Safe Hands, Open Heart
Kevin Leahy MIACP
What is counselling?
Counselling helps people of all backgrounds make sense of their experiences and move toward a more complete way of being.
Counselling can be of great support to anyone confronted by one of life’s many challenges.
Through counselling, a person can make more sense of what is happening in their life.
Counselling can help you come to terms with whatever’s going on, while helping you decide what steps you might need to take to move forward with your life.
What to expect
If you find yourself reading this, chances are that you have a sense that counselling might be of benefit, either to you or to someone you care about.
Beginning therapy can be tough. The idea of talking about your problems with a stranger can seem a bit strange, even a little scary.
With twenty-years experience in the helping professions, Kevin knows how to offer a calm, welcoming space in which people can explore whatever's troubling them.
For a sense of what you can expect from your first counselling session please watch the following video:
Kevin’s approach
Kevin’s approach is relational and person-centered.
No two clients are the same and he adjusts his approach depending on the needs of the person he is working with.
Kevin is influenced by the work of Carl Rogers, Terry Real, Francine Shapiro, Virginia Satir, Martha Stark, Eugene Gendlin, Robert Moore, Richard Schwarz, Donald Kalsched and others.
Kevin wants to find out what’s sustaining the issue that brought the person to therapy in the first place. He encourages clients to be curious about their own internal worlds, to ask themselves: ‘What might need to happen in my therapy so that I can get the outcome I desire?’
It is Kevin’s experience that in order for therapy to be successful, the client must, to coin a phrase, participate in their own rescue. This means attending appointments regularly and on time. It means doing your best to carry out any ‘homework’ the therapist might suggest.
Kevin recognizes that by choosing to begin counselling, people are investing their time and money. Naturally, they want a good return on their investment.
Keep in mind that therapy is a collaboration. The more you involve yourself in your therapy, the bigger the chance that you will see the results you want.
![IMG-20200402-WA0005[41].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e84f655225fa56385ab031c/1585857823692-XH7R5T0BOCY7IBG7BLZ6/IMG-20200402-WA0005%5B41%5D.jpg)
A little about Kevin
Kevin is a graduate of Munster Technological University’s well-regarded counselling and psychotherapy program.
Coming from a background in the intellectual disability sector, where he worked as a care assistant for many years, Kevin took the decision in 2015 to train as a counsellor. This journey taught him lots about himself and left him with a desire to help others to improve their mental health by guiding them toward a deeper knowledge of who they are and what makes them tick.
Kevin is a fully-accredited member of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and abides by their code of ethics.
He is a Trainee member of the EMDR All-Ireland Association.
For more information on Kevin’s professional background click here.
Some of the issues Kevin has helped clients come to terms with include: loneliness, depression, social isolation, anxiety, panic attacks, acquired brain injury, issues related to aging, anger-management, low self-esteem, codependency issues, bereavement, family conflict, marital breakup, relationship problems, unemployment, homelessness, men’s issues, childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress (PTSD), family estrangement, identity issues, cultural issues, and more.
Kevin is a trained couples therapist.
Kevin is currently working towards an MSc in Loss and Bereavement (Clinical Practice) with the Irish Hospice Foundation.
Kevin has an interest in helping parents of children with special needs come to terms with their circumstances, including those who are parents to children with life-limiting conditions.
Kevin is strongly influenced by the Humanistic tradition in Counselling and his intention is to always assist the client toward self-discovery and insight.
Think this is for you?
I would be delighted to hear from you.
My meeting rooms are located in Oliver Plunkett St., Cork City (Tuesdays, Wednesdays) and in Midleton (Fridays, Saturdays). Online sessions are available (mainly Thursdays). Sessions are available during the daytime or in the evening. All sessions are by appointment only.
Please note: I work only with adults, not under-18s. For information on therapists who work with u18s please contact your family GP or consult the IACP website.
My standard fee for each 60 minute one-to-one session is €60.
A reduced fee of €50 is available for anybody who can demonstrate they are either a student or in receipt of social welfare support (this includes anybody receiving the Domiciliary Care Allowance).
For couples, my fee is €120 per 90 minute session.
Please note, at present I cannot accept payment via credit card. I am happy to accept cash payment, but if you’d prefer a bank transfer can be arranged. I also accept payment via Revolut.
Depending on the private healthcare plan you have purchased, any counselling session you complete with me is partially or fully reimbursable.
Please note: Regretfully, the premises I work from is not currently wheelchair accessible. I offer online sessions; but if you’d prefer an in-person meeting then please consult the IACP website for information on therapists who are in a position to accommodate wheelchair users.
“I feel it now: there’s a power in me to grasp and give shape to my world.”
— Ranier Rilke