Event Details:

On Friday 11th September 2015 The Psychologists Protection Society Trust invited Dr Eoin Galavan to speak on the topic of “Working therapeutically with patients who struggle with violent behaviour in a non forensic setting”.  The session was part of the Psychologists Protection Society’s 2015 Annual General Meeting held in London, England.

Session Outline:

Patients who talk about histories of violent behaviour or who engage in violent behaviour during their time in therapy can be amongst the most anxiety provoking to work with therapeutically. Many clinicians will struggle to maintain a therapeutic alliance in the face of reported violence or current aggressive behaviour. This talk will explore the topic of engaging therapeutically with patients who have a history of violent behaviour. The psychology of violence will be overviewed as well as exploring case work with regard to directly intervening with violent behaviour utilising a variety of psychological approaches. An emphasis will be maintained on both patient and therapist safety.

Speaker Information:

Dr Eoin Galavan is a Senior Clinical and Counselling Psychologist in the Health Service Executive and private practice. He works primarily with suicidal clients in both acute inpatient and community outpatient mental health services. Dr Galavan is the Clinical Lead for the North Dublin Suicide Assessment and Treatment Service. Dr. Galavan is formerly team leader for the North Dublin ‘Evolve’ DBT program. Violent behaviour is a common issue in many patients recent and distant past and has frequently become the focus of psychological therapy. Dr Galavan has many years experience applying a variety of psychotherapeutic models to the issue of violence in therapy.