Child and play therapy for Dublin families

Dublin has more child therapists than anywhere else in the country, so the first question is a fair one: why would you drive out of the city?

Two answers, and neither is that we are better.

The first is waiting. Dublin services, public and private, are under real pressure, and a family that can travel sometimes gets seen sooner.

The second is fit. We are a small not-for-profit practice run by two child and adolescent psychotherapists, working with children aged 4 to 18 and with the adults around them. A lot of our work is with children in foster and residential care, and with families dealing with trauma and loss. If that is what you are looking for, the drive may be worth it. If it is not, there are excellent people closer to you and we will say so.

Which parts of Dublin this realistically works for

South and west Dublin, along the M7 corridor. Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan, Rathcoole, Newcastle, Saggart and Citywest are roughly thirty-five to forty-five minutes outside peak traffic.

From north Dublin, weekly in-person therapy is a stretch we would not encourage. It is not the distance so much as the hour of the day — a session that has to be after school is a session that has to be driven in traffic.

Coming against the commute helps. An early evening appointment travelling out of the city is a very different journey from the same trip at half four.

Online, which for Dublin is often the sensible answer

We offer online sessions for teenagers, and for parents and foster carers who want support of their own. For a Dublin family with an older child, that removes the one genuine obstacle.

For teenagers especially, online often works better than people expect. Talking from your own room, without a waiting room and a car journey either side, suits a lot of young people who would find the whole production of going somewhere off-putting.

Play therapy for younger children is in person only — the sand tray, the figures and the room are the work, and that does not translate to a screen. If your child is young, Dublin has a great many play therapists closer to you, and we would rather say that than have you drive out of the city every week.

​For Dublin social workers, agencies and residential services

We work with Tusla teams, private fostering agencies and residential providers, and we take referrals for children in care.

For residential services, consultation and reflective practice for a staff team is often the higher-value input, and that can be delivered on site.

Get in touch

Ring 085 711 5668 or email contact@safesteps.ie. We would rather have a straight conversation about whether we are the right fit than have you drive out of Dublin to find out.

Where we work: Kildare · Laois · Carlow · Kilkenny · Offaly · Wicklow · Mullingar and Westmeath · Online sessions