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Carr, Alan
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Carr, Alan
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Carr, Alan
Research Output
Now showing 1 - 10 of 214
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Physical child abuse: A comprehensive family based approach to treatment
2000, Carr, Alan
Physical abuse within the family may be conceptualized as the outcome of a complex process in
which a child with particular characteristics which rendered him or her vulnerable to abuse, is injured
by a parent involved in an ongoing problematic behaviour pattern, subserved by particular belief
systems and constrained by historical, contextual and constitutional predisposing factors. When
families are referred by statutory child protection agencies to therapy services for treatment, initially a
contract for comprehensive assessment should be established with the family and referrer.
Assessment should involve interviews with all members of the child system and should cover relevant
risk and protective factors and a verbal reconstruction of the abusive incident. A contract for treatment
may be offered if the assessment shows that the parents accept responsibility for the abuse, are
committed to meeting their child's needs, are committed to improving their own psychological wellbeing
and where they have the ability to change. Treatment should be based on clear contracts to
meet specific targets. Treatment and case management plans involve a central focus on improving
parent-child interaction through direct work with parents and children together. This may be
supplemented with couples work, interventions in the wider system and individual work for parents
focusing on parent-craft and the management of personal difficulties such as mood and anger
regulation. Children may also receive input in therapeutic pre-school placements.
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A review of C. Keane, C. (1993). Nervous breakdown, Dublin: Columba
1994, Carr, Alan
In Keane's book, an attempt is made to demystify the way in which mental health professionals deal with a number of different manifestations of psychological stress.
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Evidence based practice in counselling and psychotherapy
2001, Carr, Alan
Since Eysenck's (1952) challenging claim over 40 years ago, that there is little evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy, there has been a mushrooming of empirical work on psychological intervention for a wide variety of problems. There is now considerable evidence for the efficacy of individually based psychotherapy and family based interventions for many intrapsychic, interpersonal and medical difficulties for both adults and children.
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Clinical psychology and child protection
2000, O'Brien, Elaine, Carey, Sean, Carr, Alan
In this 1998 postal survey of 140 clinical psychologists working in eight Health Boards and Voluntary agencies in the Republic of Ireland, it was found that clinical psychologists from child mental health, adult mental health and services for people with physical and intellectual disabilities were involved in child abuse and protection work. Clinical psychologists' child protection work spanned a number of domains including validation, general assessment, risk assessment, treatment of victims and offenders, consultation with other disciplines, administration and report writing, prevention, research and providing staff support.
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The Effectiveness of Psychotherapy. A Review of Research prepared for the Irish Council for Psychotherapy
2007-06, Carr, Alan
One in four people suffer from mental health problems, so mental health problems are a major national and international challenge. Psychotherapy is an effective intervention for a wide range of mental health problems in people of all ages. The average success rate for treated cases ranges from 65 to 72%.
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A comparison of two CSA treatment programmes
2004, Nolan, Margretta, Carr, Alan, O'Flaherty, Anne, et al.
The development of effective treatment programmes to ameliorate the sequelae of CSA is imperative. Ideally such programmes should address intrapsychic psychological difficulties through individually based child-focused interventions; peer-related interpersonal problems through group-based interventions; and difficulties within the family and wider social network through family therapy and systemic interventions. It would be expected that some programmes might be more effective than others for young people with particular constellations of difficulties and that programmes that combined two or more therapeutic modalities might be more effective than more narrowly focused programmes.
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Evaluation of the Genesis Counselling Service
2004, Carr, Alan, Lange, Gregor, Kennedy, Jo
Corduff Counselling Service was the forerunner of the Genesis Psychotherapy Family Therapy Service (hereafter referred to as Genesis). It was established in 1993 by the Corduff Community Core Group as a community service to provide psychotherapy and counselling to individuals, couples and families in Corduff and the Greater Blanchardstown area. It was initially set up and managed by voluntary staff, who had trained at the Clanwilliam Institute, to provide a systemic family therapy service to clients in the local community. Over an 11 year period the service has developed considerably in size and professionalism and now serves the Dublin 15 area or Community Care Area 6. The aim of this service evaluation and review was to assess the effectiveness of Genesis and identify the optimal path for future development.
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Leaves on a stream: The effectiveness of a mindfulness-based exercise on the frequency, and difficulty in "letting go" of, anxious self-statements
2013-07, Hartnett, Daniel, Carr, Alan
A controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effect of a brief mindfulness-
based intervention on the frequency, and difficulty in "letting go" of anxious self-
statements. Each day for a week participants in the treatment group (n = 28) listened
to the Leaves on a Stream mindfulness exercise (LeJeune, 2012), while those in the
control group (n = 29) listened to a passage of prose of equal duration. The mean
scores of both groups improved from pre- to post-intervention. However, after
intervention, the treatment group did not display lower frequency or difficulty in
letting go of anxious self-statements than the control group. Explanations for, and
practical implications of, these results are discussed.
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The classification of problems in clinical child & family psychology
1996, Carr, Alan
In clinical child and family psychology classification has three main functions.
First, it permits information about particular types of child and family problems
to be ordered in ways that allow for the growth of a body of expert knowledge
about different types of problems. This information typically includes the
accurate clinical description of a problem and the identification of factors
associated with the etiology, maintenance, course and possible management plans
effective in solving the problem. Such expert information constitutes the basis for
sound clinical practice. Second, classification systems allow for the development
of epidemiological information about the incidence and prevalence of various
problems. This sort of information is particularly useful in planning services and
deciding how to prioratize the allocation of sparse resources. Third, classification
systems provide a language through which clinicians and researchers
communicate with each other.
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History of family therapy in Ireland. 1. A bird's-eye view
2013-01, Carr, Alan
This paper presents an overview of the history of family therapy in Ireland. Profiles of key figures in the development of family therapy in Ireland are contained in a companion paper. In Ireland family therapy is a small profession, with under 200 registered therapists. The Irish family therapy movement began in the mid-1970s. By 1980 the Family Therapy Network of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Branch of the UK Association Family therapy had been founded. At present there are three main family therapy training centres in Ireland: two in the south (the Mater Hospital, affiliated to University College Dublin and Clanwilliam Institute) and one in the north (at Queen’s University Belfast). These centres run professional family therapy training programmes accredited by national and European psychotherapy associations, with which family therapists register. Accredited professional family therapy programmes in Ireland are 4-year part-time courses culminating in masters level qualifications. A primary degree in medicine, nursing, psychology, social science or education is a prerequisite for entry. The curriculum includes academic tuition and research, clinical practice, and personal development. Family therapists in Ireland work in both private practice and the public health service. Most family therapists in the public sector are employed as social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists or nurses, and conduct family therapy as part of their broader professional roles. Couple therapy in Ireland is provided by family therapists, and also by voluntary couple counsellors based in networks of local centres, some of which were established by religiously affiliated organizations, without a formal connection to national family therapy associations. The three major future challenges for Irish family therapy are creating a research infrastructure, developing a career structure in the public health service, and introducing statutory registration.