011 she opened Solas Psychotherapy Services offering psychotherapy, play therapy and later clinical supervision to psychotherapists, play therapists and those working within health and social care settings.  Elaine uses a humanistic and integrative approach informed by person-centered, creative and systemic models. Elaine has clinical experience of working within a range of different contexts including Private practice, C.A.R.I., Child Welfare & Protection Services, Fostering, Education and the Court Systems. She also works as a therapist supporting services in the provision of therapy such as the H.S.E., TUSLA , Children at Risk Ireland, First Light  (formerly S.I.D.S. – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and Canteen  (Families affected by the impact of Cancer). Elaine is passionate about the importance of considering Developmental & Lifespan Psychology especially Trauma Informed and Attachment Theory. Through Elaine’s work with the effects of Trauma on the body and one’s holistic development, she offers a creative, psychodynamic response to those children and adults with whom she works. Elaine can be reached at solaspychotherapy@gmail.com or by phone at 0874179567. You can learn more about Elaine by visiting her website at www.solaspsychotherapy.ie