Training Team
We believe our training team is amongst the strongest in Ireland. We currently have currently 7 trainers who meet approximately once a month. Three of these are IACP Primary trainers.In addition to the training team there are also four trainers who deliver some training components to students on Foundation, Diploma and Degree programmes.
Karen Walsh – Head of Training & Core Trainer
MSc Psychotherapy, BA (Hons) Applied Psychology, Diploma in Counselling, MIACP.
Karen holds a Masters in Psychotherapy (London; Metanoia & Middlesex University), an honours Degree in Applied Psychology, and a Diploma in Counselling. She worked in private practice and consultancy until 1998 and during this time she apprenticed as a Counselling Trainer. In 1999 she was employed as a fulltime Trainer and Senior Counselling Practitioner in The Counselling Centre and in 2002 she was appointed Director of Training. She continues to work with clients. She co-designed the BSc (Hons) in Counselling & Psychotherapy and has led the Training Team as Co-Programme Leader during successive IACP Accreditation and University Validation processes. She is particularly interested in attachment studies and in legal issues and professional complaints in psychotherapy. She is an accredited Supervisor and provides supervision to both undergraduate and qualified counsellors in the County. She served as a past member of the National Course Recognition Committee of the IACP.
Debbie Hegarty – Core Trainer
MA in Integrative Psychotherapy, BA (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy, BSc (Hons) Social Science, Dip. Awareness Psychotherapy, Dip. Supervision, MIAHIP.
Debbie holds a masters in Integrative Psychotherapy; an honours degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy; an honours degree in Social Science and diplomas in Awareness Therapy and Supervision. She is an accredited psychotherapist and psychotherapy supervisor. Debbie successfully completed a Certificate in Counselling Training. She is currently a Programme Leader and Module Leader on the BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy programme and an IACP Core Trainer. Debbie’s background is in adult mental health. She was appointed Chairperson of the Irish Association of Humanistic Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP) in 2017 and held the role for a two-year term. Debbie is currently serving on the Governing Board of EAIP as Treasurer. In her role as manager of a counselling clinic she devised and facilitated community based personal development groups before joining Cork Counselling Centre in 2013. Debbie has been providing psychotherapy and consultancy in private practice since 2005, and for the National Counselling Services for a 5-year term. She is trauma-informed and has specialist training in working with trauma (both single incident and developmental) and dissociation and has a keen interest in Gestalt and Existential Psychotherapies. She has researched in the field of mental health as well as psychotherapy and has been published numerous times.
Joseph Enright – Trainer
BA (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy, Diploma in Counselling, MIACP.
Joseph holds an honours degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy from IICP and a Diploma in Counselling from Cork Counselling Services Training Institute (2011). He is Acting Head of Clinical Practice in Cork Counselling Services. He is a qualified trainer and a member of the Management Team. He represents Cork Counselling Services with AACPI, the national association of agency based counselling. Joseph has an interest in relational development, equality and social justice. He is also interested in developmental trauma and shame. Joseph currently leads year 3 of the BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy.
Hugh Morley – Trainer
MSc (HRM), BSc (Hons) Comp Sc, BA (Hons) Counselling &Psychotherapy, Dip. in T&D, Dip in Counselling, Cert in Mediation, Cert in Theology & Spirituality, MIACP
Hugh is a member of the Clinical & Management Teams at Cork Counselling Services having qualified as a therapist in Cork Counselling Services Training Institute (CCSTI) in 2012 and in the Institute of Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy in Dublin in 2017. He also completed an apprenticeship in Counsellor Training at CCSTI and is a trained Mediator (Roundtable). He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Irish Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IJCP) and has represented CCSTI on the Committee of Approved Courses for the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. He has researched and written several articles for IJCP. He was a HR Manager for many years, most recently at Marymount Hospice in Cork. Hugh is Head of Business for the organisation, interfacing with HSE, Tusla and other stakeholders. He is currently the Disability Officer also.
Kerry Dineen – Trainer
Kerry Dineen, MA Integrative Psychotherapy, BA (Hons) Psychotherapy & Counselling, BSc (Hons) Psychology, MIAHIP.
