Kenmare Counselling
Gitti Maas (MIACP, M.Ed.)

CCT

CCT Ireland: 
the first CCT Suicide Therapy Centre in Ireland

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  • Worldwide one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds. 
  • Contextual-Conceptual Therapy (CCT) offers the right support for people with suicidal ideation. 
  • CCT sees that feeling suicidal is not an illness, but an identity crisis. 
  • CCT gives the client an opportunity to re-discover their true self and to understand the root of their suicidal thinking. 
  • CCT teaches the suicidal person about their psychological defence mechanisms and provides unique personalized tools for ongoing self-care. 
  • With CCT, the suicidal person's moment of crisis becomes their moment of transformation.


​​​​In May 2018 I founded the first CCT-Centre in Ireland. It opened its doors in my office in Kenmare, Co Kerry. It has been quite a journey to get to this point. It all started in 2014 when I went to the World Suicide Prevention Day Conference in Dublin, where I heard about 'CCT' for the very first time.

Contextual-Conceptual Therapy (CCT) is a new and exciting approach to suicide therapy, developed by Seattle based suicidologist Fredric Matteson. In fact, it is the only therapy model specifically for suicide I am aware of.
 Matteson was the Keynote Speaker at the Conference in Dublin. He has been working with suicidal clients for over 25 years. During this time he learned to understand the core experience of being suicidal by exploring the language of his clients in the midst of their suicidal crises. He recognised that feeling suicidal is not an illness, but a context-bound problem and an identity crisis.
Reasoning, traditional cognitive-behavioural approaches and medication may help the suicidal person for a while - but often cannot really reach the person deeply enough to end their suffering. CCT, in contrast, supports people to understand the root of their suicidal thinking. CCT listens closely to the client's own language and builds upon the client's strength and passion. With the help of metaphors the CCT practitioner guides the client to see themselves in a new context. 
This is a radically new approach that utilises humour, paradox and play.
 CCT is a life-embracing suicide therapy that successfully supports the suicidal client in their endeavour to change the desperate situation they find themselves in.​
With CCT, the client's moment of crisis can become their moment of transformation.

Matteson stood out from the rest of the presenters in Dublin that day. In fact – it deeply touched my heart when I heard him speak from the perspective of a suicidal person, expressing a true understanding of the suffering a suicidal person goes through.
I knew I needed to learn more and have been in close contact with Fredric Matteson, the founder of CCT Suicide Therapy in Seattle, since 2014. I have visited the Seattle CCT Centre several times and have studied CCT extensively.  I am now a CCT Associate (one of three in Europe), and founder of the first CCT Centre in Ireland.
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 Please read my article in the International Journal of Psychiatry for a brief overview on CCT:  

CCT Article

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CCT workshops in Ireland
 IACP CPD Approved (14 CPD points)

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​CCT Level 1 training coming back to Ireland
28th& 29th of MAY 2019

SHEP
The Village Centre 
BALLINCOLLIG, Co. Cork



​This workshop is IACP CPD approved. Participants will be awarded 14 CPD points.
  
 please book your place by contacting me:
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CCT website
To view Fredric Matteson's website, please click the button

RTE interview
Fredric Matteson
To listen to an RTE radio interview with Fredric Matteson, please click the button

​email

Please email me to be added to the CCT mailing list 

television discussion
In September 2017 NBC Seattle affiliate KING 5 television news show New Day Northwest hosts Fredric Matteson for a discussion on the myths and truths of suicide. Please click the button to watch the discussion.

I was invited to speak at the 2018 Annual Congress on Mental Health (July 09 -10) in Paris to introduce Contextual-Conceptual Therapy (CCT) to an international audience of professionals.

The Seattle based CCT Team

Fredric Matteson

Fredric Matteson
Suicidologist /
CCT Therapist, Poet, and   
Keynote Speaker at the 2014 World Suicide Prevention Day Conference in Dublin
"For 25 years I worked as a therapist with over 16,000 suicidal patients on an inpatient mental health unit primarily for suicidal clients. During that time, I  created an educational program for helping suicidal persons called: Contextual-Conceptual Therapy: Guiding the Suicidal Patient using Maps, Models, & Metaphors."
 
                                                                 Fredric Matteson

James Hayes

James Hayes
To listen to an interview with James Hayes talking about CCT,  please click the button below
Suicidologist / CCT Therapist
Radio Interview James Hayes

CCT Associates

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Carolyn E. Wood, CCT-Associate-Scotland
With more than 15 years' experience in the mental health field, Carolyn Wood specializes in the area of suicide, offering counselling, empowerment coaching & creative therapy to support people in reconnecting to their hopes, desires & dreams, and in overcoming the barriers to fulfilling their potential. 
Visit her website Pure Potential Scotland for more information on CCT.  

Athol Henwick - Wexford, Ireland
After qualifying as a counseling psychologist in South Africa in 2000, Athol Henwick worked in private practice, as a student counsellor, and lecturer in psychology.
In 2004 Athol moved to Ireland to work in the Wexford Self Harm Intervention Program (SHIP) as a counsellor for people at risk of suicide or self harm. In 2012, the program expanded, and Athol became the HSE regional coordinator of the service, supervising 25 counsellors.
email: [email protected]
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