Ellsy O’Neill (M.Pscyh)
My name is Ellsy and I am originally from Ireland. Based in Paris, I work with clients online and in person. I support globally-minded professionals and couples navigating change, with a relational and collaborative approach grounded in psychological insight.
THE STORY BEHIND MY PRACTICE
I’ve always been drawn to stories. Growing up in a home filled with books, I became interested in how people make meaning through language, narrative, and culture. Studying French deepened this through existentialism and semiology, and how identity is shaped through interpretation.
This curiosity led me to narrative therapy, which offered a clinical way of understanding how people organise experience and change through the stories they carry. Alongside this, training in Pilates and massage shaped an embodied understanding of how experience is held in the body.
Later work in neurotechnology and performance contexts for elite athletes expanded this perspective, focusing on how cognitive, emotional, and physical systems interact under pressure.
Today, I bring these strands together in an integrative practice that combines psychological insight, relational work, and attention to both narrative and embodied experience.
HOW I’M QUALIFIED TO HELP YOU
I hold two Master of Science degrees: one in Psychology (awarded with distinction and accredited by the British Psychological Society) and one in Design for Mental Health Solutions (First Class Honours). I work in line with the BPS Code of Ethics and engage in ongoing clinical supervision and professional development to ensure a high standard of care.
My clinical training includes Motivational Interviewing (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers), Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT), and Advanced Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, completed at the Albert Ellis Institute in New York and REBT UK. I have also studied Narrative Therapy at the Institute of Narrative Therapy in London and Transactional Analysis at the École d’Analyse Transactionnelle in Paris.
My earlier work in journalism and product design informs how I think about communication, systems, and how people make meaning under pressure. Alongside my client work, I continue to provide product development and service design consulting in the neurotech, performance psychology, and mental health sectors, further informing my applied therapeutic approach.
THERAPEUTIC PHILOSOPHY
Therapy is a space where change and growth emerge through human connection. I believe that any moment can become a turning point in a person’s story when they’re given a chance to pause, reflect, and consider the directions open to them. In sessions, we work to understand the situations, patterns, and pressures that are keeping you stuck, gaining insight and practicing deliberate change.
CLINICAL RESEARCH & INTERESTS
I have a special interest in cross-cultural psychology, working with people who move between worlds, whether through relocation, growing up across cultures, or building relationships that bridge them. I also focus on performance psychology, supporting those striving to balance ambition with wellbeing and turn pressure into purposeful growth.
I have published research showing how resilience and self-efficacy emerge from integrating temporal, physical, and social dimensions of the self, where belonging, time perspective, and somatic awareness work together to support adaptive growth. I have also designed evidence-based creative tools for therapists that help clients translate insight into actionable strategies to support real-world change.
Bringing these clinical and research interests into applied practice, I work with internationally-mobile clients to navigate cultural transitions while maintaining connection and a sense of belonging across shifting environments.
With performance-focused clients, the resilience framework I designed supports focus under pressure and adaptability in the face of setbacks. Across all clients, insights from my research and therapeutic tools guide a systems-based approach, combining evidence and creativity to turn understanding into meaningful change.
“Hope is not a trait inside people. Hope is something we ‘do’ with others.”
MY GUIDING PRINCIPLES
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Experience therapy rooted in kindness and understanding. In sessions, you’re met with genuine compassion, which helps you extend that care inward to cultivate self-acceptance and outward to strengthen your relationships with others.
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I champion creativity as a spirit of imagination and experimentation. Together, we explore new ways of thinking and responding, uncovering approaches that help you shift old patterns. By embracing curiosity and experimentation, we foster fresh perspectives and new ways of engaging with life.
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Openness to change guides our work. We honor your capacity to evolve, helping you process challenges, gain clarity, and move forward with purpose. Through reflection and practical exercises, you consolidate insights, strengthen resilience, and stretch beyond your current limits.
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Therapy requires courage: facing emotions, being vulnerable, and sharing your experiences. Practicing this in session strengthens your confidence to tackle challenges and pursue your goals beyond therapy.