Kerry has worked in the areas of addiction and mental health for over thirteen years. Kerry was trained in Relational and Integrative Psychotherapy and in EMDR for the treatment of trauma and dissociation. Her main interest is in the related fields of Attachment, Neuroscience and Trauma and she is passionate about how research from these areas can be integrated into the work of psychotherapists. She is currently
completing studies in Counsellor Training and Supervision.
Tim Murphy – Trainer
MA Integrative Psychotherapy, BA (Hons) Psychotherapy & Counselling, MIACP.
Tim has over twenty years of therapeutic experience working in both private practice and the clinical setting with individuals and couples. His background involved working socially in the community and in the hospital environment in Ireland and the U.K. Tim has trained in Relational and Integrative Psychotherapy, and also in EMDR for the treatment of trauma and dissociation. Tim has been working with Cork Counselling Services since 2017 and has completed his 2-year trainer training. He is currently the lead for 2nd year BSc.
Gretchen Jordaan – Counselling Research Module Leader
MSc in Medical Sociology, BSc (Hons) Social Science.
Gretchen holds an MSc in medical anthropology (sociology focus) from the University of Edinburgh. Originally from South Africa, she has worked in social research in multiple African countries on the intersection between social determinants and health outcomes. Within Ireland, she has focussed on tools to strengthen the cultural competence of medical professionals, so improving medical staff-client experiences and ultimately patient outcomes. Gretchen has worked in both qualitative and quantitative research to tell stories and convey the lived-realities of people. She aims to help students to discover a love for research, to find ways that research can be a tool for the counsellor to understand their professional world and better serve their clients. She is deeply passionate about social advocacy and the potential to uplift communities and individuals through education and grassroots change-movements.
Carol Jeffrey – Trainer
MA in Integrative Psychotherapy, BA (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy, Higher Dip Personnel Management, MIACP
Carol is an accredited psychotherapist working in private practice for over 10 years, as well as a part time counsellor at UCC. She has worked as a counsellor at the Cork Sexual Health Centre, and volunteered in the Cork Rape Crisis Centre prior to her formal training. She has trained in Acceptance Commitment Therapy, and EMDR. She worked in Management in the travel business for many years and undertook several trainings in management and leadership. She is currently mentoring private students as they transition into the world of therapeutic practice. Carol has a keen interest in the neuroscientific elements of healing. She has worked with many clients who present with somatic expressions of emotional distress. Carol is especially interested in the influence of quantum physics /energy, and spirituality in the area of healing.
Carol Scanlon – Trainer
BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy, Diploma in Counselling, MIACP.
Carol is a graduate of Cork Counselling Services Training Institute and Coventry University. Since qualifying, she has been working in private practice in Cork and is also on the SHEP panel of counsellors providing low-cost counselling. She is an experienced counsellor skilled in anxiety, depression, LGBTQ, relationships, trauma, ageing and chronic pain issues as well as existential related issues. While on placement at Cork Counselling Services, Carol delivered the Adolescent Suicide Prevention and Positive Mental Health Programme to secondary schools in Cork. She co-facilitated training workshops and is on the marking panel for Cork Counselling Training Institute. She is an accredited member of IACP.
Laura Burke Hurley – Trainer, Marking Coordinator
Laura Burke Hurley, BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy, Diploma in Counselling, Diploma in Intellectual Disability Nursing, BA Fine Art, MIACP
Laura completed her Diploma in Counselling and her BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy at Cork Counselling Services Training Institute. Before becoming a counsellor Laura worked as an Intellectual Disability Nurse and has many years’ experience working with children and adults in the areas of children’s respite, education and family support. Laura has a degree in fine art and has a keen interest in the role of play and creativity in counselling. Laura is a counsellor/psychotherapist in private practice and is the marking coordinator for the BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy at CCSTI. Laura is currently undertaking further post graduate studies in Counsellor Training.
Sarah Scallan – Trainer
BSc (Hons.) Counselling & Psychotherapy, Diploma in Counselling, Diploma in Supervision. Diploma Expressive Arts Therapy, MIACP.
