Aine Connaire Counselling and Psychotherapy

22/07/2025

I was delighted to be able to contribute to this piece in the Irish Times. It is a wonderful piece that talks about the benefits of writing for our health

Tadhg Paul says writing helped him embrace to life again and regain mobility after his spinal cord injury

23/04/2025

I adore being outdoors in nature 🍃🌲 For me, connecting back into nature helps to ground and recharge me in a way that so few other things can.

Research by Bratman et al (2019) revealed that contact with nature is associated with increases in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interactions, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life, as well as decreases in mental distress (Science Advances, Vol. 5, No. 7, 2019).

Connecting with nature IS healing. It’s so simple to do, yet it’s something that we are neglecting to do. In these modern times, we are spending so much more time looking at our screens, spending time online, indoors and in urban areas that don’t contain much nature. This is having a big impact on our physical, mental and emotional health and on society as a whole.

How much time should we be spending outside to get these positive benefits I named above? White et al (2019) conducted a study with over 20,000 adults across the United Kingdom and they found that people who had spent at least two recreational hours in nature during the previous week reported significantly greater health and well-being.

So it only takes 2 hours a week outdoors in nature to gain significant positive benefits to your physical and mental health ✨

If you have been thinking about trying to get outdoors more let this be a little nugget of inspiration 🌈

How can you start to incorporate getting out in nature into your week?

28/03/2025

Walk and talk therapy has shown to have so many benefits like the ones named above ✨

Getting out walking in nature is so therapeutic in and of itself as you become grounded in the natural world aware of your physical body and connected to the present moment. On top of this, you gain all of the benefits of physical exercise, like the release of mood boosting and stress reducing endorphins. Finally, with walk and talk therapy, you are connecting to and being supported by a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist who is able to help you work through whatever may be causing you unhappiness.

If you want any more information on our walk and talk therapy service get in contact today via DM, email or phone.

You deserve to live a life you enjoy.

21/03/2025

Walk and talk psychotherapy now available in Mullingar and surrounding areas ✨

Walk and talk therapy does exactly what it says on the tin! Our sessions would be on the go out in nature. Research has shown there are so many benefits to walk and talk therapy which I will talk about in more detail in another post.

If you are interested in booking in for a walk and talk session get in touch via DM, contact 0877763103 or email aineconnairecounselling@gmail.com

10/02/2025

Pennebaker’s Expressive Writing Method is one of the most widely researched journaling methods in psychology. Dr. James Pennebaker, a social psychologist, pioneered this method in the 1980s, and since then, hundreds of studies have examined its effects on mental and physical health. Due to its strong scientific backing, it remains a gold standard in therapeutic journaling. Have you tried it yet? ✨

To learn more about this journaling practice and other journaling techniques, check out my self paced online course ‘Writing to heal: An introduction to therapeutic journaling’ on my website www.aineconnaire. Link to website in bio 🌈

09/02/2025

Journaling is healing. Let the words flow. 💜

Writing an unsent letter can be a deeply therapeutic exercise, offering emotional release, clarity, and healing.

Here are some key benefits:

1. Emotional Release & Processing
• Helps you express feelings you might struggle to say out loud
• Allows you to process grief, anger, or unresolved emotions

2. Finding Clarity & Closure
• Organises your thoughts and brings understanding to complex emotions
• Provides a sense of closure, even when no real-life resolution is possible

3. Reduces Stress & Anxiety
• Releases pent-up emotions in a safe, controlled way
• Lowers stress levels by putting thoughts into words

4. Improves Communication Skills
• Helps you articulate your thoughts and emotions better
• Can prepare you for future conversations by clarifying what you truly want to say

5. Empowers Personal Growth & Healing
•Encourages self-reflection and emotional growth
•Strengthens self-awareness and helps break negative thought patterns

💡 Try it today: Write an unsent letter to someone who has impacted your life—positively or negatively—and notice how it makes you feel. 💜

➡️ Want more guided prompts? My online course Writing to Heal is now available! Visit www.aineconnaire.ie to start your journey. 🌿

08/02/2025

📖 Writing to Heal: Start Your Journaling Journey Today! ✍️

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with emotions but didn’t know how to process them? Therapeutic journaling is a powerful way to release your thoughts, gain clarity, process your emotions and care for your mental wellness.

In my self-paced online course, Writing to Heal, I guide you through practical techniques to use journaling as a tool for self-discovery and emotional healing. 💜🌿

✨ No writing experience needed
✨ Proven therapeutic techniques
✨ Lifetime access for just €35

Ready to start? Visit www.aineconnaire.ie to learn more! Link in bio 💫

Journaling has played a major role in my own therapeutic journey since entering into the field of psychotherapy. The practice of journaling has helped me to grow and heal in ways that have amazed and humbled me. I am forever grateful to this practice for giving so much to me when I needed it.

Since beginning my work as a psychotherapist I have also had the privilege of helping my clients to develop and utilise their own journaling practices too. It has been a joy to witness my clients experience amazing gains from journaling alongside their own psychotherapy work.

If you are ready to start your own journaling journey today check out my online course in the link to my website today. You deserve to heal and grow 🌈

01/02/2025

We all have a right to feel anger. Our anger deserves to be listened to and understood just like all our other feelings and emotions. Anger is a really important emotion that tells us when something is wrong or a boundary has been crossed. Without anger we might not be propelled in the same way to take action to care for or protect ourselves.

How can you start listening to the messages that your anger is telling you with curiosity? How can you start showing that anger compassion and care?

Anger is actually our friend that wants to stand up for us. Our anger is a part of us that actually cares for us. We can listen to our anger and then CHOOSE consciously how we respond to the angering situation.

Writing a compassionate letter to our angry selves allows us to get to know and build a relationship with this part of ourselves. This is key to self regulation.

14/01/2025

Showing self compassion for our sadness can be a powerful experience that helps us to process the emotion in a gentle way. Many of us can feel afraid of feeling our sadness, fearing that it will consume us if we let it in. However, sadness like all of our emotions, are fleeting experiences that do pass. Showing ourselves self compassion can help us to care for ourselves in helpful ways while our sadness is present and in turn can help to alleviate this suffering. Compassionate letter writing is a fantastic tool for showing ourselves compassion when we need it. This post gives a brief example of some elements that a self compassionate letter could contain. Journaling is a wonderful tool for befriending all of our difficult emotions ✍️

13/01/2025

This is a very brief snippet of what compassionate letter writing can sound like. Compassionate letter writing is a fantastic tool for self regulation. It works so well with anxiety, low mood, anger, sadness and the list goes on!

Have you ever done compassionate letter writing? ✍️

11/01/2025

A step in any direction is a step. A step is any direction will inevitably shift “stuckness”. If you want change, you don’t need to have figured out your end destination, you just need to muster up enough courage to take the first step. That first step is often making the decision that you are not going to remain where you are.

Wishing everyone a happy new year as we begin 2025 ✨ May it you all that you need and more 💛