James Byrne
About the Therapist
I'm James Byrne, a BACP-accredited psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and educator. I work online with clients across Ireland and the UK through my private practice, The Threshold Practice, and I also run Rainbow Minds, a community-focused practice offering accessible therapy and training for the LGBTQ+ community.
A lot of my work is with queer men. Men carrying old shame, men who came out late or are still working out what their identity means to them, men who look fine from the outside but feel flat, anxious or stuck underneath. That said, I welcome clients of all genders, sexualities and relationship structures. My practice is GSRD-affirmative in a real sense, not a tick-box one. Kink, non-monogamy, asexuality, questioning — you won't have to explain or justify any of it before the actual work can start.
I spent years working with adolescent boys and young men, and that experience runs through everything I do with adults. So much of what brings men to therapy in their thirties, forties and beyond began in adolescence: the rules they absorbed about masculinity, the things they learned to hide, the versions of themselves they abandoned to stay safe. Knowing that territory well means I can help adult clients find their way back to it without getting lost.
I work relationally. The relationship between us is the work, not a backdrop to it. I'm engaged, honest and sometimes direct, and I won't sit silently nodding while you do all the labour. Some sessions go deep, others are more practical. Both have their place.
For supervisees: I offer clinical supervision online, individually and in small groups, for qualified and trainee therapists. I particularly welcome those working with GSRD clients, men and adolescents, or anyone who wants a supervisor with genuine grounding in gender and sexual diversity. Supervision with me is rigorous but it isn't an exam. It's a place to think properly about your clients and about yourself in the work. Through Rainbow Minds I also provide CPD training and a GSRD Therapy Diploma, and my doctoral research looks at shame, masculinity and online radicalisation.
If any of this resonates, do get in touch.
- Bi- | Pansexual
- Gay
- Kink - BDSM
- Queer
Professional membership and registration:
- BACP Registered and Accredited Member — MBACP (Accred), Membership No. 410074
- BACP Register: https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Register/ (search membership number 410074)
Main therapy qualifications:
- MSc Adolescent Psychotherapy — University of Northampton
- BA (Hons) Counselling and Psychotherapy — IICP College, Dublin
- Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy — IICP College, Dublin
- Diploma in Supervision Across the Professions — ICPPD, Athlone
| Award | Awarding body | Year of award |
|---|---|---|
I've worked with people since I was eighteen — more than twenty years across the caring and helping professions, the last ten as a psychotherapist.
I trained first as a nurse, and spent years working in homelessness and addiction services. That work shaped me. It taught me to meet people where they are, without flinching and without judgement, and it left me with a deep respect for what people survive and the ways they find to cope — even when those ways come at a cost. Nothing you bring to therapy will be too much, too messy or too shameful to sit with.
For the past decade my work has been therapeutic: first with adolescents and young people, now mostly with adults in private practice. My clinical specialism is gender, sexual and relationship diversity — I teach GSRD-affirmative practice to other therapists through a diploma and CPD training I run via Rainbow Minds, and I'm completing doctoral research on shame and identity. Shame is the thread running through much of my work, whoever the client is: the sense of being somehow wrong, of hiding parts of yourself to stay acceptable, of performing a life rather than living one. My background working with men and boys gives me particular insight there, but shame doesn't discriminate, and neither does my practice.
I work relationally. What happens between us matters as much as what we talk about. The patterns that cause pain in your life tend to show up in the therapy relationship too, and when they do, we can work with them directly — live, in the room — rather than only talking about them from a distance. I'm an active, engaged presence: warm, honest, and willing to challenge when it helps.
I'm fully insured, in regular supervision for my own practice, and work within the BACP Ethical Framework.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Art therapy
- Attachment theory (Psychodynamic)
- Brief dynamic
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Couple therapy
- Existential
- Family Therapy
- Group therapy
- GSRD therapy
- Humanistic
- Integrative
- Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
- Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy
- Neurodivergent
- Relationship therapy
- Transactional Analysis
- Transpersonal
- Walk and talk therapy
- Ace | Asexual
- BDSM | Kink
- Bi- | Pansexual
- Consensual non-monogamy
- Gay
- Queer
- Survivors of attempted conversion therapy
- Trans
- One to one
- Two people
- Three or more people
- No adaptation
- Adults
- Young adults (16-24)
- Young people (<16)
- Online
Individual therapy: £65 per 50-minute session (€80 for clients paying in euros).
Clinical supervision: £65 per hour for individual supervision. Group supervision is £50 per person per session, in small online groups.
Initial consultation: I offer a free 15-minute introductory call before we commit to working together — a chance to ask questions, get a feel for how I work, and decide whether I'm the right fit. No pressure, no obligation. The same applies to supervision enquiries.
Reduced-fee places: If cost is a barrier, please ask. I hold a limited number of reduced-fee places myself, and through my community practice, Rainbow Minds, I also offer low-cost therapy with trainee therapists working under my supervision. There's usually a way to make it work.
Payment and cancellations: Payment is on the day of the session via bank transfer/link. Same-day cancellations are charged in full, with some limited exceptions — life happens, and I'd rather you talk to me than worry about it.
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