Cardiology Service
We know that having problems or interventions related to the heart can be challenging to our emotional well-being. Psychology within cardiology is a developing service for cardiology patients who are experiencing significant emotional distress related to their cardiac health which is hindering recovery.
As well as working directly with cardiac patients, we work with our colleagues to promote psychological care through multidisciplinary working and consultation. We contribute to research and audit within the service and wider psychology department. We provide teaching and training opportunities to health care professionals and seek to collaborate with third sector, charitable organisations.
Group Work
Sometimes having health problems can be an isolating experience. It can also be necessary to make big changes to lifestyle in order to maximise our health. Attending a group can be a useful way to not only learn how to best take care of our health, but to gain confidence, meet people in a similar position and successfully sustain lifestyle changes.
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Psychology contributes to the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Heart Failure Cardiac Rehabilitation groups at various phases of the programme. As part of the multidisciplinary intervention, we provide sessions focusing on the psychological facets of rehabilitation. We screen for distress, provide education on stress, low mood and how to promote adaptive coping. We can then follow up with patients with further intervention as required.
Ongoing Development
We are developing the psychology specific group work programme. We are exploring the provision of a mindfulness group because we know that this intervention can be beneficial to a cardiac population in reducing distress and promoting well-being and confidence.
We are currently doing a scoping exercise with patients and staff to assess what other group interventions would be of most use. For example, groups to address difficulties with mood, stress and factors necessary for sustained health behaviour change. We will use best practice guidelines and evidence based interventions to further guide this process.
Individual Work
For some patients individual therapy is most appropriate. If a patient is agreeable to referral, we invite them for an assessment. A detailed assessment is carried out so we can best understand a person’s story and therefore plan for the most suitable intervention. If an individual would benefit from an intervention within the service, we then, together with our patients, collaboratively develop the best treatment plan. This might involve individual therapy on a weekly or fortnightly basis for an agreed period of time. Sometimes it is more suitable for onward referral to community services and if this is the case, we can help to facilitate this.
How to access the service:
We receive referrals from cardiologists and clinical nurse specialists within the department. If you are interested in being referred to this service, please discuss this with your medical team.
Meet our practitioners
Dr Kristina Cahill, Senior Clinical Psychologist in Cardiology
Kristina is a Senior Clinical Psychologist working in the Cardiology Psychology Service at St. Vincent’s University Hospital. She is dedicated to supporting patients who are experiencing significant emotional distress related to their cardiac health which is hindering recovery. Kristina provides psychological assessments, individual and group based psychological interventions for patients at various stages of their medical journey, including prevention, pre-surgery, post-surgery, and rehabilitation. As part of the Cardiology Psychology team, Kristina works with patients through issues they may experience, such as: adjusting to a diagnosis or post-cardiac event, procedural distress, coping with emotional distress or mood difficulties, trauma, managing the impact of psychosocial stressors on health, and end of life care. Referrals to the Cardiology Psychology service can be made via the Cardiology team.
Kristina advocates for a holistic and person-centred approach to healthcare. Her work with patients aims to reduce distress and improve wellbeing by understanding factors that cause and maintain psychological issues linked to health. Depending on the client, she tends to work from an integrative approach that draws from a variety of evidence-based interventions which can include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Mindfulness-based approaches.
Kristina is a chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) and the Division of Clinical Psychology of the PSI.
Mary Moriarty, Systemic Psychotherapist in Cardiology
Having completed her Masters with University College Dublin and the Mater Family Therapy Training programme in 2017, Mary is a qualified Systemic Psychotherapist. Mary’s background is in Nursing, and she worked for sixteen years with the Psycho-Oncology Team at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. As part of Mary’s work in Psycho-Oncology she met and talked with many people about the emotional and psychological impact of having a cancer diagnosis. Mary had a long career in Nursing and she worked in many different settings.
Currently, Mary is working within the Cardiac Psychology Service as a Psychotherapist. She works with the multidisciplinary team and aims to help people adjust and cope with the psychological and emotional impact of having cardiac disease.
Mary has taught on several Undergraduate and Masters Programmes at Universities, (UCD & TCD), as well as delivering multiple workshops promoting the importance of Psychological and Emotional wellbeing for people with medical illnesses. She is a member of the executive Board of the Family Therapy Association of Ireland (FTAI) of which she has been Chairperson of the Board and is also a member of the executive Board of The Irish Council of Psychotherapy (ICP).
Links you might find helpful:
Information on different physical and psychological health conditions and treatments are available from:
Heart health related information:
Mindfulness: