Clinical Psychology And Psychotherapy Training & Accreditation
Michael is a registered HCPC (Health Care Professions Council) Chartered Clinical Psychologist, a full member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Clinical Psychology, and an Associate Fellow of the BPS with more than 17 years of professional practice experience as a Senior Clinical Psychologist in a number of adult mental health services, including an NHS Primary Care Mental Health Service, an NHS Adult Psychological Therapies Service, an NHS Adult Mental Health Recovery Service, and a Community Addictions Service.
Michael initially began working as an academic after completing his PhD in Psychology from Ulster University in 1999, before he graduated with the qualification Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych) from Queen’s University Belfast in 2005. After completing his doctoral training in Clinical Psychology, Michael began his post-doctoral training in Clinical and Theoretical Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from the University of East London and completed a 3200 hours (over 7 years) training analysis with the Irish Psycho-Analytical Association (IPAA) and he is a fully accredited Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist registered as a Full Member of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP), the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP), the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations (NIIHR), where he served as an Executive Committee member (2013-2019), the Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis College, and the Irish Psycho-Analytical Association (IPAA), where he has served as Treasurer within the Executive Committee since 2019. Michael is also a Full Clinical Psychotherapist with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), and a member of ‘The Athlete Mental Health Service’ in Ireland.
Michael has since established a successful independent clinical practice in Belfast at 5 Crescent Gardens (http://www.niihr.org/) and Dublin, where he is also a Registered Clinical Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland, working primarily with individual adult clients and couples, using a range of therapeutic approaches, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Since 2020, Michael has also established an ‘online’ psychotherapeutic practice and conducts sessions via Zoom and Skype.
Throughout Michael’s clinical career, he has held a number of academic Assistant Professor posts in Clinical Psychology across Ireland and the UK, including Trinity College Dublin (2010-2015) and Ulster University (2006-2010). Michael also provides group supervision to Counsellors who offer support sessions to children from schools in disadvantaged areas of Dublin, and individual psychoanalytic supervision to clinical psychologists, counselling, and other mental health professionals, and to trainees undertaking programmes in Counselling and Psychotherapy across Ireland.
Michael abides by the Ethical Framework for good practice in Clinical Psychology of the HCPC and the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations.
Clinical Qualifications
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast (2005)
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Registered Clinical Psychologist
MSc in Clinical and Theoretical Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, University of East London (2011)
European Certificate in Psychotherapy (Accredited since 2013)