about matthew
A little about me, my values and way of working...
I have over 25 years experience of providing person centred, ethical and socially responsible services within a range of settings in the statutory and voluntary sectors. This includes 13 years post qualified experience of providing psychotherapy both in private practice and in charitable organisations. I have a long-standing interest in ethics in relation to the provision of health and social care, which includes sitting as a panel member at fitness to practise hearings in the UK, for the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (formerly the General Medical Council).
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My substantive psychotherapy training was at Regent's College (now Regent's University), where I completed a five year course of study, finishing with an Advanced Diploma in Existential Psychotherapy. Upon graduation I received the Hans W. Cohn Award for Excellence. I remain passionate about the existential approach to therapy and over the past 10 years, alongside this, I have developed a keen interest in ecopsychology, including completing a formal training in Wild Therapy.
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Between 2012 and 2017, I was employed by Cork Counselling Services Ltd as a senior psychotherapist and trainer of foundation, diploma and degree counselling and psychotherapy students. The training programmes were accredited with the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and validated by Coventry University. As part of this role, I completed a Certificate in Counsellor Training with Cork Counselling Centre Training Institute. I run CPD training events for qualified practitioners, together with more substantive trainings, I have facilitated workshops at the annual Edge of the Wild gatherings in the UK, I am registered as a speaker with CONFER and I have delivered bespoke lectures and group facilitation work for The Law Society of Ireland, where I also offered one to one sessions between 2018 and 2022, as part of the Law School Psychological Services. I have also had psychotherapy and ecopsychology articles published in Ireland and the UK, was vice chair of the Ecopsychology and Ecotherapy Association of Ireland and I am a founding member of the recently formed Ecotherapy Network Ireland.
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I am accredited with the Irish Council for Psychotherapy through the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, through the Society for Existential Analysis, and I work in accordance with the codes of ethics of those bodies. I am a former member of the governing body and former honorary treasurer of the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy. A full curriculum vitae is available at my LinkedIn page.
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I live and work in Kinsale, where I attend to various people and pets, and in my spare time I play my ukulele (badly).
Originally from Yorkshire, I studied Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent and Loughborough Universities, before moving to London in 1995. Following a brief return to Yorkshire, I moved to Ireland with my Irish partner and family in 2010.
