Brendan O’Brien

MA BA (Psychotherapy) HDipEd MIACP

A retired Lecturer in Psychotherapy at MTU, Ireland, Brendan is the Director of Family Constellations Ireland. A former Vice-Chair of ISCA, he has been involved in Constellation Work for over 25 years.  He worked as a School Principal in Special Education for ten years. 

Brendan and his wife, Eileen, have been studying the phenomenon that is suicide as “more than a by-product of psychiatric disorder” for the last ten years. In an effort to use innovative research methods to generate new knowledge, they have employed a Family Constellations lens to help gain insight into suicide and suicidal ideation. Working directly with families they explore cultural and contextual perspectives in suicidology “to change our focus from explaining to understanding” (Hjelmeland, 2011).

Their research on suicide serves as a backdrop to their Family Constellation Training and Workshops that help individuals, families and a variety of professionals deepen their knowledge and understanding of Family Constellations in the service of Life. Adopting a Phenomenological Stance allows new insights to surface in their own good way and at the right time. 

Brendan and Eileen have spent most of their working lives supporting families and communities touched by unemployment, addiction, crime, poverty, trauma and a range of mental health difficulties. They bring their deep-rooted Celtic approach to the work. 


Link to Article on Suicide – https://iacp.ie/files/UserFiles/IJCP-Articles/2017/The-Importance-of-Qualitative-Research-in-Psychotherapy-Looking-at-Suicide-Through-a-Family-Constellations-Lens-by-Brendan-OBrien.pdf

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