Connect & Learn Parent Days

Putting the pieces back together and taking steps forward

Childhood Cancer Ireland brings parents together to connect and learn, alongside our experts as we explore shared experiences and ways to strengthen families after childhood or adolescent cancer.

Putting the pieces back together

Receiving a diagnosis of childhood, adolescent or young adult cancer pulls the rug from under the entire family without warning. This new world, with its own language and treatment schedule, keeps you so busy that you often don’t have time to breathe until treatment is over.

Where do we go from here? How do we put the pieces back together?

The parents are the foundations of the family, so we know that looking after you is the first step in looking after your family.

Taking steps forward

This free, one-day workshop is an opportunity to connect with other parents with a shared experience. You will also learn practical strategies from our experts and hear from a parent peer supporter, as we focus on parenting at different stages and self care, supporting you as you navigate this next phase in your family’s experience of childhood cancer.

We are delighted to be joined by Dr Mairead Brennan and Debbie Cullinane, both of whom have a wealth of knowledge and experience of working with adults and children impacted by childhood cancer.

Mairead is Principal Clinical Psychologist and Director of Psychosocial Services with Childhood Cancer Ireland.

Debbie is a qualified Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Play Therapist and former primary school teacher.

Photo of hands holding jigsaw pieces. Text reads: Putting the pieces back together. Take the first step and join our 1-day workhshop.

Parent Peer Supporter

In these sessions, we will also be joined by one of our trained parent peer supporters. This is someone whose child has been diagnosed with cancer and is now finished treatment. They provide an empathetic, compassionate, and friendly source of support, as well as sharing practical knowledge on the supports and services that might be helpful, based on their own experience.

Who should attend?

These events are suitable for parents / guardians of children, adolescents or young adults who have received a diagnosis of childhood cancer and are approaching the end of treatment or are already out of treatment.

Even parents whose child finished treatment years ago may find that they are struggling to process everything they have been through so parents are welcome to attend at any stage following their child’s treatment.

If you are unsure if this event is for you or have any questions, please just get in contact.

2025 workshop locations:  

We are still finalising some details for 2025 and will update the venues for each location shortly.

Location	Date	Venue
Athlone	25th January 2025	Athlone Springs
Kilkenny	8th March 2025	Lyrath Estate Hotel
Dublin	14th June 2025	Address Hotel, Citywest
Cork	18th October 2025	Rochestown Park Hotel

 Workshops will take place from 9.30am to 4pm, with refreshments and lunch provided. We can also provide financial assistance with travel costs so please contact us about that.

Register to attend:

If you are interested in attending one of our workshops, or would like to find out more, please complete this short registration form and we will be in touch shortly.

What the day will look like

Time	Topic	Led by
9.30 – 9.50	Arrive – tea/coffee
10.00 – 11.15	Taking stock: what has happened and where do we go from here?	Mairead Brennan
11.15 – 11.30	Coffee Break
11.35 – 1.00	Parenting and family life	Debbie Cullinane
1.00 – 2.00	Lunch
2.00 – 3.00	Reflection on the morning, Q&A  Your Wellbeing: Taking care of you, including the science of self-care	Mairead & Debbie  Mairead Brennan
3.00 – 3.15	Coffee Break
3.15 – 4.00	Self-Care Practice and Plan	Mairead Brennan

Taking stock: what has happened and where do we go from here?

The experience of receiving a childhood diagnosis, treatment and recovery is unique to each person (parent, patient and family). It can often feel like a very lonely one and can affect our confidence in many ways. However, there are also many commonalities across families’ experiences and it is helpful to understand and share these, as we will do in our morning session. This can help to normalise how you feel and how it has impacted you and your family. Mairead will focus on looking at these known experiences and throughout the day we will look at strategies that are known to help. In doing so, we can learn how to move forward.

Parenting and family life

Parenting is hard and putting the pieces back together can take time, and that is okay. Debbie will discuss ‘good enough’ parenting, going easy on ourselves as parents and a focus on a return to connective parenting. All behaviour is communication and when we can reframe how we look at behaviour, it can help us to manage big feelings in a new way. Debbie will give information on the brain, limit setting, showing your child how to regulate their emotions, which can also help parents to regulate theirs, tiny moments of connection and engaging through play.

Your Wellbeing: Taking care of you

In the earlier stages of childhood cancer, parents are often in ‘doing’ mode; managing the family’s needs, such as medical appointments, other children’s needs, attending to financial commitments etc. We might be running on empty and with minds that are in a constant alert and vigilant state, which means that our stress response system is constantly switched on. Mairead will explain how our bodies can get stuck in this position well after treatment ends, sharing simple ways to retrain ourselves to soothe our nervous system and recharge our body and mind.

Dr Mairead Brennan

Dr Mairead Brennan, Principal Clinical Psychologist has 10 years of experience of working within Psycho-Oncology services across children, adolescents, young adults and adults. She completed her Clinical Doctorate training in University of Galway in 2015.

Mairead completed psycho-oncology specialist placements during her training and worked in Cancer Care West in Galway for eight years, during which time she developed a hospital-based service within the Galway Clinic and a community-based family service within Cancer Care West.

In addition, Mairead has developed evidence-based therapeutic programmes to meet unmet needs. She has presented research at a national and international level and has additional training in Clinical Supervision.

Since 2023, in collaboration with Childhood Cancer Ireland, Mairead has developed and co-facilitated a one-day Psychoeducational Workshop for Parents following their child’s cancer treatment.

Debbie Cullinane

Debbie Cullinane is a mother of 2. She is a qualified Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Play Therapist and Former primary school teacher. She facilitates a range of trainings nationwide for various centres and organisations. She is passionate about empowering parents and believes in good enough parenting. Debbie is Sensory & Development Partner with Smyths Toys.