Our Team.

Our Champions of Change

Rebecca Sheridan

CEO

Rebecca is an experienced and dedicated manager with over nineteen years’ experience working across several areas/disciplines within the non-profit sector. Since the inception of Gerri’s Place Rebecca has completed Mental Health in the Community in UCC, graduated from the Ideas Academy run by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and Rethink Ireland Social Enterprise Course. She has also completed a certificate course in Personal Medicine Coaching with Pat Deegan. Rebecca is passionate about making positive changes within the mental health and wellness sector. Her advocacy with her mother Gerri and ongoing learning have given her a unique insight into the sector.

Our Advisors

Kirsty Kirkwood

Clinical Director, Traveller Counselling Service

Kirsty Kirkwood is Clinical Director of the Traveller Counselling Service, having formerly served as Chief Executive Officer of Living Life Counselling. Kirsty qualified as a psychotherapist with Turning Point and holds an MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling from DCU. She is an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor with IACP. Prior to training as a psychotherapist Kirsty worked in financial services where she was a director with Investor Fund Services and a vice-president of human resources with State Street. She has an MA in Strategic HRM from Coventry University and is a Fellow of the CIPD.

Robert Barry

Counsellor and Psychotherapist

Robert currently works with the HSE National Counselling Service and Counselling in Primary Care. He has previously held roles with Pieta House, Maynooth University, Mental Health Ireland, The Human Flourishing Project, and Aiséirí. He completed a Master’s in Person-Centred Experiential Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice at the University of Nottingham. Before becoming a therapist, Robert worked as a secondary school teacher in both mainstream and special needs education settings. He is an accredited member of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Deirdre Ruane

Michael Norton

Research Lead & Volunteer

Michael John Norton has been a volunteer with Gerri’s Place since its inception in 2021. In this role, Michael leads a research group whose current activities include an evaluation of Gerri’s Place. When Michael is not with Gerri’s Place, he is also a Recovery and Engagement Programme Lead with the HSE Office of Mental Health Engagement and Recovery, a part-time Lecturer with UCC, a dissertation supervisor with the RCSI and also as an early careers researcher with interest specifically in mental health including co-production, recovery, peer support work, alternative approaches to mental health treatment, and evidence-based practices.

Nurse, Social Prescriber

Deirdre is a qualified nurse midwife with significant experience in the
Health Sector.
She has been involved for a number of years in overseas development
projects in many roles from a volunteer ( nurse / midwife in Rwanda post
genocide to , acting country director there . In Ethiopia she undertook the
role as development fundraiser for Vita and was , responsible for organising
high altitude runs and walks for Irish groups wishing to raise funds for
worthy projects . On her return from Rwanda, she worked in Saint Francis
Hospice Raheny as a palliative care nurse. She currently works as Social
Prescriber community connector with the integrated care team for the older
person in Dublin north .Deirdre has seen first-hand the value a holistic
approach to health and well-being can have and she is passionate about
ensuring the person is at the centre of all decisions in relation to their
health.