Sarah has over twenty-two years of therapeutic experience and is a psychotherapist in private practice working with individuals and businesses. She also has extensive experience of working with trauma in the not-for-profit sector. With a prior career in design, and a diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy, she integrates expressive arts into her psychotherapeutic practice and her role as an accredited supervisor. Sarah has been a member of the training team at Cork Counselling Services Training Institute since 2018.
Patricia Sisk Taormina – Trainer
MSc, BCL, BL, BA (Hons.), Postgraduate Diploma in Supervision & Reflective Practice, Professional Certificate in CBT, Couples Therapist & Educator, Prolonged Exposure Therapist, Complicated Grief Therapist, Certificate in Critical Incident Stress Management, MIACP and MUKCP.
Patricia is a psychotherapist and supervisor (adults and couples) in private practice since 2005. Between 2006-2014, she was appointed by the Mental Health Commission to the position of Chairperson of Mental Health Tribunals for patients involuntarily detained in psychiatric units in Munster. In addition to private practice, Patricia has worked in a variety of institutional and educational settings as a member of multidisciplinary, training and supervisory teams. She paused her doctoral research in 2019 to pursue an MSc in Bereavement and Loss with the Royal College of Surgeons and works with a few Irish charities dedicated to bereaved parents. She served as an Independent Member of the Press Council of Ireland between 2012-2018.
Nessa O’Reilly – Trainer
MA Advanced Facilitation for Health and Wellbeing, BA (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy, Dip Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy, MIAHIP
Nessa is an accredited psychotherapist working in private practice in Cork for over ten years. In addition, she works with Coisceim providing low-cost counselling. She has undergone post graduate studies in Working with Gestalt Process and EMDR. Nessa has worked with community groups facilitating courses on Personal Development and Caring for Wellbeing. Currently she is undertaking studies in Counsellor training with CCSTI.
Kate Murphy – Academic Registrar (Acting)
MA Applied Psychology (Mental Health), BA (Hons) Applied Psychology, PSI.
Kate completed an MA in Applied Psychology (Mental Health) in UCC with research focusing on “The Experience of Counsellors working in Counselling in Primary Care (CiPC)”. Kate has worked on both a professional and voluntary basis with children and vulnerable adults, has conducted qualitative and quantitative research in the area of social policy, and is currently completing a Certificate in Applied Statistics.
Thomas Glowatzki – Library Supervisor, Academic Support Tutor
Diploma in Eating Disorder Practitioner Skills, Diploma in Humanistic Integrative Counselling, Diploma in Counselling. MIACP
In the last 7 years, Thomas has held several roles for Cork Counselling Services – Head of Library, Academic Support Person, member of the Marking Panel, Seminar Facilitator. Academically, he worked as an anthropologist and urban development planner, creatively as film editor, composer of film music and fine furniture maker. As personal assistant he worked with people living with physical disability. He also worked as a soccer coach. In 2007 he co-founded EDCC (Eating Disorder Centre Cork).
Marilien Romme – Tutors Coordinator
MA Clinical Psychology, BSc (Hons) Counselling & Psychotherapy.
Marilien coordinates the course tutors and is also responsible for the Alumni Programme, and the monthly seminars called the ‘Together Series’. Marilien holds a first-class masters in Clinical Psychology (University of Amsterdam) and a first-class BSc (Hons) in Counselling and Psychotherapy (CCSTI). She also trained as a Professional Mediator. Marilien is passionate about bringing innovation to the world of mental health and draws on 25 years of professional experience in Strategy and Change Management. She worked with many high-performance organisations in business, government, education and non-profit sectors around the world. Marilien’s research on mandatory reporting of historical abuse was recently published in the Irish Journal for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Vanessa McCarthy – Office Manager
Dip Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy, MIAHIP
Vanessa is an accredited member of the Irish Association of Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP). She joined the team in Cork Counselling Services in 2021 and has over 23 years’ professional experience across office administration, front of house and customer service roles. Vanessa is responsible for the smooth operation of the office and works in all aspects of administration, including Garda Liaison Officer, client care and student support.
Sandra O’Shea – Training Administrator
Institute of Accounting Technicians Ireland qualification.
With over 20 years Accounting, Administration and Customer Service experience, Sandra works in all aspects of administration. In particular she administers student fees and accounts, protection of enrolled learner insurance and training associated purchasing.
