Psychology Staff Profiles
Dr Clíodhna O’Donovan, Principal Psychology Manager, Head of the Department of Psychology
Clíodhna commenced in the role of Principal Psychology Manager of St Vincent’s Hospital Group, in April 2024. Prior to this, she has a decade of post-doctoral experience working within both the public and private sector with a range of populations, having completed her Doctorate in Counselling Psychology in 2014. She is highly motivated and excited to be a part of a growing and dynamic psychology department with an expanding team of professionals who share the strategic vision of the organisation, keeping patient care at the core of psychology service provision.
Clíodhna is trained in a range of therapeutic modalities including but not limited to, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, (CBT), Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), Psychodynamic theories, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulness-based interventions. All of which provide evidence-based interventions for patients presenting with a range of psychological difficulties. She has amassed a wealth of experience in psychological and neuropsychological assessment. She strongly believes that assessments can and should be therapeutic experiences for patients.
She is especially passionate about providing supervision and training to trainee psychologists and provides teaching to a number of doctoral programmes. She has been responsible for a number of research projects and is eager to further contribute to the research base in SVHG.
Dr Louise O’ Driscoll, Principal Clinical Psychologist in Psycho-oncology
Louise is a Principal Clinical Psychologist working within the Psycho-oncology Service in St Vincent’s University Hospital. She has worked in the area of oncology since 2007 and is passionate about supporting people with cancer, their loved ones, and staff who care for them. In her clinical work Louise engages with patients around issues such as adjusting to a cancer diagnosis or risk, coping with emotional distress or mood difficulties, concerns around body image and sexuality, and living with advanced illness. Louise has undergone further specialist training in mindfulness, compassion focused therapy and trauma informed interventions including somatic experiencing and EMDR.
Louise maintains an active research and teaching role. She is currently the principal investigator on a large Irish Cancer Society funded project looking at the psycho-social needs of people living with a high familial risk of cancer across Ireland. She teaches on several university programmes and provides clinical and research supervision to doctoral students. She is committed to shaping national policy in order that our clinical services better meet the needs of people who experience cancer and to this end has served on numerous working groups with the National Cancer Control Programme.
Dr Lisa McGrath, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Psycho-oncology
Lisa is a Senior Clinical Psychologist, working in the Psycho-oncology service. Lisa has worked in SVUH since 2019, providing psychological support to patients, primarily in Psycho-Oncology as well as the Cardiology and Long COVID services. Lisa provides psychological assessment and intervention for patients from diagnosis, to survivorship to end of life. Referrals can be made to the Psycho-Oncology service, through the oncology and haematology teams.
Lisa is passionate about supporting the psychological wellbeing of people with chronic illnesses and empowering patients in navigating their healthcare and ensuring individualised care. Lisa is trained in several psychotherapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, NET and EMDR. Lisa also provides education and training to the staff on the oncology and haematology teams. Lisa is a member of the SVUH Clinical Audit Committee and provides teaching on university programmes.
Catherine Mc Keown, Senior Counselling Psychologist in Cystic Fibrosis
Catherine is Senior Counselling Psychologist in Cystic Fibrosis for the past 26 years. She works with patients age 16 – 72 years on an inpatient, outpatient and day care basis. She is a strong advocate for her patients and believes in supporting them as they navigate the challenges and adjustments required to live with a chronic illness. These challenges include transition; Transplantation (bilateral lung); deteriorating health, anxiety, depression, chronic sorrow, losses and continuing losses. Grief and end of life. Since the introduction of modulator therapy patients are confronted with feelings of wellness, a somewhat alien concept, which can result in loss of identity, regret for missed opportunities and a fear for the future.
Catherine tailors her therapeutic approach to meet the needs of the individual using person-centred therapy, CBT and EMDR. She also uses art to help patients express and process their emotions. Catherine sees patients for face to face therapy as well as providing psychological input remotely. Patients can self-refer and are seen as part of their overall CF care. Catherine’s areas of specialist interest include, chronic sorrow, transition, wellness and psychological wellbeing in Cystic Fibrosis.
Daniel Goldstone, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Cystic Fibrosis
Daniel is a Senior Clinical Psychologist who works as part of the multidisciplinary team in the National Centre for Adult Cystic Fibrosis at SVUH. Daniel focuses on providing evidence-based psychological services in an empathic, person-centred way, working with patients to help them live more fulfilling, purposeful, values-driven lives. As part of the CF team, Daniel helps patients work through issues they may experience with: transition to adult services, identity, wellness, mood, anxiety, fears, grief, trauma, and relationship distress, amongst other things. He has extensive experience working with complex medical and psychological issues in both the public and private sectors.
Daniel is also a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) and the Division of Clinical Psychology of the PSI, is an advanced Brain Working Recursive Therapy Practitioner, and has a keen interest in contributing to research in his field.
