Brendan Clarke

Brendan Clarke  (Associate)

BABCP registered Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist

EMDR therapist

 

Early Career and Training

Brendan began his studies in psychology at Trinity College Dublin where he completed a final year project on the psychology of humour. After two years working in education he completed a Masters in Foundations of Clinical Psychology at the University of Bangor in Wales.

Under the influence of his thesis supervisor and psychosis expert Richard Bentall, he was inspired to conduct a research project investigating the psychology of life-changing spiritual experiences. This research looked at how mental events that can sometimes be pathologized, such as hearing voices, can be effectively coped with when accepted and can even have a positive or meaningful impact on the life of the person experiencing them.

After spending two years working as a care assistant in a home for people with acquired brain injuries, Brendan went on to complete two diplomas in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), firstly at University College London and later at the University of Surrey.

Clinical Experience

Brendan has been working as a CBT therapist for seven years. His primary areas of focus are anxiety and depressive disorders such as major depression, panic disorder, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and generalised anxiety disorder.

During this period, Brendan has worked with patients on a 1-1 basis as well as running groups in areas such as managing chronic pain, developing assertiveness, overcoming perfectionism, and groups in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy.

Brendan has continued to develop his skill set by attending workshops in several areas, for example Compassion-Focused Therapy, Mindfulness & Narrative Therapy. This training helped him to realise that often how we feel and sometimes how we act are products of two things: evolution and life history, two things about which we had no choice.

In his experience this can help people to see beyond their perceived shortcomings and to develop greater self-compassion. It can also help people to see that, although we may have been powerless in our early lives to influence our emotional development, through the process of therapy, we can begin to recognise unhelpful patterns and have a positive influence on them now, as adults.

Mindfulness practice can assist with this process, by connecting us to our five senses and grounding us in the present tense, where we can make the changes we would like to see, as well as experience the richness of life more fully.

Approach to Therapy

Brendan aims to create a therapeutic environment that is open, non-judgmental and person-centred, emphasising the patient’s expertise on their own life, values and goals and his expertise in psychotherapy.

Using an integrative approach that combines aspects of CBT, Mindfulness Practice, Narrative Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy he encourages people to tune in, firstly to where they are now, and subsequently to where they would like to be, using what they find most valuable or meaningful in life as a guide to where therapy could take them. This might be in revisiting and healing from past trauma, making concrete steps to reducing the anxiety of a specific phobia, or in living up to a set of personally-defined values.

Memberships

Brendan is an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) since 2016.

Appointments and Hours of Work

Brendan can offer appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (including evenings), and Fridays.

If you would like to book an appointment for our assessment clinic to be matched with the right therapist for you, please call Evidence-Based Therapy Centre on 091-727777 or get in touch via the contact page.