About Me

About Me

Brian Harrington, MA, MIACP

I’m a qualified, experienced, and accredited addictions counsellor and generic psychotherapist with over 22 years of hands-on clinical experience in a range of settings — from the prison service, through addiction treatment centres, to my current private practice.

I place great importance on the humanity of my practice of psychotherapy. As well as clinical skill and knowledge, I bring compassion, kindness, curiosity, fascination, and humour into every session.

“I see my therapy room as a sacred space where people can explore things they usually don’t talk about. I approach therapy with an attentive reverence and an attitude of kindness and compassion.”

I place great value on the first stages of therapy. I believe that the act of reaching out and asking for help is a courageous and healing act in itself, and I try to honour that by making the process as smooth as possible — offering a friendly, caring, and non-judgemental service.

How I See Therapy

I view all forms of mental and emotional distress as signs that the nervous system is following long-established laws of nature and evolution, reacting to protect itself. The causes might lie in the past, the present, or in thoughts about the future. All of this is natural — though it rarely feels that way. The work of therapy is to understand and identify what needs to change, and to change it.

Qualifications & Accreditations

  • MA, Counselling & Psychotherapy — University of Bristol
  • 22+ years in full-time clinical practice; qualified as an addictions counsellor in 2004
  • Member, Irish Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (IACP), since 2014
  • Member, Addiction Counsellors of Ireland, since 2013
  • Accredited by the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)
  • Accredited by the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals (FDAP)
  • Trained in EMDR through EMDR UK & Ireland

I have worked across a wide variety of settings, including HM Prison Wandsworth’s addiction rehabilitation wing, residential drug and alcohol treatment centres, and — for the past decade — my own private practice in Dublin.

Call or email Next Step Therapy for a free 15-minute consultation.