Our Philosophy
Find compassion for yourself and your own family story
We love our work and we care about the people who come to our Workshops and Training.
We create a very safe space that helps people look at difficult family stories so that they can be free of burdens that weigh them down. Some - but not all - of these burdens come from before our time.
We have been working with families bereaved by suicide, with suicidal behaviour and with suicidal ideation. People have found this work very helpful.
Our team of highly trained and experienced professionals has vast experience of working with individuals, families, communities and organisations over a long period of time.
Our Team
Brendan O'Brien
DIRECTOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST
BA MA HDipEd MIACP
Accredited Psychotherapist and Facilitator of Family Constellations Workshops throughout Ireland and internationally, Brendan is also Former Vice-President of the International Systemic Constellations Association.
He taught on the Counselling Degree in CIT, Cork for twenty years and has an extensive earlier background in education.
He developed courses on reflective practice and worked with a number of mens' groups for the Cork Social and Health Education Project.
He has trained in Family Constellations for twenty years and has been researching suicide using this lens since 2014.
Eileen O'Brien
DIRECTOR / PSYCHOTHERAPIST
BA, RN, MIACP
Eileen qualified as an Accredited Psychotherapist in 1999 after working for more than twenty years as a registered nurse. She went on to lecture on the Degree Course in Psychotherapy in CIT.
She worked as Director of a Community Based Justice Project for twenty years. In addition to facilitating workshops and training in Family Constellations, she works as a Consultant to Organisations in the Community and Voluntary Sector, using a systemic lens to support teams in transition and offers a variety of services in monitoring, evaluation and implementation of programmes.
A Facilitator and Trainer with The Social and Health Education Project, Eileen has vast experience of working with individuals, families and organisations in local communities.
Emma O'Brien-Rai
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT/
COMMUNICATIONS
BCL, MSocSc
With a background in law and social policy, Emma has worked for fifteen years in international development, project management, research and communications. Her work is focused on integrated community development, with a particular focus on families, children and young people.
At FCI, she supports Eileen in designing monitoring and evaluation systems for third sector organisations and works with Brendan in curriculum development and design.
She also works part-time for a team that is developing mental health supports for children and families in rural Darjeeling, India.