Primary Department
School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health
Role
Academic Staff - Psychotherapy
Phone number: 01 700
8542
Email Address
Gemma.Kiernan@dcu.ie
Academic biography
Gemma Kiernan (B.A., Ph.D. PostGrad. Dip. Psychotherapy Cert Child Psychotherapy) is an Associate Professor in Psychotherapy in the School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health at Dublin City University. Gemma is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland and an accredited Psychotherapist with the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Gemma lectures on the Psychotherapy programmes in the School of Nursing and Human Sciences. Her research is predominantly concerned with understanding and improving children’s psychosocial health and development in the areas of illness, disability, and loss.She has published and presented her work at both national and international levels.
Research interests
Gemma's research is predominantly concerned with understanding and improving children’s psychosocial health and development in the areas of illness, disability, and loss. It involves the application of high quality research designs and evidence to practice to maximise the contribution of services in these areas.
Specific objectives include:
To explore children’s and their families and health professionals perceptions and experiences of serious illness, disability and loss;
To identify the factors influencing psychosocial adjustment to serious illness, disability and loss at individual and family level;
To evaluate the effectiveness of service responses in these areas.
