Our Panel of Speakers
The counsellors who speak at our courses are all highly trained;
some are available for a counselling session, afterwards.

Angela O'Rourke, M.A. in Theology and Pastoral Ministry. She trained as a marriage guidance counsellor with ACCORD  and worked with them for over ten years. Angela has lectured on the theology of marriage in the Milltown Institute and All Hallows College. For some years she worked with the Dominicans, conducting school retreats for secondary schools. She is a founder member of the “Together” course and presents the session on intimacy, sexuality and family planning. As a mother of five she brings a lively, realistic and humorous perspective to her session.

Berna Brennan, Therapist and Relationship Counsellor. She trained in Counselling and Psychotherapy in Accord and at Trinity College Dublin. She then completed two further years of specialised training in sensory-motor psychotherapy. Certified in Stress Management, she lectures counselling and psychotherapy students in DBS School of Arts and has over twenty years experience in helping individuals and couples. Berna also provides supervision to fellow professionals. Phone:  087. 223. 2815

Brian McDonnell, Trained in counselling with CMAC (ACCORD). Married, with three children, he was an officer in the Irish Army before moving to the Air Corps in 1963; served as CEO to the Irish Aviation Authority from 1994 until retirement in 2003. For many years Brian has generously served, first as a counsellor with ACCORD (15 years) and then as a highly popular speaker on our "Together" course. His session on communication blends a sparkle of wry humour with the realistic wisdom of his long experience in marriage counselling .

David Carrick, B.Sc. (1st Hons) in Counselling and Psychotherapy, a H.Dip. in Adult & Community Ed, and a Certificate in Family Mediation. He is an accredited member of the IACP (Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy).  After 30 years involvement in personnel and training in the business world, he now works as a faculty tutor and trainer in a leading college specializing in counselling and psychotherapy training. David maintains a private psychotherapy practice as well as providing supervision to other professionals and students.

Gillford D'Souza, M.Sc. (Counselling and Psychotherapy) BA ( Hons., Psychology). Former Chairman of the IACP (Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Gillford is an Accredited IACP Practitioner who has worked in this field for the past twenty years. Besides working with individuals and couples he facilitates group work and workshops and provides supervision and training for those in the counselling and psychotherapy profession. He is the director of Awakenings, a centre for Human Development and Healing, at 3 Dodder Park Drive, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. (www.awakening.ie)

John Murphy is a Marriage and Relationship counsellor trained by Accord. With a Masters in Psychology and Theology from All Hallows College Dublin and a Masters in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), he is is an accredited counsellor with the National Association for Pastoral Counselling and Psychotherapy (NAPCP), and a Certified Practitioner in Reality Therapy, an effective and common sense approach to many of life's problems. He also serves as a trainer and facilitator for counselling personnel. John has been self employed in this area, for over 30 years.

Fr Patrick Rogers, DD, MA, A priest of the Passionist order, studied theology and sacred scripture in Rome; has taught Bible Studies in Dublin, Australia and the USA. Trained with the CMAC (ACCORD) counsellor programme and since 1983, with a team of qualified co-workers, has been conducting marriage preparation courses in Dublin. He explains the current Marriage Law in Ireland and conducts the session on Marriage in the Church, which includes the spirituality of Marriage and a detailed look at the couple's choices for shaping their wedding ceremony.