Dr Kristina Cahill, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Cardiology
Kristina is a Senior Clinical Psychologist working in the Cardiology Psychology Service at St Vincent’s University Hospital. She is dedicated to supporting patients who are experiencing significant emotional distress related to their cardiac health which is hindering recovery. Kristina provides psychological assessments, individual and group based psychological interventions for patients at various stages of their medical journey, including prevention, pre-surgery, post-surgery, and rehabilitation. As part of the Cardiology Psychology team, Kristina works with patients through issues they may experience, such as: adjusting to a diagnosis or post-cardiac event, procedural distress, coping with emotional distress or mood difficulties, trauma, managing the impact of psychosocial stressors on health, and end of life care. Referrals to the Cardiology Psychology service can be made via the Cardiology team.
Kristina advocates for a holistic and person-centred approach to healthcare. Her work with patients aims to reduce distress and improve wellbeing by understanding factors that cause and maintain psychological issues linked to health. Depending on the client, she tends to work from an integrative approach that draws from a variety of evidence-based interventions which can include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Mindfulness-based approaches.
Kristina is a chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) and the Division of Clinical Psychology of the PSI.
Mary Moriarty, Systemic Psychotherapist in Cardiology
Having completed her Masters with University College Dublin and the Mater Family Therapy Training programme in 2017, Mary is a qualified Systemic Psychotherapist. Mary’s background is in Nursing, and she worked for sixteen years with the Psycho-Oncology Team at St Vincent’s University Hospital, as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. As part of Mary’s work in Psycho-Oncology she met and talked with many people about the emotional and psychological impact of having a cancer diagnosis. Mary had a long career in Nursing and she worked in many different settings.
Currently, Mary is working within the Cardiac Psychology Service as a Psychotherapist. She works with the multidisciplinary team and aims to help people adjust and cope with the psychological and emotional impact of having cardiac disease.
Mary has taught on several Undergraduate and Masters Programmes at Universities, (UCD & TCD), as well as delivering multiple workshops promoting the importance of Psychological and Emotional wellbeing for people with medical illnesses. She is a member of the executive Board of the Family Therapy Association of Ireland (FTAI) of which she has been Chairperson of the Board and is also a member of the executive Board of The Irish Council of Psychotherapy (ICP).
Dr Sarah Casey, Principal Clinical Neuropsychologist in Neurology
Dr Sarah Casey is Principal Clinical Neuropsychologist at St. Vincent’s University Hospital. Sarah champions a compassionate, person-centred, rights-based approach in her clinical neuropsychology work with patients of the Neurology Department and their families and carers. She also endeavours to promote and develop the profession of clinical neuropsychology in Ireland. Prior to joining SVUH, Sarah amassed extensive experience delivering neuropsychological rehabilitation and psychological support services to individuals with acquired brain injury and their families and carers. Sarah is a Chartered Clinical Neuropsychologist of the Psychological Society of Ireland’s Division of Neuropsychology, and served a 2-year term as Chair of this Division. In 2022, Sarah was elected to PSI Council, the governing board of the Society. Sarah has partnered with Division of Neuropsychology colleagues as co-lead in the development of the Adult Specialist Competencies Framework for Clinical Neuropsychology in Ireland, launched in May 2024.
Sarah has peer-reviewed publications in neuroscience and neuropsychology and was instrumental in establishing the PSI DoN Early Career Award for neuropsychology research. Sarah delivers academic workshops on clinical neuropsychology to psychology practitioner trainees on clinical (UCD, TCD) and counselling (TCD) doctoral programmes, as well as students from a number of Master’s programmes (UCD). At a national level, Sarah represents the Division of Neuropsychology on the HSE’s NCP for Rehabilitation Medicine HSCP Working Group. Sarah
Dr Rosemary Walsh, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Pain
Rosemary has been in the role as the Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Pain Medicine at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, since January 2002. She has specialist experience in the area of pain management psychology. She works with pain patients, helping adults and old aged with chronic pain conditions, co-morbidities, psychosocial disability and psychological distress.
She runs a comprehensive pain assessment & consultation service, provides psycho-education to patients and their families and delivers a range of 1-1 and group based interventions. Her work is informed by an extensive evidence-base, such as Contextual CBT, Behavioural, ACT, Mindfulness & Integrative psychological approaches to pain. Novel therapies include EMDR, psychodynamic & CFT.
