Arcadia Ireland

The College of Global Studies' Dublin Center is proud to announce that our Assistant Director, Gráinne Hand, has just received her formal accreditation from the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy!

Gráinne began her journey toward becoming a counsellor in 2005, when she completed a one year counselling skills course in NUI Maynooth. Left with a huge interest in the process of counselling and psychotherapy, she then proceeded to undergo three years of intense training as part of the Graduate Diploma programme at Dundalk Counselling and Therapy Centre in Co. Louth. This programme was led by a number of psychotherapists and tutors, as well as psychiatrists from the Louth and Northern Ireland region (including Queens University in Belfast). As part of Gráinne's training, she completed a supervised piece of intensive research entitled, "The Stress Impact of Study Abroad on American Students in Ireland". Gráinne's research participants included counsellors at the Trinity College Dublin counselling service as well as past undergraduate American students who had studied in Ireland. In her final year of training she completed a one year internship at the Dublin Counselling and Therapy Center in Dublin City Center. Gráinne qualified as a counselor/psychotherapist in Spring 2010 and continued to work towards accreditation in private practice on a part-time basis. In 2013 Gráinne completed her 600 hours of client work and received accreditation through the IACP. Gráinne continues to use her counseling skills and experience with study abroad students. This empowers her in her supporting role at Arcadia University.

Congratulations, Gráinne!