Cara is a Clinical Psychologist and is a Graduate member of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Across her training and experiences to date, Cara has worked with Autistic adults and children across a range of contexts. She has a particular interest in the experience of neurodiversity and trauma

Cara completed her BSc in Psychology in Queen’s University Belfast. Cara won research scholarships and completed these during the summer of her first year at university. Her research focused on understanding the sensory integration processing of autistic adolescents, in relation to postural control. Her undergraduate research extended this research to examine any sensory integration differences between autistic adolescents and adults. During her undergraduate degree, Cara volunteered with and co-facilitated a youth group for autistic early adolescents. Cara completed her MSc in Applied Psychology at Ulster University in Derry. Whilst completing her Master’s, Cara also worked part-time as a researcher for Queen’s University Belfast as the lead for a project which developed a cognitive training video game to help improve task switching abilities in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome, to in turn reduce incidences of temper outbursts. She designed and ran focus groups with autistic children and adolescents to gather feedback on the draft version of the video game, as there are some similar experiences and traits between autistic individuals and individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome

Following the completion of her Master’s, Cara moved to Cork and worked for as an assistant Forensic Psychologist. She commenced her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University College Cork in September 2019. Across her placements she worked with autistic adults who also had co-occurring mental health difficulties, with autistic adolescents, and with autistic young people who were also experiencing difficulties such as Selective Mutism. Cara also completed diagnostic assessments with young children and provided support to families. During her specialist placement, Cara worked in the Adult ADHD Tertiary Care service where she completed diagnostic assessments, provided therapeutic intervention, and ran support groups for adults with ADHD. In this service, Cara worked with several autistic adults who were also diagnosed with ADHD. Prior to joining the Adult Autism Practice, Cara was the clinical lead for a cocaine specific project in an addiction support service across Cork and Kerry and, through this project, she worked with a number of neurodivergent individuals who were struggling with addiction. Cara adopts a neuroaffirmative approach in her work, working from an integrative perspective and using a trauma informed lens