Dr
Aisling
McMahon

Primary Department
School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health
Role
Academic Staff - Psychotherapy
Phone number: 01 700
7915
Campus
Glasnevin Campus
Room Number
H245D

Academic biography

I am an Assistant Professor in Psychotherapy in the School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health at DCU and Chair of the Professional Diploma in Clinical Supervision.

I trained initially as a clinical psychologist (B.A., M.A., M.Psych.Sc., UCD) and then also as a humanistic and integrative psychotherapist (Dip.Psych, Dunlaoghaire Institute of Creative Counselling and Psychotherapy), followed later by a Doctorate in Psychotherapy (London Metanoia Institute/Middlesex University). I am an Associate Fellow of the Psychological Society of Ireland, and an accredited member and supervisor with the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy.

I have also trained as a group analyst with UCD/St. Vincent's University Hospital (contact hlc@dcu.ie for details about group analytic psychotherapy being conducted by Aisling in DCU's Healthy Living Centre).  

I have worked in various settings over the last 30 years, including the Irish prison service, community-based and inpatient adult psychiatric services, a community care HSE service for children and adolescents, and private practice. Having engaged in sessional teaching through most of my career, I took up this full-time academic post in DCU in 2015, which has facilitated development of my specialist teaching and research interests in clinical supervision and practitioner development. 

Research interests

My research work explores the field of practitioner competence, aiming to contribute to our understanding of  what facilitates and enables best practice from training to retirement.

My main research agenda involves exploring and developing our understanding of post-qualification clinical supervision, its intricacies and challenges, and how it may facilitate continued professional development and resilience for practitioners throughout their careers.

I also engage in research in relation to mental health practitioner training, exploring key issues such as mandatory personal therapy, personal development groups and supervision during training. 

I also supervise Doctorate and Master's students in relation to various aspects of psychotherapy and supervision practice, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods methodologies.