Sarah Slattery
Intro
Hello! My name is Sarah. I am a Creative Psychotherapist with a specialisation in Play Therapy. I love working with children and teenagers and believe passionately in the powers of the therapeutic relationship to support young people to overcome challenges, process trauma and build resilience.
I also love working with parents and caregivers, helping them to develop skills that support their family and themselves and to deepen their understanding of their child’s development and behaviour.
My work is child centred and tailored to each family. It is trauma informed and neurobiologically informed. As an integrative and humanistic therapist I work creatively with my clients using mediums such as sand, toys and arts and crafts.
Education and Career
After completing a MSocSc in Sociology from UCD, my career began working with teenagers in the Irish Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. I continued my work in the community and voluntary sector throughout my 20s working with young people in the criminal justice system and later Special Olympics Ireland. Following a career break to raise my family I returned to education in 2020 with the Children’s Therapy Centre.
I have been working as a qualified Play Therapist since 2022 and completed a four-year Masters programme in Creative Psychotherapy in 2024. I work in an Irish Primary School and also in private practice. My special interest areas include ADHD and Autism and working with school teachers and special needs assistants to support a regulatory approach for the whole school system. I am registered with the Irish Association of Play Therapists and Psychotherapists which is recognised by the European Association for Integrated Psychotherapy.
Workshops for Schools
Sarah has worked with primary school staff to support teachers to embrace a regulatory approach in school. Sarah is passionate about how the field of psychotherapy can collaborate with the field of education to best support the emotional wellbeing of students and teachers alike. Investing in the wellbeing, emotional resources and capacity of teachers is of paramount importance for a school’s culture and for the protection of vulnerable students.
Sarah provides workshops for schools that are tailor made to the population, encompassing issues from the neurobiology of stress, anxiety and challenging behaviour while also supporting staff to reflect and share their practices. Providing a space for collegial support to flourish is a key component of these workshops.