Adolescent Mental Health Services

Dr Una Dennison

Dr Una Dennison, MB BAO BCh MRCPsych MD is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist working with St. Patricks Mental Health Service since June 2018 following relocation from London where she worked with the NHS as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.  Dr Dennison has experience working with young people and their families across a wide variety of settings including both out-patient, inpatient and liaison CAMHS.  She has experience leading a Neuro-Developmental / Learning Disability Team in the UK. Dr Dennison has a special interest in inpatient adolescent psychiatry and adolescent eating disorders and has spent time working in a specialist adolescent eating disorders unit at the Priory Hospital, London.  She has also worked in Sydney, Australia.

She has a strong teaching background, having spent 18 months working as a clinical lecturer / tutor in psychiatry in University College Cork and has experience teaching a mixture of audiences at both under-graduate and post-graduate level, including post-graduate, medical and secondary school students, allied health professionals and GP’s. She completed a Masters Degree by Research on immune dysfunction in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and has several publications relevant to this field.

Publications:

Dennison U., Dinan T., 2012. “Schizophrenia patients with a history of childhood trauma have a pro-inflammatory phenotype”.  Psychological Medicine Feb 2012, 23: 1-7
Dennison U., Dinan T., 2012. “Menstrual Cycle influences toll-like receptor responses”. Neuroimmunomodulation 19: 171 – 179
Dennison U., Cassidy E., 2011. “The clinical correlates of lithium toxicity – a retrospective review”.  Irish Journal of Medical Science Vol 180; No 3, 661 – 665
Mc Kernan D., Dennison U., Dinan T., “Enhanced peripheral toll-like receptor responses in psychosis: further evidence of a pro-inflammatory phenotype”.  Translational Psychiatry Aug 2011: 1(8); e36.

She is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists UK as well as the College of Psychiatry of Ireland and is fully compliant with CPD requirements.

Dr Susan Healy

Dr Susan Healy is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, currently working with St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services Dublin. She has worked as a Consultant in outpatient and inpatient settings both in Cork and Dublin since 2012. She has been working with St Patrick’s Adolescent Services since August 2014.

She has a keen interest in cyberbullying and has completed published research in this area, looking at it’s effects on the mental health of young people.

She has also completed a Masters in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for children and adolescents with UCD, and has been trained in Group – Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Her other areas if interest include teaching, which expands to undergraduate students, post graduate students, General Practitioners and teachers.

Dr Healy has had the opportunity to work as a doctor abroad for 3 years and was based in Australia for 2 years and New Zealand for 1 year prior to returning to Ireland to complete her training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr Aileen Murtagh

Dr Aileen Murtagh MB BAO BCh  MRCPsych MCPSychI MSc is a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and Assistant Medical Director with Special Responsibility for Adolescent Mental Health Services in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services. Her special interests include Gender Dysphoria, early onset psychosis, e-learning and mental health training for teachers. She has years of experience working with young people and their families in a wide variety of settings.

She has been involved in teaching a wide range of groups including GPs, teachers, Special Needs Assistants, educational psychologists, parents, allied health professionals, medical students, postgraduate psychiatric trainees and secondary school students. She has developed blended learning courses for the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland and interactive e-learning courses for teachers.

She has been a guest lecturer in UCD, Trinity College, Church of Ireland College of Education, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, NUIGalway and teacher education centres in Tallaght, Drumcondra and Athlone

Academic & professional qualifications

• Bachelor of Medicine, MB BAO BCh (Hons); National University of Ireland, Galway
• Masters in CBT for Children & Adolescents (First Class Hons) Msc
• Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CSCST)
• Member of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland MCPsychI
• Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK MRCPsych

Research & publications

She has published and presented nationally and internationally on early onset psychosis, mental health training for teachers, ADHD and bipolar disorder. A few of these publications are listed below: 

Psychotic symptoms, functioning and coping in adolescents with mental illness.
Johanna Wigman, Nina Devlin, Ian Kelleher, Aileen Murtagh, Michelle Harley, Anne Keogh, Carol Fitzpatrick, Mary Cannon.
BMC Psychiatry 2014, 14:97 

Psychotic experiences in a mental health clinic sample: implications for suicidality, multimorbidity and functioning.
Ian Kelleher, Nina Devlin, Johanna Wigman, Anne Keogh, Aileen Murtagh, Carol Fitzpatrick, Mary Cannon.
Psychological Medicine 2013 Sep 12:1-10

Neurocognitive performance of a community-based sample of young people at putative ultra high risk for psychosis: Support for the processing speed hypothesis.
Ian Kelleher, Aileen Murtagh, Mary Clarke, Jennifer Murphy, Caroline Rawdon, Mary Cannon.
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry  2012 DOI:10.1080/13546805.2012.682363. 

Identification and Characterization of Prodromal Risk Syndromes in Young Adolescents in the Community: A Population-based Clinical Interview Study
Ian Kelleher, Aileen Murtagh, Charlene Molloy, Sarah Roddy, Mary Clarke, Michelle Harley, Mary Cannon
Schizophrenia Bulletin 2012; 38(2): 239-46 

Structural and functional brain correlates of subclinical psychotic symptoms in 11 to 13  year old schoolchildren.
Sarah Jacobson, Ian Kelleher, Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh, Mary Clarke, Mathieu Blanchard, Colm Connolly, Erik O’Hanlon, Prof Hugh Garavan, Prof Mary Cannon.
Neuroimage 2010 Jan 15; 49(2): 1875-85.

 Psychotic Symptoms in Children and Adolescents.
Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh, Ian Kelleher, Prof Mary Cannon.
In: Adolescent Schizophrenia, JT Nillinghouse & RP Trotman: Nova Science Publishers, Inc (US) 2009, pgs 39-52. 

Are Screening Instruments Valid for Psychotic-Like Experiences?
A Validation Study of Screening Questions for Psychotic-Like Experiences using In-Depth Clinical Interview.
Ian Kelleher, Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh Prof  Mary Cannon.
Schizophrenia Bulletin  First published online June 19, 2009 

Conduct disorder: psychiatry’s greatest opportunity for prevention.
Dr Michelle Harley, Dr Aileen Murtagh, Prof Mary Cannon.
Psychological Medicine 2008 Jul 38(7): 929-31

Aaron Swift