About Actualise
At Actualise, we care about mental health and well being. Our mission is to bring evidence-based interventions to all of our clients.
As well as offering a range of psychological assessments and services, we are Ireland's leading Neurofeedback Training Service, founded in 2012 at Dublin City University by Dr. Michael Keane.
Since then, we have expanded our range of services. This has given us the opportunity to add a range of services alongside neurofeedback, including mental health assessments, psychotherapy, counselling, clinical psychology interventions, and more. We provide these services alongside our colleagues at the Dublin Mind Clinic.
Our multi-disciplinary team provides comprehensive care, drawing on a range of disciplines. In addition, we run classes, workshops and information evenings on all aspects of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour management. Many of our educational workshops and seminars run through our partner organisation, Actualise Academy.
Our Philosophy:
We acknowledge the varied and personal needs of each of our clients. To help our clients in the most meaningful way, we rely on the most recent and reputable scientific evidence to provide an evidence-based and transparent service.
In conjunction with an approach based on scientific principles, we understand that we are dealing with people, families and lives and therefore ensure a person-centred approach, where the needs of the clients are served with a caring, compassionate and sensitive approach.
Accreditation
We are the only clinic in Ireland to have a BCIA-accredited NFT provider, and follow International Best Practice Standards. Read here why choosing a BCIA-Certified Professional is the best choice. In addition, as all our practitioners are members of their relevant regulatory bodies, we adhere to the ethical guidelines as set out by the Psychological Society of Ireland and the British Psychological Society.
Meet the Team
Michael Keane MB BCh BAO PhD Reg Psychol PsSI CPsychol AFBPsS BCN
Michael Keane - Behavioural Neuroscientist & Co-Founder
Michael is a Medical Doctor, Behavioural Neuroscientist and Founder of the Actualise Clinic. He is a former lecturer in Psychology at Dublin City University. He obtained his PhD from the National University of Ireland, Galway, investigating the effects of caffeine on brain function, where he set up the university’s first two EEG labs.
Michael’s post-doctoral position, which investigated EEG biomarkers of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease, was carried out between NUIG and the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Dublin. He is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Registered Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland’s only Board Certified Neurofeedback Training provider.
He is a member of Mental Health Advisory Board and Neuroscience Lead of the charity A Lust For Life. Michael is also a reviewer of a number of academic journals, including Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Neurobiology of Aging and the Journal of Caffeine Research.
Rosemary Keane PhD, DPscyh Sc (Clin Psych), M.Ps.S.I.
Dr. Rosemary Keane - Clinical Psychologist & Co-Founder
Dr. Rosemary Keane is a Clinical Psychologist, and has a number of years of experience working with a broad range of different clinical groups across the lifespan.
She completed clinical training (Doctorate in Psychological Science) at University College Dublin (UCD). As part of this her doctoral thesis focused on emotional over- and under-control in adults with psychiatric difficulties and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)/Radically Open DBT informed group interventions. Rose also has a PhD in Psychology (National University of Ireland, Galway) focusing on acceptance in chronic pain from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) framework.
Rose is passionate about working together with individuals and families to understand the biopsychosocial factors affecting behaviour and functioning and compassionately applying evidence based and personalised interventions. She has a special interest in applications of functional QEEG assessment and neurofeedback training. Rose is also a member of Mental Health Advisory Board of the charity A Lust For Life.
Dixie, S. D. (Super Dog)
Dixie: Head of Animal Therapeutics
Dixie joined the Actualise team in April 2016 in the capacity of Therapy Dog. She was adopted from the DSPCA and is a mix of Jack Russell and Chihuahua. She has a sweet nature and gentle temperament, though can be a little timid at first. She loves to meet new people – especially when they come for initial consultation, but only if they want to.
Scientific Advisory Board
Working with us to maintain our commitment to best practise, we have a range of consultants from across various disciplines from various clinics and universities around the world. Many of these consultants sit on our Scientific Advisory Board, and includes:
Dr. Deborah Simkin:
Dr. Simkin is a board certified Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist. She is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine, board certified in neurofeedback and practices Integrative (Functional) Psychiatry Medicine in private practice.
Dr. Rex Cannon:
Dr. Cannon is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory at University of Tennessee and Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at Cole Neuroscience Center, Memory Disorder Clinic.
Dr. Bill Lockhart:
Dr. Lockhart, OBE, is a Director in Lockhart Psychological Consulting Ltd. after a long career in the public and voluntary sectors. He holds a PhD and postgraduate diploma in counselling psychology from Aston University in Birmingham. He has been a visiting scholar at Cambridge and has completed courses at Said Business School, University of Oxford and has a number of leadership and management qualifications. He is a Chartered Forensic Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He is a member of the Institute of Directors.
Here are some of the agencies, companies, universities and services with whom we work. We run a range of research and clinical projects with our partners. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about the work we are doing with these groups.
Academic Research
We are committed to best practice in our clinic, and actively engage in academic research to maintain the highest standards. Our most recent Research Grant, with Dr. Simon McCarthy-Jones of Trinity College Dublin, brings together our services, the Department of Psychiatry at Trinity College and St. James’s Hospital. In this clinical trial, which is pending registration, we are investigating a possible role of neurofeedback in the treatment of auditory verbal hallucinations. We are delighted to have Dr. Francesco Amico join our team to head up this project.
Actualise in The Media
Irish Independent: New Year's Resolutions!
Actualise provides some useful tips for brain health for the New Year! You can read them, and more, in Katie Byrne's Irish Independent Article.
RTÉ Radio One
RTÉ's Derek Mooney visited the Actualise Clinic and speaks to Michael about our neurofeedback training work, and to a Mum and son about their experience of neurofeedback training. Click on the button below, and skip forward to 8.20 minutes.
Irish Tech News features some of our work with Cognifyx
Irish Tech News
Irish Tech News featured Actualise recently in their online tech news, following Michael's public lecture at the Science Gallery, Trinity College.
Michael and Kate on the Irish Examiner
The Irish Times and The Irish Examiner
The Irish Times and The Irish Examiner look at the work we do in the clinic, specifically looking at ADHD. They also give a little sneak preview into some of the research hypothesis we’ve developed! A very interesting read for anyone interested. Click the link above to read, or buttons below to download.
Michael presenting to TDs at Leinster House
Leinster House
Such an honour to get the chance to present in Leinster House to our national representatives about what Neurofeedback Training is and the work we do here at Actualise. A special thank you to Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice for facilitating the visit
Murray Kinsella writes a very interesting piece on our work with Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby winning the Pro-12
We worked with Connacht Rugby right up to their Victory in the Pro-12 in 2016. Michael explained to Murray Kinsella how neurofeedback training benefited the players and how it played a role in their success.
Michael with our Bronze Medal award-winning poster at the UCD School of Medicine
NFT and Chronic Migraine Study
We are delighted to have received full ethical approval from the Health Research Authority at NRES Committee East of England – Cambridgeshire and Hertford Shire, for a pilot study on the efficacy of Neurofeedback Training in chronic migraine. Oh, and we won a Bronze Medal from the UCD School of Medicine for our trouble!
Michael takes Katie Byrne though the neuorfeedback training process
Irish Independent: Mind over matter... Training the brain to function better
Katie Byrne on Neurofeedback with Dr Michael Keane at the Healthy Living Centre in DCU. “We’ve got some overactivity here,” says neuroscientist Dr Michael Keane as he points to a conspicuous red area.
A TV Star is born! Special thanks to Nicky for stellar performance on live TV. And so early in the morning!
TV3's Ireland AM
If you missed us on Wednesday the 3rd of June, follow our link to see Actualise Director Michael Keane’s talk on Neurofeedback on TV3’s Ireland AM.
Michael, Cathal and the Connacht Rugby players we worked with for two seasons, bringing them to Pro12 victory!
Connacht Rugby are Pro-12 Champions! Read what Pat Lam has to say about Actualise
Connacht Rugby Head Coach Pat Lam speaks in Friday’s Irish Independent about the positive effects Neurofeedback Training had on a number of the Connacht players, as his team won the Pro-12 League!