TherapyTalks

Chris sits down with his good friend Tom Conway for a deeply personal conversation about life, creativity, and resilience.  Thomas speaks about his love for his work, his passion for screenwriting, and his journey through cancer. Together they reflect on what illness can teach us about perspective — learning not to sweat the small stuff, focusing on what truly matters, and simply taking one step f...

 I’m joined by Jennifer O’Kelly for a thoughtful conversation on existential therapy and its meeting point with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Together we explore meaning, values, acceptance, and what it means to sit honestly with the realities of being human — in therapy and in life. I really enjoyed this conversation and even after, listening back, there was so much more I took from Je...

In this episode of TherapyTalks, I’m joined by Jim Hutton, Chair of the IACP’s EDI Committee, for a reflective conversation about volunteering within the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. We explore volunteering not as an obligation or extra task, but as a form of connection — to the profession, to shared values, and to ourselves. Jim reflects on his experiences at both regional...

Chris talks with Ravind Jeawon, Jude Coughlan of the EDI Committee of the IACP and Dr Ray O Neill about all things Equality, Diversity and Inclusion as they discuss the upcoming Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference on the 22nd November. They talk about the power and privilege that exists within the profession and the importance of recognising this as we meet clients. Power and safety are i...

Chris talks about grief and loss and shares his experiences of losing his parents and his lovely cat and trying to make sense of the journey of his grief using Worden's tasks of grief as theoretical navigation. He looks at the 4 tasks that Worden and outlines and explored his experiences and the ongoing ness of his grief. He makes the distinction between normal grief and complicated grief. 

Well a year later we return....not the plan but life happened and so here we are. Chris talks about the last year and what plans are ahead, focusing on an episode in the next few days on grief and loss following the recent death of his Mum. 

Chris is back from an unplanned break in the podcast and talks about all that has been going on in the previous few months and what the plans will be for new episodes. There was a moment in time when there were thoughts of stopping the podcast but he couldn't do it...

In a solo episode, Chris chats about Christmas and how to manage the stressful moments. He explores the perfectonism myth and looks at ideas of 'good enough'. He discusses different strategies to manage  stress and also explores deeper psychological explanations of Christmas from a Jungian perspective.

Madeleine talks with Chris about her journey from a horrific act of sexual violence perpetrated against her when she was only 13 , and how she healed over the years, and now speaks about her story and bravely shares her experiences, cultivating courage and shining a light on shame so it can lose its power.  She speaks honestly and openly about the impact on her life of these experiences and how sh...

Marc shares with Chris his journey to the world of coaching and corporate speaking. This is a fascinating discussion where he shares very honestly and openly the challenges from leaving Ireland as a child and moving to the UK,  his early career and how a chance bet, led him to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. This led him into the  world of Corporate Speaking events, Mentoring and Coachin...

Alan Cooke, Emmy award winning writer and poet returns to the podcast to talk about his experiences of a profound grief after the death of his cat,  and the journey of healing he undertook. His present loss coupled with other significant losses in his life led him to travel the roads of Ireland meeting many people along the way and through shared experiences of loss and grief and connecting to the...

Chris introduces Season 5 and talks about potential guests and recaps on season 4. Also talks about his work evelopements in Galway City counselling and the experiences of being a Dad. 

Amy talks with Chris about her journey that led her to start training as a psychotherapist.  She shares with Chris her experiences of having three siblings with Autism and the changing family dynamics and coming to terms with this.  She talks with Chris with honesty and insight and they talk about the impact of her early experiences moving from Co Dublin to the West of Ireland and the struggle of...

Chris talks with Padraig about his years of working in positive behavioural support and applied behavioural analysis and his changing focus since the pandemic. He discovered the power of communicating insights from psychology in a way that people can understand and has since  worked with the media and has worked with different organisations utilising psychological insights  to support them. And th...

Eylül joins Chris to talk about her life in Turkey and the challenges and pressures of a life studying medicine and not following her passion for music.  She shares with Chris how she moved from the clinical setting to Academia and her love of science.  She talks about the challenges of life in Turkey and about what led her to move to Ireland. They talk about the work she is doing as a post doctor...

Laura and Enda join Chris discussing their amazing Cafe and the ethos that they wish to bring to their customers. Authentic connection and great coffee are keys to their business and they share their journey to getting to where they are today. Enda talks about passion for your work versus expectation and societal norms and his movement from engineering to coffee and Laura describes the importance...

Sarah and Chris have a fascinating discussion about therapy and theatre and the healing aspects of their  integration. Sarah talks about her journey into the world of theatre and the paths her career has taken and her hopes going forward.  She shares with Chris her passion for the craft of acting but how she finds the industry of acting at odds with the craft. They discuss the potential for theatr...

Lisa Berry joins Chris in chatting about her work as a Yoga teacher and practitioner and shares with Chris the profound impact yoga has had on her life. She shares her work and her approach and  brings great insight into the the world of Yoga and the very positive impact it can make in our lives. This is a fascinating conversation that has many twists and turns and captures the wide nature of Yoga...

Yvonne chats with Chris about her work as a therapist and her passion for psychotherapy and the healing power of the therapeutic relationship.  She also talks about her work as a singer with the band  The Raines and as a producer on a variety of projects with her husband Tommy Tiernan and more recently on the Tommy, Hector and Laurita Podcast. 

Chris talks with Niall Ronan about his former professional career in Rugby, playing with Leinster, Munster and Ireland.  He talks about the valuable lessons he learnt as a player and how he uses these in his life now and in the area of corporate wellness where he is director of a company, Titan Wellness.  Niall and Chris chat about different ideas that relate to wellness and Niall shares with Chri...

Chris concludes season 3 reflecting on the different episodes and their impact. He also reflects on the profound year that occurred during season 3 with the sudden  loss of his dad and the birth of his son.  He shares his hopes for the podcast and his gratitude for everyone who has taken the time to listen.

Steve has completed the  channel swim, swimming from England to France. He talks with Chris about his experiences during the swim and talks in particular about the mental battle of the first two hours. This is a very honest  chat and he gives us an amazing insight into the experiences of swimming such a vast distance and  of having to deal with the  major obstacle of completing such an endurance e...

In the penultimate episode of the Steve Tummon channel swim talks, Chris and Steve talk about how Steve is coping with the last couple of days before he starts the swim. He is staying in Dover and is feeling very ready to get swimming.  He talks about  the importance of external supports and how much he has found people getting in contact with their support very meaningful and very positive in ter...

Chris and Steve reflect on the last 18 months and some of the strategies that Steve has learned that are proving very important now as he faces the final few weeks before the challenge.  Steve talks honestly about his nervousness but also reflects on the work he has done to get to this position.  He talks about the final preparations and the importance of his team on the day.   All proceeds raised...

This week Steve and Chris talk about some of the important psychological strategies that Steve uses to support him during very long swims and different training challenges. What comes across really strongly is how much Steve loves swimming in the sea and that it is this love of sea swimming to helps him keep smiling as he focuses on pushing himself for those extra hours in the sea.  They talk abou...