Patrick O’Flaherty
Counselling & Psychotherapy
Anxiety, Stress and Depression
Anxiety, stress, and depression can deeply influence how we think, feel, and function. Anxiety often brings overwhelming worry and tension, while stress can lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and disrupted sleep. Depression may cause persistent sadness, loss of interest, and difficulty managing daily life. These challenges can affect relationships, work, and overall wellbeing—but they are treatable.
Coping strategies can help restore balance. Simple steps such as practising mindfulness, maintaining a healthy routine, engaging in physical activity, and connecting with supportive people can reduce symptoms and improve resilience. Learning relaxation techniques, setting realistic goals, and prioritising self-care are also powerful tools for managing emotional health.
Therapy offers lasting benefits. Working with a qualified psychotherapist provides a safe space to explore thoughts and feelings, identify underlying causes, and develop personalised coping skills. Evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and other mindfulness-based interventions can help reframe negative thinking, reduce stress, and build emotional strength. Over time, therapy can improve mood, restore confidence, and empower individuals to lead a more fulfilling life.
Neurodiversity-Informed Practice
I offer neurodiversity-informed, compassionate, affirming, and inclusive psychotherapy. My approach recognises that neurodivergence—such as Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, OCD, and other variations—is not a deficit but a difference, and that neurodivergent traits are variations in human neurology (neurotypes), representing differences in how we, as humans, process and experience the world around us. Rather than pathologising these experiences, I focus on understanding each individual’s unique strengths, challenges, and sensory world.
​
What This Means in Practice:
-
Person-Centred Support: Sessions are adapted to meet your communication style, processing needs, and comfort level.
-
Developmental Perspective: Moving away from rigid diagnostic labels, we explore how life experiences and neurobiology shape your story.
-
Relational Safety: Therapy provides a non-judgmental space to navigate identity, relationships, and emotional well-being.
-
Evidence-Based Tools: I integrate mindfulness, ACT, and CBT approaches while respecting neurodivergent ways of thinking and feeling.
​
Areas of Focus:​
-
Anxiety, stress, and burnout in neurodivergent adults.
-
Sensory processing challenges and emotional regulation.
-
Relationship dynamics, including intimacy and identity exploration.
-
Building resilience, self-compassion, and agency.
​
My work is informed by ongoing professional development and training in neurodivergence and inclusive practice, ensuring that therapy is collaborative and empowering. Together, we aim to rewrite limiting narratives and create space for growth, authenticity, and hope.
Existential and Depth Psychology
Existential Psychotherapy focuses on the fundamental questions of existence—meaning, freedom, responsibility, isolation, and mortality. It helps clients explore how these realities shape their lives and choices, fostering authenticity and personal growth. Rather than pathologising symptoms, it views distress as a natural response to life’s challenges and transitions.
​
Depth Psychology, rooted in the work of Freud and Jung, emphasises the unconscious processes, symbolic meaning, and the influence of early experiences on present behaviour. It seeks to uncover patterns, archetypes, and inner conflicts that often operate outside conscious awareness, enabling deeper insight and transformation.
​
Together, these approaches offer a holistic framework: one that honours the client’s lived experience while exploring the unseen forces shaping thoughts, feelings, and relationships. Therapy becomes a collaborative journey—inviting reflection, dialogue, and creative engagement with life’s complexities.
Other
Creative & Nature-Based Psychotherapy
1. Creative & Narrative Therapy
Creative and narrative approaches recognise that story and self-expression are central to how we understand ourselves and our lives. Our early relational experiences shape the way we think, feel, and relate to others, often becoming embedded in unhelpful life “scripts” that no longer serve us. Creative and narrative therapy offers a reflective space to explore these stories, deepen self-understanding, and gently re-author meaning. Drawing on the brain’s capacity for neuroplasticity, this process can support insight, self-compassion, and the development of new, more supportive ways of relating to ourselves and the world.
​
2. Nature-Based Psychotherapy (Ecotherapy)
Nature-based psychotherapy, often referred to as ecotherapy, integrates connection with the natural world into the therapeutic process. Research shows that time spent in natural environments can reduce stress, support emotional regulation, improve mood, and enhance overall wellbeing. Therapy may involve outdoor sessions, mindful walks, or intentional engagement with green spaces, using nature as a calming and restorative backdrop. The sensory qualities of the natural environment can help regulate the nervous system, support reflection, and create space for greater clarity, resilience, and connection.