OUR TEAM
Meet Your Facilitators
Elaine Martin is a counselling psychologist with decades of experience in the Irish health service. She explores how family histories, cultural narratives, and social events shape the Irish psyche, and is passionate about making psychology accessible for individual and cultural healing.
Emma Philbin Bowman is a psychotherapist, writer, and group facilitator with a background in philosophy and integrative psychotherapy. Her work weaves embodiment, spiritual practice, and language into spaces of depth and collective emergence.
Dr. Ruby Gibson is a somatic therapist, educator, and author with over 35 years of experience in ancestral trauma healing. Founder of Somatic Archaeology©, she helps people uncover the “gift within the wound” and restore generational harmony.
Patrick Dougherty is a psychologist with over 40 years of clinical practice in trauma therapy. In recent years, he has turned toward his Irish ancestry, discovering how intergenerational trauma has shaped his own healing and identity.
Úna Ní Chiosáin grew up in an Irish-speaking family and now lives in the west of Ireland. She is dedicated to healing through land, language, and ancestry, and has worked in community education for 30 years.
Simon Courtney is a psychotherapist and facilitator working at the intersections of trauma, ancestry, and cultural identity. He founded the Initiative for Irish Integration & Emergence to create spaces for healing inherited wounds and fostering cultural renewal.
David Young is Co-Executive Director of Somatic Experiencing International and a facilitator of collective trauma integration. With over 20 years’ experience, he helps communities and organizations heal from trauma, navigate complexity, and foster resilience.
Beyond the Irish Question is guided by a team of seven facilitators, each bringing a unique constellation of skills, life experience, and deep commitment to this work. The team has been gathered with great care and intention, grounded in trauma-informed principles and a shared dedication to holding this exploration with integrity.
Every member brings a particular expertise and passion: from psychology, somatic practice, and ancestral healing to language, culture, and collective processes. Together they offer different perspectives that enrich the field, bringing depth, nuance, and care to themes that no single lens could illuminate alone. Their presence and commitment form the backbone of this program, ensuring that each session is held with both rigour and compassion.