President and Board
- President: Prof Bill Shannon, Graduate Medical School, University of Limerick.
- Seamas Fox MSc (Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Lecturer DCU)
- Mary Rose Hargin MSc ( Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist)
- Edward Boyne , MA, MPhil., (Psychotherapist and lecturer) Vice President
- Janet Murray MSc (Psychoanalytic psychotherapist and lecturer) Chief Executive Officer)
- A Sampson MA (Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapist and lecturer)
- Rev Tom Gordon MA (Psychotherapist and lecturer)
Prof Bill Shannon.
Born in Kilkee,Co. Clare Bill Shannon qualified in Medicine from UCC in 1965. Following postgraduate hospital posts in Dublin and the UK he completed vocational training for general practice at the Department of General Practice in the University of Edinburgh. He set up in practice in Cork in 1969 and worked as a GP until his appointment as Professor of General Practice at The Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) in 1987. Meanwhile in the 1970s he had been appointed as Director of the Cork Vocational Training Scheme for General Practice in UCC and in 1983 was awarded his MD for his thesis on "Clinical Audit in General Practice".
From 1987 to 2005 Bill worked at establishing what he saw as the rightful place of general practice or family medicine in the curriculum of the RCSI Medical School, where he focused on certain key components such as communication skills, medical ethics and professional development. From 1998 to 2002 he was Vice-Dean for Medical Education at RCSI, during which time he helped plan for and initiate the RCSI's Graduate Entry Programme in Medicine as well as the Master's Course in Medical Ethics and Law. He set up and chaired the RCSI Vocational Training Scheme in General Practice and later appointed a psychotherapist as Director of that innovative course, which had a specific focus on young doctors' personal as well as professional development.
Married and with five grown-up children he was recently appointed as Director of Education at the newly established Graduate Medical School in the University of Limerick. He has a life-long interest in mental health.
Mary Rose Hargin
MSc., Dip.Spec.Ed., Dip.Ed., MIFCAPP, EAP
Mary Rose's first professional post was as a school teacher originally in mainstream education, then for twenty years in special education. The experience in special education included therapeutic intervention with young people of all ages.
In 1995 Mary Rose qualified as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist with a clinical MSc from TCD and commenced private practice specialising in child and adolescent psychotherapy. During this time she continued to work, on a voluntary basis, in education with young people on the autistic spectrum.
Her present practice principally involves therapeutic work with a wide range of young people, from young children to adolescents and is committed to broadening her skills through ongoing educational development.
Mary Rose is currently developing Sibling Groups for those who have siblings with learning difficulties.
Seamus Fox
BSc (UCD), HDipStats (TCD), MSc (Lancaster)
Seamus is a lecturer in OSCAIL - the National Distance Education Centre - Dublin City University where is academic co-ordinator for the online BSc in Information Technology. His initial degree was in psychology and he did his professional psychotherapy training with the Centre for Biodynamic and Integrative Psychotherapy. He has been in private practice since 1992.
His main research interest is the application of new teaching and learning technologies in continuous professional development with a particular interest in the key topics of pedagogical quality and appropriate forms of assessment. He is currently a member of the Higher Education Authority's expert panel on 'Open and Distance Learning'.
Annie Sampson
MSc Supervision & Reflective Practice
MIAHIP / MIACP Accredited IAHIP Supervisor
Annie trained as a Biodynamic and Integrative Psychotherapist and group facilitator and worked as a therapist with the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre.
She trained as a supervisor with Prof. Michael Carroll and has a MSc in supervision & reflective practice from Essex University, where she also conducted research.
Edward Boyne
MA (NUIG), MPhil, MA(Glamorgan), MIAHIP, Accredited Supervisor IAHIP.
Edward has been involved for the past 20 years in the provision of psychotherapy training in Ireland. He is editor of 'Psychotherapy in Ireland'(Columba Press) and has contributed articles on psychotherapy to a number of journals. He was a member of the expert group established by the Minister for Health and Children which produced the widely respected policy document 'A Vision for Change' in 2006. He has been a member of the board of Amnesty International (Irl) and is a former Chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust.
Janet Murray
MSc.,BA, H Dip Ed, Dip Cognitive Therapy, IFCAPP
Janet trained in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at TCD and in Gestalt and body oriented psychotherapy in London. She is an accredited member of the Irish Forum for Child Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Janet has been involved in running training courses for psychotherapists since 1992.
Rev Tom Gordon
MA, Dip Psychotherapy
Tom is Director of Formation at the Church of Ireland Theological College and is an accredited psychotherapist. He has a private practice in Dublin and also works in the areas of supervision and group facilitation. Tom lectures in Pastoral Formation for the professional degree in Theology of the University of Dublin (Trinity College) and is coordinator of the Distance Learning programmes in Vocation and Theology of St John's College, Nottingham with the Open University. He has wide experience in adult education. Tom is also a regular broadcaster with RTE and is a coordinator in RTE's religious programmes department.