Head of Counselling and Psychotherapy Department

Dr Damian Davy

General Manager of Training And Education

Mr Shay Pegley MA, BA, Dip Addiction

Shay began his addiction career at the Merchants Quay Project in the early 1990's. He was team leader of their Residential Stabilisation facility for Opiate users. He has worked across a spectrum of addiction services including needle exchange, abstinence programmes and counselling settings. He also spent many years in a pastoral setting for alcohol / drug users in Italy. On his return to Ireland he took up the position of Centre Manager for Minard Treatment and Intervention, in Longford. He is now General Manager of Training and Treatment services for ATI and Minard.

Programme Coordinator

Doireann Holland (BA Psych, MSc Occ Psych, MA HRM, CIPD)

Doireann has over 7 years experience working in an Educational setting in addition to working as a coordinator in a fast paced multinational company. Doireann is a fully qualified Occupational Psychologist and Human Resource Practitioner holding both an MSc in Occupational Psychology from Cardiff University and an MA in HRM from National College of Ireland. She is a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland, the British Psychological Society, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and is BPS Level A qualified. Doireann was both Senior Coordinator and Manager in an expanding educational organisation in the service sector. In this role, she led, managed and coordinated the implementation of new projects and initiatives in the field of education. Doireann joined ATI in September 2009.

Mr. Gerard McNevin

Gerard is an Integrative Psychotherapist and Reality Therapist in private practice for the past 11 years. He also offers his expertise to the Juvenile Liaison Service and FAS where he provides individual counselling and group work to adolescents and their families / staff teams. Gerard also provides group facilitation and individual counselling to staff teams in the Social Work and Social Care field in the H.S.E. Gerald has taken a leading role in Critical Incident Support to staff teams in the Semi state sector, and Stress Management training in hospital settings.

Kevin Farrell

Kevin is an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor. He has worked as an Employee Assistance Professional (EAP) for over 20 years. He has a special interest in grief/loss. A qualified relationship counsellor, he also holds a Degree in Psychology and Diplomas in Counselling, EAP, Bereavement, Theology and Social Studies. Kevin is currently researching bereavement and loss and its impact on the human psyche and emotions with the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin.

Gerard Kelly M.Sc. Drug & Alcohol Policy (TCD), Dip Addiction (TCD), MIAAAC

Gerard has many years experience in the field of addiction. He is a accredited counsellor with the IAAAC and a graduate of the addiction studies programme of Trinity College, he returned to Trinity in 2006 to complete the M.Sc. in Drug and Alcohol Policy. Currently Gerard is the coordinator and development officer of a men's addiction support group in Dublin and he has also been a member of the team at the Stanhope Centre on a voluntary basis for the past five years.

Marie Claire Van Hout

Marie Claire Van Hout lectures in Youth at Risk, Substance Use, Ethnicity and Health, and Therapeutic Recreation in the School of Health Sciences, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland, and in Addictions Studies for ATI, Dublin. She has a MSc in Public Health (Bath Spa University, UK) and an MSc in International Addiction Studies (IPAS joint international degree by Kings College London, University of Adelaide, Virginia Commonwealth University). She has recently submitted for Ph.D by Completed Work at the University of Teesside, United Kingdom. She has published extensively in the area of youth and Traveller substance use within both a policy context and further theoretical conceptualization of drug use within wider social structures in journals such as Drugs Education Prevention and Policy, Drug and Alcohol Review, Drug and Alcohol Today, Contemporary Drug Problems, Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, Ethnicity and Inequalitity in Health and Social Care, Social Theory and Health, Critical Public Health, International Journal of Health Promotion and Health Education, American Journal of Recreation Therapy and Rural and Remote Health.

Colin O'Driscoll

Having lead Psychology services for some of Britain’s leading psychiatric and addiction services, Colin O’Driscoll has been heading up Forest’s unique treatment programme for the last 5 years. Colin, a Principle Psychologist, has driven treatment integrity in the direction of robust evidence base and lead his clinical team in an air of excellence, providing the highest level of residential and non-residential care to those who want to change.'

Declan Hughes, B.Sc. (Hons)

Declan has significant counselling experience specialising in the area of addiction and substance misuse. Over the past 8 years he has taken a lead role in the Midlands working with those most socially excluded and impoverished. He was the first director of the Open Door Project in Athlone and because of its success a second service has been launched to serve Mullingar. He has worked as part of the multidisciplinary team in Portlaoise and Midlands Prison with Merchants Quay Ireland as Addiction Counsellor. Declan currently (2008/09) sits on the National Executive of The Irish Association of Alcohol and Addiction Counsellors (IAAAC) and is present chair of the subgroup on accreditation. Declan sits on the cluster group for rehabilitation/treatment with the Midlands Regional Drugs Task Force. He is a graduate of Middlesex University and holds a B.Sc. in Counselling & Psychotherapy. He has a private practice in Athlone.

Mary Ita O' Connor-Ward BA, PGdip, MIAAAC, IACP

Mary Ita, (Tralee programme coordinator) is a practicing addiction counsellor and psychotherapist and has extensive practical and theoretical experience within the field of addiction spanning 20 years. Having progressed through Rugby House Alcohol / Drug rehabilitation centres in London, Mary Ita has gained vast expertise and knowledge and is at present working as an Addiction Counsellor with the HSE South Community Counselling services.