Eating Disorder Programme
Programme Director: Dr John Griffin, Consultant Psychiatrist
Programme Coordinator: Ms Toni O'Connor, Clinical Nurse Specialist

The Eating Disorder Programme caters for people with both anorexia and bulimia, and consists of an inpatient and day care aspect.  It is the main Eating Disorder Programme in the Republic of Ireland and has been operating for over 20 years.  It focuses on weight modification, relaxation techniques, self-assertiveness, body image work and dietetics.  In addition to helping the patient to address specific unresolved emotional complexes, it liases with voluntary organisations such as Bodywhys.

Depression Management Programme
Programme Director: Dr Martina Corry, Consultant Psychiatrist, Assistant Medical Director
Programme Coordinator: Ms Vanessa Dowling, Clinical Nurse Specialist

This is a three week in-house Programme designed for inpatients and day patients who have been diagnosed with depression.  It aims to educate on the causes, varieties and treatments of depression.  The programme also aids coping skills with goal-setting and stress management advice.  The ethos is to facilitate coping with depression rather than allowing it to beat you!

Bipolar Programme
Programme Director: Dr Niamh Farrelly, Consultant Psychiatrist
Programme Coordinator: Ms Sinead Boland, Clinical Nurse Specialist

This is the only specialty programme for Bipolar Disorder in the Republic of Ireland.The mission of the bipolar education programme is to provide psychoeducation,peer support and facilitate insight for those living with bipolar affective disorder and therefore promote wellbeing and reduce the risk of relapse.

Young Adult Programme
Programme Director: Dr Martin McLaughlin, Consultant Psychiatrist
Programme Coordinator: Ms Mary Connellan, Clinical Nurse Specialist

The Young Adult Programme caters for those aged 16-24 yrs and most of its members have depression, anxiety, panic disorder, general emotional difficulties or schizophrenia.  Individual programmes are drawn up for each patient to reflect their needs.  The emphasis is on group work, collaborative effort and insight generation.  The programme has a marked effect on developing self-esteem and emotional bonding and patients find it fulfilling.  While at the Young Adult Programme, patients can also attend the alcohol, depression or bi-polar disorder programmes or participate in any of the therapeutic activities within the hospital that they may require. 

Alcohol Programme
Programme Director: Dr Matt Murphy, Consultant Psychiatrist

The Alcohol Treatment Programme at St Patrick's Hospital has a national profile and is the longest-standing programme in the hospital.  It works closely with Alcoholics Anonymous and the adult children of alcoholics.  Its programme includes didactic lectures, anti-tension training, individual counselling, motivation groups and reality therapy.  It provides a closely monitored aftercare programme for 18 months to two years following discharge from inpatient care, and engages families in the therapeutic process.

Dual Diagnosis Programme
Programme Director: Dr Conor Farren, Consultant Psychiatrist

This newly established programme, the first in the Republic of Ireland, caters for people with alcohol dependence and mood or anxiety disorders, thus it's title.  The co-occurrence of alcohol and other drug dependence in people with depression, bipolar and anxiety disorders is quite common and while many such dual conditions were previously managed through the alcohol programme, more recent experience indicates that patients who have been treated for alcohol dependence in facilities without significant medical input, have not had their mental health problems attended to.  Dr Farren has established a specific support and educational group for such patients and has commenced a training programme for counsellors and therapists.

Anxiety Disorder Programme
Programme Director: Dr Jim Lucey, Consultant Psychiatrist

The Anxiety Disorder programme was established at St. Patrick's Hospital in April 2005 and caters for people suffering from a wide range of anxiety disorders. While anxiety disorders are more common in women, the multi-disciplinary team at St. Patrick's caters for both male and female patients, offering clients a combination of psychiatry, pharmacology, occupational therapy, psychology and family therapy to assist them manage the disorder.

Psychiatry Of Later Life
Programme Director: Dr Declan Lyons, Consultant Psychiatrist

This is an emerging programme which will consist of a unit dedicated to mental health care of the elderly.  It will focus mainly on depression and dementia in later life.  It is envisaged that this will have a rapid assessment containing a brief period of inpatient care, employ techniques to enhance memory functional rehabilitation and utilise its expertise in psychopharmacology.

Memory Clinic
Programme Director: Dr Declan Lyons, Consultant Psychiatrist
This recently established service provides for inpatient assessment of patients with memory difficulties and allows for comprehensive investigation and initiation of treatment where appropriate.  It has inputs from neuropsychology, psychiatry, occupational therapy and neurology.  A team based approach to assessment is known to improve diagnostic accuracy.  MRI Scanning is usually conducted, as is blood testing, ensuring an accurate picture of physical health also.  A treatment plan is developed for each patient and techniques to enhance memory performance are discussed with the patient and families where appropriate. 
Please contact Ms Prisca Coleman at 01-2493437, to discuss admission/referral procedures.

Family Therapy
Family Therapists: Ms Anne Richardson, Ms Marie-Therese Mulholland,
Ms Mara De Lacy, Ms Alison Lane

This is a highly specialised service provided by extensively trained family therapists where the family interactions and dynamics are explored with a view to enabling the family to unravel its difficulties, which have presented as one family member being ill.  The sessions are two hours in length, are facilitated by a family therapist and co-therapist, and referrals to this service are made by Consultant Psychiatrists in St. Patrick's Hospital.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Senior Therapist: Ms Colette Kearns, Cognitive Behavioural Therapist

When this service was originally established as Behavioural Therapy over 20 years ago, it focused mainly on treatment of phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia and psychosexual difficulties.  It takes referrals directly from General Practitioners in addition to referrals from hospital based and external psychiatrists.  Recently, considerable amounts of its work is with people with depression.  Most of its sessions are one-to-one hour long therapy sessions, but more recently a CBT group has been established for the management of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.