Pól Ó Mórdha Trinity College Dublin
Portrait of Pól Ó Mórdha by the Atlantic

Pól Ó Mórdha

(Paul Moore)

Assistant Professor and Course Director, MSc in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Trinity College Dublin. Training Analyst with the Irish Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Associate Editor of Neuropsychoanalysis.

Currently — Keynote on foetal sleep cycles at the Neuropsychoanalysis of Infancy Congress (Rome, May 2026). Presenting at the 25th NPSA World Congress (Barcelona, June 2026). Invited talk on neuropsychoanalysis and the arts at NYPSI (October 2026). Completing a PhD by publication on memory and psychoanalytic treatment in profound amnesia, with Prof. Oliver Turnbull at Bangor University.

I. About

I am a psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist working in Dublin and Carlow. My academic and clinical work sits at the meeting point of psychoanalysis and affective neuroscience, in the tradition running from Freud through Luria to Solms, Panksepp, and Friston.

I direct the MSc in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine, where I am Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. I am a Training Analyst with the Irish Institute of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, a founding member of Neuropsychoanalysis Ireland, and an Associate Editor of the journal Neuropsychoanalysis. My research, in collaboration with Prof. Oliver Turnbull's Emotion Research Lab at Bangor University, concerns memory, affect, and psychoanalytic treatment in patients with profound amnesia.

My work has been published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers in Psychology, and Neuropsychoanalysis, and I teach internationally for the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP) in New York. I co-host Neuropsychoanalytic Dialogues, a podcast of hour-long conversations with figures in the field.

II. Teaching & supervision
Pól teaching at Trinity College Dublin

MSc in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Trinity College Dublin

A two-year part-time postgraduate programme that introduces students to the theory and practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The programme explores how unconscious processes, affect, and early relationships shape mental life. It combines academic study with experiential learning through modules in psychoanalytic theory, human development, infant observation, clinical concepts, and research. It is designed for those intending to train further as psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and for clinicians in mental health and related fields who want a deeper understanding of psychoanalytic theory and clinical work.

International teaching

I teach internationally on neuropsychoanalysis, affective neuroscience, and clinical work with severely traumatised and difficult-to-reach patients. Recent and ongoing engagements include a module on neuropsychoanalysis I designed and delivered for the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP) in New York, a continuing series of monthly workshops for clinicians under the same umbrella, and invited talks at the NPSA World Congress, the International Psychoanalytic Dialogues in Rome, and the inaugural Neuropsychoanalysis of Infancy Congress. I welcome invitations for keynotes, workshops, and visiting teaching.

Supervision

I offer individual clinical supervision to qualified clinicians and senior trainees, internationally and online. My approach is collaborative and exploratory. I work from a contemporary object relations perspective, drawing on Winnicott, Bion, and post-Bionian field theory, and from a neuropsychoanalytic framework informed by the work of Mark Solms, Jaak Panksepp, and Karl Friston. Enquiries by email.

III. Writing & research

My research concerns memory, affect, and psychoanalytic treatment in patients with profound amnesia, conducted in collaboration with Prof. Oliver Turnbull's Emotion Research Lab at Bangor University. Selected publications:

  1. Moore, P. A., & Turnbull, O. H. (2022). Like a rolling stone: Psychotherapy without (episodic) memory. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 958194. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.958194
  2. Moore, P. A., Salas, C. E., Dockree, S., & Turnbull, O. H. (2017). Observations on working psychoanalytically with a profoundly amnesic patient. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1418. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01418
  3. Moore, P. A. (2021). Forgetting, repeating, and working through. In Clinical studies in neuropsychoanalysis revisited (p. 179). Routledge.
  4. Flores Mosri, D., Abrams, J., Balchin, R., Ó'Mórdha, P., & Olds, D. (2025). Neurobiological and psychological implications of loneliness: Clinical insights into early childhood experience. Neuropsychoanalysis, 27(2), 147–149. doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2025.2591122
  5. Abrams, J., Biran, I., Flores Mosri, D., Moore, P., & Muñoz Zúñiga, J. F. (2023). Neuropsychoanalysis moving forward: Exploring different topics and perspectives about the BrainMind. Neuropsychoanalysis, 25(1), 1–3. doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2023.2210581
IV. The podcast

Neuropsychoanalytic Dialogues is a series of hour-long conversations with figures from psychoanalysis, affective neuroscience, and the disciplines that meet between them.

Hosted with Curtis Holt-Robinson, under the umbrella of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society. Recent and forthcoming guests include Mark Solms, Anne Alvarez, Andrea Clarici, Oliver Turnbull, Christian Salas, and Rudy Coetzer. Companion writing at Inchinn Meabhair.

V. Clinical practice

I see patients in Dublin and Carlow through Fitzwilliam Psychotherapy. New referrals and enquiries are welcome.

VI. Elsewhere & in touch