Cross-Border CoE in Psychotherapy - Belfast

20/09/2026

Integration is often understood as bringing different theories or techniques together.

Pluralism asks something further.

It asks how decisions are made, whose preferences shape the work and how the therapist and client determine what may be most helpful together.

The goal is not simply to combine approaches.

It is to collaborate with intention.

What makes therapeutic integration genuinely collaborative?



The Contemporary Institute of Clinical Sexology
A Safe Space to be Me - Emotional Well-being Hub

20/09/2026

And so we begin...

20/09/2026

🚀 We're live!

Welcome to The Cross-Border CoE in Psychotherapy - Belfast

Whether you're a student, qualified practitioner, or considering a career in counselling or psychotherapy, follow us for high-quality training, CPD opportunities, practical resources, and the latest updates.

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fans

20/09/2026

Let's talk about "Relational Repair"

What does repair actually look like after hurt, rupture or disconnection and is repair always possible, or even always desirable?

We’d love therapists to reflect on this with their clients too. Where do you stand on it?

A follow-up post will explore this further.

20/09/2026

It’s shaping up to be a very big 48 hours for A Safe Space to Be Me.

📍 Dublin...

Carolyn is currently here for a strategic planning meeting with The Contemporary Institute of Clinical Sexology, as we begin rapidly accelerating our partnership to significantly strengthen specialist psychotherapy and psychosexual spychotherapy training at all levels, across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

This partnership is about much more than simply delivering courses.

It is about bringing some of the most cutting-edge, specialist psychotherapy training into our communities via the Cross-Border CoE in Psychotherapy - Belfast, increasing access to advanced clinical knowledge, developing highly skilled practitioners and creating opportunities for professionals across the island of Ireland to train in areas of psychotherapy that have traditionally been difficult to access locally.

For A Safe Space to Be Me, this represents another major step in our development.

We have always believed that if we want better outcomes for people, we have to invest in the people supporting them and that means pushing beyond generic provision and creating pathways into specialist, advanced and emerging areas of therapeutic practice.

While in Dublin, we'll also be connecting with other CICS alumni, with some very exciting conversations beginning around collaboration, shared expertise and what we may be able to build together in the very near future.

There is something incredibly powerful about bringing together people with specialist knowledge, different areas of practice and a shared desire to do things differently.

And Dublin is only part of what is shaping up to be an important couple of days.

Over the previous 24 hours, we have also begun making significant headway for another area of work that has been developing quietly in the background. Conversations around advocacy, accountability and how we begin contributing to meaningful, lasting change within both health and criminal justice systems.

That work is separate from our partnership with CICS, and there is much more to come on it.

For now, we are simply beginning to build the relationships, evidence and collective voice needed to take those conversations further.

But today, the focus is Dublin.

Specialist training. New partnerships. New collaborations. Bigger opportunities.

And another significant step forward for A Safe Space to Be Me.

The next 48 hours will be very important indeed. ❤️


fans

18/09/2026

Learning more techniques can expand a therapist’s toolkit.

But expertise is not measured by how many interventions we know.

It is reflected in how thoughtfully we decide:

What might help?
Why might it help?
Is this the right time?
And does it fit this particular client?

Pluralistic practice places therapeutic choice at the centre of the work.

How do you decide which approach to use?

This is the kind of thinking we encourage at CICS @ A Safe Space to Be Me Centre of Excellence, looking beyond single explanations and using contemporary research, pluralistic perspectives and clinical experience to inform teaching and practice.

16/09/2026

Desire

We often hear that desire simply fades over time.

But is that always true?
What does the evidence tell us?
What do experienced therapists notice?
Where might pluralistic thinking help us understand desire through the person, the relationship and the context, rather than through one explanation alone?

Is this something we should be talking about more?

This is the kind of thinking we encourage at CICS @ A Safe Space to Be Me Centre of Excellence, looking beyond single explanations and using contemporary research, pluralistic perspectives and clinical experience to inform teaching and practice.

The Contemporary Institute of Clinical Sexology
A Safe Space to be Me - Emotional Well-being Hub
TheNISexTherapist

15/09/2026

Diploma in Psychosexual & Relationship Therapy | Belfast

Ready to move beyond general practice and develop a genuinely specialist clinical identity?

Our Diploma in Psychosexual & Relationship Therapy is a distinctive, contemporary specialist training programme for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists who want to deepen their clinical practice and progress into the field of psychosexual and relationship therapy.

Designed for the modern practitioner, the programme integrates psychosexual therapy, relationship therapy, contemporary clinical thinking and a sophisticated bio-psycho-social understanding of sexuality, intimacy and relationships within a flexible pluralistic framework.

This is not simply another counselling qualification.

It is a specialist professional pathway designed to support practitioners to build the knowledge, confidence and clinical competence required to work with the increasingly complex sexual and relational presentations seen in practice today.

A contemporary route into specialist practice

The programme combines:

70% in-person learning
30% live online learning
📚 24/7 access to our E-Learning Centre
📅 One specialist training weekend per month
🧠 Integration of multiple evidence-based therapeutic models
❤️ Advanced learning in psychosexual and relationship therapy
🌍 A bio-psycho-social approach to sexuality, intimacy and relationships

The Diploma is accredited at Advanced Specialist Level by NCPS, supporting eligibility for the PSA Accredited Relationship and Psychosexual Therapist Registers.

The programme also provides a professional development pathway towards UKCP membership,
Specialist training for a changing profession

Psychosexual and relationship therapy requires more than learning techniques.

Contemporary. Experiential.
Clinically relevant. Professionally focused.

Delivered from The Cross Border Centre of Excellence in Belfast, creating opportunities for practitioners from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to train within a growing specialist professional community.

January 2027 applications are now open.

If you are a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist ready to develop a specialist career in psychosexual and relationship therapy, this could be your next professional chapter.

🔗 Apply now - link in bio

The Cross Border Centre of Excellence, Belfast
Excellence in Training. Excellence in Practice. Excellence in Impact.

14/09/2026

Come and join us at the Cross Border CoE and begin your journey to a new future.

14/09/2026