Places limited to 600
Event will close for bookings at 12pm on 21st September 26
The research conference draws very large numbers of attendees annually and we are pleased to continue the online format to ensure accessibility for colleagues across the country.
Online Research Conference - Curiosity, Courage and Connection: Creative Research Approaches in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Keynote and Featured Presentations
We are delighted to welcome Dr Ray O’Neill as our keynote speaker, who will be joined by IACP member speakers Robert Barry and Ash Morgan along with a panel presentation by the nominees from our Undergraduate Research Excellence Award 2026 - Barbara Fiori, Monika Balazova, Linda Fenesova, Maria Brunt and Kevin McAuliffe.
Conference Programme:
Morning Session
10.00 - 10.15 - Welcome and Introductions
10.15 - 11.05 - Keynote Presentation - Dr Ray O’Neill
“Academic ‘Sinners’ and Creative Research Accomplices: An Invitation to Ethical, Non-Oppressive Research Praxis”
11.05 - 11.40 - Second Presentation - Robert Barry
“Person-Centered Peacemaking - The “Steel Shutter” encounter group as a historical case study of dialogue across entrenched conflict during the Northern Ireland Troubles”
11.40 - 12.00 - Break
Interactive Session
12.00 - 12.20 - Award Nominee Panel
Brief presentations from 5 Undergraduate Research Excellence Award nominees:
Barbara Fiori - Award Recipient - My Beautiful Accent: The Experience of Bilingual Trainee Counsellors Providing Therapy in English as a Second Language.
Monika Balazova - “Who Am I? Who Am I in This Space Right Now?” – Exploring Trainee Therapists’ Understanding and Experience of Boundaries
Linda Fenesova - The Odyssey of Empowerment: How can counselling and psychotherapy support clients in breaking the intergenerational cycle of narcissistic family dynamics and abuse?
Maria Brunt - A discursive analysis of how motherhood is conceptualised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Setting
Kevin McAuliffe - What is the perceived impact of working in a non-native language on the therapeutic relationship as a counsellor?
12.20 - 12.55 - Third Presentation - Ash Morgan
“How Does Psychiatric Diagnosis and The Language Of “Disorder” Shape Humanistic Counselling Practice in Ireland? Findings from a qualitative study”
12.55 - 13.15 - Breakout Rooms (20 mins) Small groups
Closing Session
13.15 - 14.00 - Panel Discussion and Close
All speakers + Undergraduate Research Excellence Award Recipient
Please note the conference will be recorded and content will be used in the future on the IACP Online CPD Portal. If you wish not to be recorded, please keep your video off.
Speakers:
Keynote Presentation: Dr Ray O’Neill “Academic ‘Sinners’ and Creative Research Accomplices: An Invitation to Ethical, Non-Oppressive Research Praxis”
Dr. Ray O’Neill is a Pluralistic and Psychosexual Psychotherapist (machna.ie) with a long-standing commitment to honouring trauma with heart/sex-positivity from his extensive work within sexual minoritised communities. Bringing years of academic leadership from his tenure with the Trinity Access Programmes, and as Assistant Professor in Psychotherapy with
DCU, Ray is a co-founder of the forthcoming Tairseach Advocacy (tairseach.eu), a clinical collective grounded in a set of Anti-Oppressive Practice commitments to be upheld by individuals working within therapeutic, educational, and organisational contexts. He is currently co-authoring Intra-Cultural Humility and Decolonising Practice in Psychotherapy and Education: From Ally to Accomplice alongside Ejiro Ogbevoen, commissioned by Open University Press.
For over two decades, Ray has been engaged significantly (and sometimes with significance) with the media in discoursing love, relationships, and desire in the twenty-first century. As one of Ireland’s original male Agony Aunts, a long-time regular voice on The Ray D'Arcy Show, and co-host of RTÉ’s Then Comes Marriage, he currently broadcasts alongside Maria McHale on Near FM’s Life Unfiltered programme. His research explores relationships between desire, dating, and sexiness within contemporary digital technologies, as well as the individual and collective transmission of intergenerational trauma, with an especial focus on the Irish Famine.
Second Presentation:
Robert Barry “Person-Centered Peacemaking - The “Steel Shutter” encounter group as a historical case study of dialogue across entrenched conflict during the Northern Ireland Troubles”
Robert currently works with the HSE National Counselling Service and Counselling in Primary Care as a Counsellor and Psychotherapist. He is an advisor and board member for Gerri's Place, an Irish charity that provides affordable well-being breaks for people who need time and space to focus on their emotional and mental well-being. He recently authored a case study and contributed to a chapter on Person-Centred Peacemaking in A Person-Centred Way of Being: Realizing Potential Across Practices, which is edited by Mick Cooper and William Muller and is due to be published in October 2026 by Guilford Press. He has previously held roles with Pieta, Maynooth University, Mental Health Ireland, The Human Flourishing Project, and Aiséirí. He completed a Master’s in Person-Centred Experiential Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice at the University of Nottingham. Before becoming a therapist, Robert worked as a secondary school teacher in both mainstream and inclusive education settings.
Third Presentation:
Ash Morgan “How Does Psychiatric Diagnosis and The Language Of “Disorder” Shape Humanistic Counselling Practice in Ireland? Findings from a qualitative study”
Ash is a relational, trauma-informed, and person-centred psychotherapist with a private practice covering Wicklow and Dublin. With a background in mental health nursing, he has spent many years bringing non-pathologising approaches to working with people in distress into the psychiatric systems of Ireland and the UK. As part of his MSc in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, Ash explored how the dominant medical model shapes humanistic counselling practice through its influence on counsellor training and professional attitudes in Ireland. The research was published in Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, and in 2026 he received the CPCAB Counselling Research Award after presenting it at the BACP International Research Conference in London. Ash has also written on person-centred and non-pathologising approaches to mental health and spirituality, cultural curiosity in mental health care, and counselling for people living with dementia. In 2023, he received the IACP Research Excellence Award for his paper exploring how narrative therapy can support people to ask, "What's happened to me?" rather than "What's wrong with me?" when living with depression. The paper was published in the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling. Across his clinical practice, research, and writing, Ash is interested in how counselling can offer more humane, relational, and non-pathologising responses to emotional distress.
Undergraduate Research Excellence Award – Nominee Panel Brief Presentations:
Barbara Fiori - Award recipient - My Beautiful Accent: The Experience of Bilingual Trainee Counsellors Providing Therapy in English as a Second Language.
Monika Balazova - “Who Am I? Who Am I in This Space Right Now?” – Exploring Trainee Therapists’ Understanding and Experience of Boundaries
Linda Fenesova - The Odyssey of Empowerment: How can counselling and psychotherapy support clients in breaking the intergenerational cycle of narcissistic family dynamics and abuse?
Maria Brunt - A discursive analysis of how motherhood is conceptualised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Setting
Kevin McAuliffe - What is the perceived impact of working in a non-native language on the therapeutic relationship as a counsellor?
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