Blog & Media
‘She Let Go’
"Ok Autumn, I surrender." It's the season, it seems, for letting go. And I've been surprised by how many different aspects of my life have been falling off, with more ease than before. Outdated behaviours, arrangements, and relationships, that have run their...
On the “arrogance of belonging”, and conversations with trees.
When I went into the forest a few days ago, for the first time, I experienced nature speaking to me. Not as an abstract or poetic metaphor, but as a sentient, creative and intelligent force. It felt weird and new... and also not weird at all. It wasn't a passing...
Who is the 13th Fairy in you? Why doesn’t she get invited to the party?
On reclaiming our personal and collective shadow... Who is the 13th Fairy? Why was she not invited to the party? Was she inherently malefic, or did she only make trouble after she was excluded? She keeps coming into my consciousness as an archetype, asking interesting...
“We are Gaia’s daughters. Our bodies are her oracle.”
On reclaiming the deep wisdom of our embodied selves, on this Earth-mother. "In the myth of Gaia’s oracle, we learn how the priestesses at Delphi were exiled and robbed of their direct connection with Gaia, how the male god hero claimed to be the authority of wisdom,...
The art of coaching / Why I don’t pre-define stages or sessions in my coaching packages.
When I first started out in psychotherapy and coaching, I desperately wanted to create a definitive, pre-defined approach to my work with clients. I saw other coaches outlining the specific conent and stages of their coaching packages, and I thought maybe I should...
Changing your painful thought-loops and frustrating habits, with help from nature…
Note: The irony of me being on my phone in nature during this video is not lost on me! (+ being interrupted by a call during my video…) the lesson being, of course, switch off that tech in order to soak up the full benefits!) When you're stuck in a frustrating loop...
‘Eternal Sunshine in my Heart’: Growing your Ability to feel Goodness
A beautiful sunny day in Dublin inspired me to share some thoughts, on the importance of expanding our capacity to feel goodness, pleasure, joy, delight, love… all of the good stuff! > Scroll down the page for my video on it.... Recently I’ve been feeling grateful...
On Being a ‘Too Much Woman’…
At a recent event, a throwaway joke about me by a guy triggered a familiar, old sting of being made to feel like a ‘Too Much Woman’. I felt a mild flash of embarrassment, maybe even shame, blended with guilt and a vague feeling of ‘wrongness’… that me...
How to start breaking free from the sneaky mean critic that lives in your head
There are so many things I want to tell you about your inner critic… Many fascinating, complex, sad, surprising and hopeful things. Every time I start trying to write about it, things get unwieldy and it sprouts into about 10 different pieces ! I can’t fit all I want...
Your anxiety is a compass, pointing the way home…
FYI: your anxiety is COMPLETELY NORMAL. It makes you human, and confirms you're alive. Phew. Can we all get a bit real about that for a minute?! I think it would make things a lot easier for people. I get so frustrated when anxiety is discussed as some kind of...
On manicures, family stories, and Tears… cried and un-cried.
My 92-year-old grandmother, Josette, is very proud of how straight her fingers still are, and delighted to have good hands, while the rest of her body is causing her much pain these days. She is a proud woman of strong character, who struggles with vulnerability, and...
Listening to the Truths your Body Tells… Especially when it’s an Inconvenient Truth.
I've been really struck these past weeks, by how important the body connection is in the kind of work I do. It's incredibly powerful to watch the sheer relief, the healing release, the growth, and the sense of empowerment people experience, when they are supported to...
Childlike Delight vs ‘Spark-Joy-Cynicism’
One of my big take-homes from a 'New Year Transitions' workshop I ran recently: I'm a major 'matchy-matchy' colour nerd! Plus, a reminder of just how much colour harmony sparks a lot of JOY and DELIGHT in me! Actually, it's the very same childlike innocence and...
Survival Mode or Thriving Mode? Daily Habits for Flourishing
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives" ~ Annie Dillard, The Writing Life What we do with our days, as Annie Dillard described, is what goes on to shape our entire lives. It can make all the difference between holding ourselves back, or...
We are Creatures of Basic Needs!
It’s amazing how many adults operate from schedules that deny them their most basic, primal needs, creating additional stress on top of life's normal challenges. While we may fancy ourselves as sophisticated beings, not everyone has developed the skills to recognise...
Irish Journal of Counselling & Psychotherapy:
'Therapeutic Relating, Embodied'
~ Delphine O'Keeffe
Vol.17, Issue 3, Autumn 2017
Click here to read the article.
Click here to access the full M.A. thesis this article is drawn from.
In this research article, therapeutic touch is chosen as a lens through which to explore the embodied dimension of intersubjective relating in the therapy room, with touch at the boundary of that dimension.
This is done through an in-depth, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the accounts of experienced psychotherapists.
Irish Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy:
'Therapeutic Relating, Embodied'
~ Delphine O'Keeffe
Vol.17, Issue 3, Autumn 2017
Click here to Read the article.
Click here to access the full M.A. thesis this article is drawn from.
In this research article, therapeutic touch is chosen as a lens through which to explore the embodied dimension of intersubjective relating in the therapy room, with touch at the boundary of that dimension.
This is done through an in-depth, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the accounts of experienced psychotherapists.
Embody My Truth in the Irish Times:
‘Is this it? Women and the modern mid-life crisis’
Click here to read the article..
“I think existential questions come up for both women and men, but there are gendered aspects to this for women. (…) There’s a high level of depletion, especially around high-functioning, creative women.”
Embody My Truth in the Irish Times:
‘Is this it? Women and the modern mid-life crisis’
Click here to read the article…
“I think existential questions come up for both women and men, but there are gendered aspects to this for women. (…) There’s a high level of depletion, especially around high-functioning, creative women.”