Cogs Psychotherapy

14/11/2025

If the "drop a dress size before Christmas" posts are getting to you, know that you are not alone. This is a hard season for anyone with a history of food struggles. We & our bodies deserve care & compassion, rather than control and scrutiny.

I chose this video because I love how horses seek out what supports them. I've seen them all eating the gorse bushes this week, which they did less of in spring and summer. They don't question it, feel they have to earn it, or compare to the horse beside them.

Care for yourself by keeping with meal routines, communicating needs, planning ahead for social events, engaging in hobbies, creativity, reach out for support.
Care for others by being mindful of comments around food/calories/exercise, which may be triggering to someone else.
💛

04/11/2025

I understand what it's like to live in your head; analysing, planning, replaying. The exhaustion that comes with it. 🫨

The more work I do to understand this in myself (a journey that is ongoing and takes time), I am more aware of it happening too with clients, and when we are both getting pulled in my the story of the thoughts in session.

In therapy, we can learn how to respond differently to our thoughts. And when it feels right, we can start to explore further what might be underneath this overthinking. The feelings, and experiences that may have been pushed away.

Therapy with me allows you to start to explore this in a slow and safe way. To bring awareness to it in the room. Starting to allow these feelings to have a space.

In a recent session, we noticed the worry, self-criticism, and analysing coming in. We allowed for the feelings to be there too, and after some time the client noticed that the intensity eased. This isn't always the case, but often those feelings need a place too.

EMDR informs a lot of this practice and I find it beneficial because it gets us out of our head and into our body.

Orla 💛
info@cogspsychotherapy.com

01/11/2025

This is a classic...you walk into the shop, no list, no intention, and all of a sudden everything appears exciting/shiny/needed, and you get spat out the other side wondering how!

This happened to me today, I left with a few bits, and a few regrets 🥲.

Plenty of tips and tricks out there to help, but as always I find compassion the most needed, because this.is.going.to.happen.again.

⛰️ After that I was hiking up a mountain and soon moved on from it. Another reason movement is a big help for the busy ADHD brain & rumination cycles!!!

31/10/2025

🎃👻
Brains like to solve mysteries... except when the mystery is our own feelings. This can feel like the real scare.
But these feelings are often messengers that we can learn from if we give them space.

Disclaimer: this is a light-hearted take. Managing emotions and fears can feel intense and learning to sit with discomfort is something best done slowly and sometimes with the support of a trained professional.

28/10/2025

Why wait until January to set goals?
🌾 The theme of this in-person adult mindfulness group will be values. This is inspired by ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy)
✨ It will focus on getting clear on what's important to you and setting goals in line with these values for the final 2 months of the year.
✨ As well as some mindfulness practice that will help you feel more grounded coming into this busy time of the year.
🌛 Weather & interest depending, we may incorporate grounding in nature, and horse observation.

Sign up via the link: https://www.cogspsychotherapy.com/service-page/ending-the-year-with-intention?referral=service_list_widget
or email: info@cogspsychotherapy.com

📍Avoca, Co. Wicklow
🗓️ 14 Nov, 10am

21/10/2025

💭 Uncertainty and an intolerance to it, comes up often with clients in the therapy room. Starting to expose ourselves to more uncertainty, can change the way we think and feel about the unknown.

📝 And taking my own advice on this: on proof reading this post, I see a spelling mistake in slide 2 (and probably elsewhere), but I'm not going to make that slide again.

"What if people judge me, think I'm lazy". Maybe, but is it worth the time & effort making it perfect, or just not posting it at all?

This worry comes from a place of protection, to keep us safe from the unknown/judgement/anxiety. But the more we engage with those behaviours, the more we believe we cannot cope, and the cycle gets reinforced.

22/09/2025

I have always loved Autumn 🍂. The just right temperature that pleases the senses, crunchy leaves, warm drinks, cosy fleeces... But the shift to equal hours of day and night can be a challenge for many people, myself included.

These next few weeks I intend to focus on little moments of gratitude, going slower, changing the pace ahead of winter, and trying to take the perfectionistic pressure off in any little ways that I can. 🧡

How do you feel about the change in season? What might you be ready to let go of?

Orla

16/09/2025

ADHD: differences, not deficits or disorders.

04/09/2025

New booking options available through my website 🗓️📒

Including:

🌿🐴 1 hour or 1.5 hour combined mindfulness and equine facilitated session.

🌀 Somatic reset, using grounding and nervous system techniques, including some EMDR resourcing tools.

🌻 I also have space for 1-2 clients specifically for EMDR therapy.

Follow the link in my bio to the booking page, or get in touch via DM or info@cogspsychotherapy.com

28/08/2025

🍂 September 4 week group for adults:

🗓️ Starting Tuesday 9 September
⌚ 6pm, duration 60-75minutes
📍 Avoca, Co. Wicklow
#️⃣ Small group size

Booking available via the link in my bio. Or please email info@cogspsychotherapy.com

Orla 💛

22/08/2025

Communication is at the heart of everything for us, but it's confusing and complex. It both connects and disconnects us from each other.

Why do so many of us struggle to be direct?

For horses, it's much more clear, and embodied.

Always learning from these amazing animals 💛.

10/08/2025

I was delighted to spend a few hours on the Athena stand yesterday, networking with the supportive community, meeting and chatting to new faces, and hearing about the great work Equitas are doing to promote and support women in the horse industry.

Two years ago I met Athena for the first time while I was visiting the RDS, and I soon after started my journey through training in equine facilitated learning/therapy with them. I was thrilled to be on the stand with them and very much looking forward to the trainings that they will be running in-person in Wicklow from this year. 💛

We really enjoyed talking with TheGrassrootsGazette and Equitas yesterday here at the Dublin Horse Show about their vision and ours together with ZenFoal , Fenland Holistics & Connected Horsemanship, Carmen's Riding School and Cogs Psychotherapy where we will be delivering the externally accredited Athena Foundation Certificate this September 💕