Rosemary has developed the whole area of psychology-led multidisciplinary group interventions such as the well-established, Cognitive-Behavioural Pain Management Programme, at the Hospital and a Virtual Positive Pain Psychology course. She has created a wide range of materials and tools, and more recently, a ‘Coping with Pain’ Masterclass style brief intervention. Rosemary has a special interest in cancer pain, and piloted Cancer Thrive and Survive self-management courses for this population in the past. She continually audits, researches, presents and publishes her findings. Rosemary supervises trainees and is a specialist pain research advisor. She completed her Doctorate research at Trinity on the topic of pain and perfectionism. She is very interested in all aspects of compassionate pain care.
Leadership and being professionally supportive is important to Rosemary. She is a former Chair of the Psychological Society of Ireland’s Clinical Division, one of the founders of the Irish Hospital Psychology Group, was the first Psychology Representative on The Irish Pain Society executive committee and helped the patient support group for chronic pain get established. Rosemary currently chairs a new network group of psychologists working clinically in pain management called Pain Psychologists’ Ireland. She has been a member of many committees within the Hospital.
Rosemary was an Honorary Tutor for Trinity College’s School of Psychology for many years and she currently holds an adjunct Assistant Professor role with UCD’s Doctoral Clinical Psychology course.
Dr Lisa Harpur, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Lisa is a Senior Clinical Psychologist who provides a psychological service to patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in SVUH. The IBD Psychology service is dedicated to supporting IBD patients presenting with psychological distress related to their IBD. The service can also help with pre-existing problems that might affect how people cope with and manage their IBD. Interventions offered include consultations, individual therapy and group-based interventions. The IBD Psychology service is the first of its kind in Ireland and as such has a strong research and audit focus. Referrals to the IBD Psychology service can be made via the IBD team.
Lisa is passionate about supporting the psychological wellbeing of people with chronic illnesses. Lisa is trained in several psychotherapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, Schema therapy, EMDR and Mindfulness-based approaches.
Lisa is a HSCP representative on the National Clinical Programme for Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Lisa has taught on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in Trinity College Dublin and has supervised trainee clinical psychologists on hospital placements. Lisa is a chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland.
Dr Julie Lynch, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Nephrology
Julie is a Senior Clinical Psychologist working in the Renal Psychology Service at St. Vincent’s University Hospital. Having previously worked in Psycho-Oncology, she currently specialises in helping people cope with and adjust to their kidney disease and its management, and supports patients at any stage of their CKD diagnosis or treatment, including before dialysis and after transplant. Referrals to the Renal Psychology Service can be made via the Nephrology Department.
Julie is enthusiastic about ensuring the patients’ psychological and emotional needs are addressed as part of their multi-disciplinary care in Nephrology at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, and contributes to teaching and training with the wider medical team on the psychological and mental health needs of renal patients. She also has a keen interest in research. She is an active member of St. Vincent’s University Hospital Medical Research and Ethics Committee and teaches on several University programmes.
Dr Sonja Delmonte Sen, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Long COVID and Infectious Diseases
Sonja is a senior clinical psychologist working in the Long COVID service at St Vincent’s University Hospital. The service is for people who experience ongoing difficulties after having had a COVID infection, or who became unwell after having a vaccine. The aim of the service is to help people to learn ways to manage changes in their physical health, as well as the psychological distress, that can arise as part of living with Long COVID. Sonja hopes to improve the lives of people living with Long COVID by providing psychological assessments, individual and group based psychological interventions. She welcomes feedback from service users to help to continue to improve the service.
Sonja is dedicated to helping people to improve their quality of life, whilst living with a health condition. Before working in St Vincent’s University Hospital she worked in several major London Hospitals, including St Thomas’s Hospital and University College Hospital London, where she provided psychological care to people presenting with a range of health problems. Sonja is trained in a number of evidence based interventions including, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Compassion focused therapy (CFT). She integrates and adapts these approaches to best suit the needs of the people with whom she works.
In addition to clinical work, Sonja has a background in academia and enjoys conducting research as well as teaching aspiring psychologists and other professionals.
Dr Nicola Burke, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Transplant, Hepatology & Hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) Directorate
Nicola is a Senior Clinical Psychologist working with multidisciplinary teams involved in Liver and Pancreas Transplant, as well as Hepatology and Hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) services. Nicola provides a psychological service to patients undergoing assessment for transplant, as well as hepatology and HPB patients dealing with the psychological impact of their health condition. Nicola works with outpatients and also with inpatients on St. Brigid’s Ward (liver unit). Issues that may arise include increasing anxiety, low mood, difficulties adjusting to health issues, and trauma. Psychological work is tailored to the individual person and collaborative in nature, ranging from brief assessments to therapeutic interventions. Nicola is interested in supporting people living with significant health conditions and collaboratively finding ways to improve their quality of life.
Psychology referrals are made via Transplant, Hepatology and HPB teams. Please speak to your Consultant, Surgeon, Registrar, Transplant Co-ordinator or allied health professional within the service, if you are interested in a referral.