Dr. Nicola O’Sullivan

I am an Independent Social Care Consultant to organisations and teams in Ireland and the UK. I am a Visiting Lecturer with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust on their Social Work and Social Care Doctorate Programme, and a visiting lecturer and tutor at the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin. I am also a visiting lecturer at MTU on their Master of Arts in Art Therapy course and a consultant with Careers In-depth. Since 2021, my colleague Dr Anne Golden and I have been working with the SATU (Sexual Assault Treatment Units) Team, providing professional therapeutic spaces and group reflective practice to frontline forensic nurses and doctors.

I have worked with children and families in community and residential settings in Ireland since 2001. I am also a clinical supervisor to frontline practitioners and senior leaders in child and family services and private organisations. I have a special interest in teams at work in health, education, and social care settings. Much of my work includes facilitating reflective practice spaces for leadership teams in social care and social work in Ireland and the UK. Alongside this, I provide consultancy to senior leaders.

I hold a Master’s in Child Protection and Welfare, a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Supervision, and a Professional Doctorate in Social Care and Emotional Wellbeing. My professional doctorate training has allowed me to study and practice clinical work in a leading mental health setting.

My continued work at the Tavistock and in frontline practice settings has challenged me to consider diversity, race, and complexity as central aspects of our work in health, social care, and social work organisations. My research interests include complexity at work, supervision, leadership and consultancy, and reflective practice.

LEADERSHIP CONSULTANCY

In my consulting work with organisations, I’ve been involved in supporting senior leaders to think about themselves in their role at work. Together we have reflected on their senior teams and getting the most from people at work.

What especially interests me is to observe organisations at work. To consider what motivates people, how to get the most out of people while attending to their wellbeing and personal and professional growth. My capacity to relate and engage and to think with a wide variety of people at work is what most leaders find supportive.

EXPERIENCE

Visiting Lecturer at The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. 2020-Present
Clinical Supervisor to Frontline Practitioners in Health and Social Care
Guest Lecturer at the Munster Technology University. 2020 – Present
Visiting Lecturer and Tutor at Trinity College Dublin. 2014 – Present
Associate at Ag Eisteacht. 2020 – 2022
The Bessborough Centre. Head of Research, Education and Training 2009 – 2018
Founding Member of BASCPAN – Irish Branch 2014 – 2017

Family Support

Working with parents and children is some of the most challenging and rewarding work I do. Especially because it takes humility and care and thoughtfulness. Parents and children are the experts in their own lives. Introducing an outsider like me into a family system can feel challenging and exposing.

So I try to be mindful of my presence and to take great care in the work that I do. My main objective in this work is to try to create space with families to think about their experiences and to begin to make sense of them in a safe and trusting relationship.

This isn’t always possible to achieve but a lot can be learned that can be helpful to all members of the family. In order to do this work attention to my own practice is essential and so my own supervision and reflective practice are critical and something I prioritise.

Supervision Consultation Group

The Autumn group is now sold out. The next group will reopen and start in March 2025. For inquiries, please get in touch with me at info@drnicolaosullivan.ie.

High-quality supervision is an essential element in the developmental process of health and social care practitioners. Effective supervisor support and ongoing supervision of one’s own supervision, known as meta-supervision, are key ingredients in the success of supervisors.

In the autumn, I will be offering a Meta-Supervision/Supervision Consultation Group Space. This group space is open to supervisors in the health, education, social work, and social care fields who regularly provide supervision to frontline practitioners. Ideally, supervisors will have completed some formal training, but this is not essential.

This group is open to a maximum of five professionals, so places are very limited. Please register here to book your place and/or to ask further questions.