Dervla Shannahan PhD Online- International

Therapist Directory Listing Category: Psychotherapists and Counsellors

About the Therapist

About the therapist:

I have lived across multiple continents and worked with clients from many different cultural backgrounds, with extensive experience supporting LGBTQ+ folk. My professional background includes over 16 years working at the intersection of faith, gender, and queer identities through research, community organizing, and activism. This experience directly informs my affirming, culturally informed clinical approach. I am aware of how heteronormativity and systemic injustices shape our inner lives and collective experiences. I work primarily in Clifton, Bristol, from a wellness clinic just 2 minutes walk from Clifton Down station. Online sessions also available.

I hold a PhD in ethnography from Goldsmiths University of London. My doctorate studies (in how people make meaning collectively) enhance my clinical work. I am currently completing an MA in Applied Neuroscience at King's College London, integrating neuroscience insights into therapeutic practice.

I also studied at the Philadelphia Association (London) exploring the legacy of Laing and therapeutic communities. I draw on a range of psychology, somatic and psychoanalytic traditions in my work and currently have availability for new clients.

Sexual identity:

Other

Gender identity: Female

Gender history: As assigned at birth

Intersex: No

Neurodivergent: No

Personal pronouns: she/her

Qualifications - Links to websites:

British Psychoanalytic Council: https://www.bpc.org.uk/information-support/find-a-therapist-or-clinic/23274/

Qualifications - Additional:

Psychodynamic Psychotherapist	Severnside Institute of Psychotherapy Bristol	2016
PhD in Ethnography	Goldsmiths University of London	2019
MA Applied Neuroscience (currently in progress)	King's College London	2025
Introductory course in Philosophy and Psychotherapy	Philadelphia Association London	2008

Experience and approach:

I specialise in relationship difficulties, navigating family life (including fertility and adoption journeys, inclusive family structures, chosen family, and parenting), and managing significant life transitions like coming out, breakups, career shifts or periods of reinvention. I am also skilled at helping clients process their childhood experiences and understand how these might be shaping their present relationships.

My approach provides a confidential space to explore the patterns that keep repeating, the relationships that feel stuck, or the choices you have outgrown. Sessions are grounded in whatever you feel like sharing, while staying oriented toward where you want to go. I offer once or twice weekly sessions, on a short-term or longer-term basis, depending on what you need.I work in person in Clifton, Bristol (online sessions also available) during the day and evenings.

Approaches: