Psychology Service


Irish Prison Psychology Service 

The Irish Prison Psychology Service is a national, public service, employed directly by the Irish Prison Service (IPS).  Psychologists work as part of a broad clinical and operational multi-disciplinary team (MDT) across the prison estate. The prison population is a community of approximately 4,000 men and women (aged 18 – 80+).  At any one time approximately 47-50% of the total prison population are currently engaging with or waiting to see a psychologist (approx. 2000 people).  Of this, approximately 60% of referrals received are specifically associated with mental health need and the remainder in relation to offence related need.

The Irish Prison Psychology Service organises its assessment and intervention within an integrated, layered care delivery model, a summary of which is available here.  This layered care model incorporates a number of evidence based mental health and offence related interventions at different layers of intensity which best reflects the multiple and complex needs of people in custody.  The model is built upon a five-tier framework including ‘whole population approaches – primary care – secondary care – tertiary care – consultation’.  It acknowledges that clients commonly move between different tiers of service provision in their recovery journey and may often benefit from services at different levels of intensity.  Comprehensive, collaborative assessment is required which leads to a clear intervention pathway for service users.  Therefore, for example, an individual may be assessed as experiencing both panic attacks in addition to having a history of violence.  Therefore, they would begin work at a lower level of intensity in relation to their experience of panic attacks whilst also being referred for higher intensity services in relation to their violence which may include being offered Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT).

Psychologists have regular contact with community agencies involved in the support and resettlement of people leaving custody (e.g. HSE, NGO’s and private organisations). They also work with the families and carers of those in custody. Where clinically appropriate, Psychologists provide time-limited community intervention(s) to support the transition of clients from custody to community.

Psychologists provide a critical role in support, consultation, education and training to the broader IPS organisation, and provide an evidence informed psychological perspective to policy development and implementation, IPS working groups and staff training.  Psychologists also input to the various professional postgraduate training programmes across Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clinical Presentations

The vast majority of referrals to the psychology service are in relation to any, or a combination of the following:

a) mental health difficulties including, but not exclusive to: Mood and Anxiety (inc. Bi-polar Disorder), Personality Difficulties, (complex) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Self-Harm and Suicidal Behaviour, Eating Disorders, Psychosis and Schizophrenia, Addiction, and

b) offence-specific needs, including the need for formal offence-related risk assessments, preparation of Parole Board reports, offence related group and individual work, complex case consultation and risk management work.

In addition to the above presentations, psychologists work with people presenting with developmental disorders, intellectual difficulties, cognitive decline and traumatic brain injuries.

Staffing

The Irish Prison Psychology Service is made up of a Head of Psychological Services, a Principal Psychologist Manager and currently has 12 Senior Psychologist posts and 24 Psychologist posts.  Each closed prison has a local psychology service made up of a Senior Psychologist, Psychologists and Assistant Psychologists (APs).

APs are employed on a two-year contract and currently the IPS employs 14 APs.

At times, the IPS employs Research Assistants to support the Psychology Service.  Two Research Assistant posts are due to be advertised in the first half of 2023.

Dr Emma Regan – Clinical Psychologist, Head of Psychological Services

Ms Sarah Hume – Principal Psychologist Manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Training opportunities

Clinical and Counselling Psychologists-in-training are provided with supervised placements across the prison estate.

The Irish Prison Psychology Service also has a longstanding relationship with the Masters in Applied Psychology, University College Cork and a number of students complete their placement with the IPS each year.

Qualifications Required

A professional postgraduate qualification in Clinical or Counselling Psychology recognised by the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) is required to work in the Irish Prison Psychology Service.  Applicants with qualifications obtained outside of Ireland must obtain a statement of equivalence in Clinical Psychology from the Department of Health (see below in relation to payment of the application fee). 

Potential applicants should note:

  • Incremental credit is provided by the IPS.
  • Candidates who are considering relocating to Ireland and may have queries or concerns relating to the current Irish validation process, please note the Irish Prison Psychology Service can provide support in relation to this application during your locum contract, including subsidising the application fee of €500. With this support, the statement of equivalence must be achieved within a period of 12 months of starting a locum contract.
  • The IPS engage in an annual recruitment drive for permanent psychologists, typically beginning in May/June of each year. Please visit our recruitment page.
  • Locum Psychologists are employed year-round and those interested should contact CPL Healthcare  ips@cplhealthcare.com

Locations

Irish Prison Psychology Service Headquarters are based at Arbour Hill Prison, Dublin 7.  Psychologists are based throughout the prison estate including:

Leinster: Arbour Hill, Cloverhill, Dochas Centre, Mountjoy and Wheatfield Prisons and Shelton Abbey Open Centre

Connaught: Castlerea

Munster: Cork and Limerick Prisons

Ulster: Loughan House

IPS funding of psychologist training

The IPS have recommenced their funding of psychologist training, with two psychologists on clinical training since September 2022 and two beginning in September 2023.

Continual Professional Development

The Irish Prison Psychology Service prides itself in relation to its emphasis on Continual Professional Development (CPD).  A significant personal-professional CPD budget is allocated to permanent staff on an annual basis, in addition to routine service-wide training such as Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT), Historical Clinical Risk-20v3 (HCR-20v3) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Skills training, amongst others.

Recent service-wide CPD events have included:

  • November 2022: Adults with Autism: Assessment Guidelines, Trauma Informed Care and Neuroaffirmative Practice with Dr Clodagh Cremen;
  • December 2022: Working with Autistic People in Prisons with Dr Anne Sheeran and Dr Andy Innet.

Upcoming CPD events include:

  • March 2023: MBT Training with the Anna Freud Centre;
  • April 2023: HCR-20v3 Training (in-house trained psychologsts)
  • May 2023: Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA) and Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) Training with Prof Stephen Hart.
  • TBC: DBT Skills Training

 

 

Publications

Journal Articles:

Byrne, G., Bogue, J., Egan, R., & Lonergan, E. (2014). “Identifying and Describing Emotions.” Sexual Abuse, 21(1), 599–619. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063214558940

Creavin, A., Murphy, N., & Regan, E. (2022). Young Men’s Experiences of Psychological Formulation as Part of a Care Planning Initiative in the Irish Prison Service. Advancing Corrections, 2, 81–91.

Eidhin, M. N., Sheehy, N., O’Sullivan, M., & McLeavey, B. C. (2002). Perceptions of the environment, suicidal ideation and problem-solving deficits in an offender population. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 7(2), 187–201. https://doi.org/10.1348/135532502760274792

Flynn, A., Spain, E., & Black, E. (2019). Managing life in prison: An exploration of the sentence management of people serving life sentences in the Irish Prison Service. Forensic Update, 131, 40.

Flynn, A., & Costigan, M. (2020). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: A multidisciplinary model. Irish Probation Journal, 17, 151-167. http://www.probation.ie/en/PB/Pages/WP20000032

Flynn, A. (2020, November). The sentence management of people serving life sentences in Ireland. Garda Review, 11(48).

Gallagher et al. (2022) – Serious Violence in the IPS – Exploring the Experiences of Prison Officers and Prisoners under the VDP Policy

Gallagher, O. (2019). Addressing serious violence in the Irish prison service: Exploring the experiences of prisoners and prison officers. The International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology Newsletter, 50 (4), 1 – 4.

Gallagher, O. (2018). Psychologically informed support for staff working in forensic settings (symposium summary). Forensic Update, 128, 22-23. ISSN: 2050-7348 (Online).

Marron, S., Dempsey, M., Regan, E., McGowan, C., Dorai-Raj, C., & Betts-Symonds, G. (2022). Social Intervention Supporting Rehabilitation of People in Custody: Insights for Working With Excluded Populations. The Irish Psychologist, 45(1), 11–14. https://online.fliphtml5.com/gypz/pbmt/#p=13

Marsa, F., O’Reilly, G., Carr, A., Murphy, P. V., O’Sullivan, M. E., Cotter, A., & Hevey, D. (2004). Attachment Styles and Psychological Profiles of Child Sex Offenders in Ireland. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(2), 228–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260503260328

 

Conference Presentations:

Flynn, A. (2019, October 12). Managing life in prison: An exploration of the sentence management of people serving life sentences in the Irish Prison Service [Oral presentation]. Psychological Society of Ireland Early Graduate Group Annual Conference, Maynooth, Ireland.

Flynn, A. (2020, November 18-20). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: A multidisciplinary model [Oral presentation]. Criminology Consortium First Annual Meeting.

Flynn, A. (2021, July 7-9). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: Developing individualised sentence plans [Oral presentation]. British Society of Criminology Annual Conference.

Flynn, A. (2021, September 8-10). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: Developing individualised sentence plans [Oral presentation]. European Society of Criminology Annual Conference.

Flynn, A. (2021, November 18-19). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: Developing individualised sentence plans [Oral presentation]. The Best of the Worst and the Permanently Bad: Life-Sentenced Prisoners.

Flynn, A. (2022, June 28 – July 1). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: Developing individualised sentence plans [Oral presentation]. British Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Guildford, England.

Flynn, A. (2022, September 21-24). The management of people serving life sentences in Ireland: Developing individualised sentence plans [Oral presentation]. European Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Málaga, Spain.

Gallagher, O., Regan, E. & O’ Reilly, G. (2020, June 16-18). Addressing Serious Violence in the Irish Prison Service: Exploring the Perspectives of Prisoners and Prison Officers through the PTMF [Conference session]. British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology Annual Conference, Solihull, UK. https://www.bps.org.uk/events/division-forensic-psychology-annual-conference-2020. (Conference cancelled).

Gallagher, O., Regan, E. & O’ Reilly, G. (2020, May 12-14). Experience of Prison Officers in the National Violence Reduction Unit [Conference session]. 3rd International Correctional Research Symposium, Porto, Portugal. https://na.eventscloud.com/ehome/503925/1047314/. (Conference cancelled).

Gallagher, O. (2019, October). Addressing serious violence and disruption in the Irish prison service: Exploring the experiences of prisoners and prison officers. Paper presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland Early Graduate Group Conference, Maynooth, Ireland.

Gallagher, O., O’ Reilly, G. & Regan, E. (2019, June). Managing serious violence and disruption in the Irish prison service: Prisoner and prison officer experiences. Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology Annual Conference, Liverpool, UK.

Gallagher, O., O’ Reilly, G. & Regan, E. (2019, May). Addressing serious violence and disruption in the Irish prison service: Exploring the experiences of prisoners and prison officers. Paper presented at the University College Dublin Graduate Research Student Symposium, Dublin, Ireland.

Gallagher, O., O’ Reilly, G. & Regan, E. (2018, October). Violent and disruptive behaviour in the Irish prison service: An examination of current management. Paper presented at the International Corrections and Prisons Association Annual General Meeting and Conference, Montréal, Canada.