Tara Mullvihill
Art Therapist & Yoga Teacher
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THERAPY GOALS
Tara Mullvihill
Art Therapist & Yoga Teacher
Tara is an Art Therapist and Yoga Teacher with a strong background in education, creativity, and embodied practice. Before qualifying as an Art Therapist, she worked for over ten years as a post-primary teacher of Art and Design in both Ireland and the U.K. During this time, she gained extensive experience supporting adolescents across a range of educational settings, including mainstream and complex school environments. This professional background continues to shape her therapeutic work, particularly in relation to neurodivergence, emotional regulation, identity development, and the long-term impact of educational systems on young people’s wellbeing.
Tara holds a first-class honours MA in Art Therapy from Munster Technological University (MTU). She is an active voluntary member of IACAT’s Education Sub-Committee, where she contributes to professional development, ethical discussions, and advocacy within the field of art therapy in Ireland. This role reflects her commitment to maintaining high professional standards and to supporting the ongoing development of trauma-informed and neuro-affirming practice.
Alongside her therapy training, Tara is a qualified Yoga Teacher and a member of Yoga Alliance Professionals (Y.A.P.). She completed a 200-hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training in London, followed by a 100-hour Yin and Restorative Yoga Teacher Training in Ireland. Her yoga training supports her understanding of the body, breath, and nervous system regulation, and informs how she works somatically with clients in therapy. Tara consciously keeps therapy and yoga offerings separate as she is not a yoga therapist, however yoga does inform her therapy practice through embodied breath. Yoga workshops are not offered as a performance-based practice, but as a gentle, adaptable support for safety, grounding, regulation and general wellbeing for all.
Tara is deeply committed to continuous professional development and is currently training as an EMDR practitioner. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy used with both children and adults to support the processing of traumatic or overwhelming experiences. EMDR works through bilateral stimulation, helping reduce distress and allowing the nervous system to integrate experiences that may otherwise remain unresolved.
Contact Tara Today
Tara is an Art Therapist and Yoga Teacher with a strong background in education, creativity, and embodied practice. Tara works at your pace, follows your lead and supports the gradual development of safety, awareness and self-compassion.
You can contact her by phone, email or by completing the form on this page. I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Contact Tara by Phone
You can call us on 0906 455 302
Contact Tara by Email
You can email Tara on contact@athlonecareclinic.ie
Contact Tara
My Journey Into Becoming A Therapist
Tara’s journey into becoming an Art Therapist developed gradually through both professional experience and lived understanding. As a late-diagnosed neurodivergent adult, she brings a unique and compassionate perspective to her work. She understands firsthand the challenges of navigating neurotypical systems without adequate knowledge, support, or appropriate accommodations, and the impact this can have on self-esteem, identity, and emotional wellbeing.
From childhood through adulthood, many neurodivergent individuals learn to mask their needs in order to survive within systems that were not designed with them in mind. Tara’s work is grounded in a neuro-affirming approach that recognises difference rather than deficit. She aims to create therapeutic spaces that support regulation, understanding, compassion, and self-acceptance, while actively working to reduce stigma and internalised ableism.
Where appropriate, Tara also supports and advocates for clients as they navigate educational systems that can feel complex, overwhelming, or inaccessible. She understands how gaps in knowledge, funding, and resources, alongside organisational pressures, can significantly affect young people and families.
Through her therapy training, Tara developed a deeper understanding of how trauma can be held not only in conscious memory, but also within the body and unconscious. She recognised that talk-based approaches alone are not always sufficient, particularly for clients who struggle with verbal expression or whose experiences are held somatically. This insight strengthened her interest in trauma-informed, body-based approaches and ultimately led her to integrate art therapy, yoga, and EMDR into her evolving practice.
A Personal Note To My Ideal Client
You may be drawn to working with Tara if you or your child find it difficult to express yourselves verbally, feel overwhelmed by emotions or sensory input, or have experienced trauma that continues to impact daily life. You may identify as neurodivergent, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, or you may simply feel that everyday life takes more effort than it seems to for others.
Tara’s approach is neuro-affirming, trauma-informed, and collaborative. She aims to create a safe, predictable, and inclusive therapeutic environment where clients feel respected, believed, and met with curiosity rather than judgement. You do not need to have any art skills or previous experience of therapy. Art therapy is not about producing something “good” or aesthetically pleasing; it is about using creative processes as a way to communicate, explore experiences, and support regulation.
Art therapy offers a non-verbal, visual, and tactile way of working, which can be particularly supportive for neurodivergent clients and those who have experienced trauma. Sessions provide a contained space for emotional regulation, sensory processing, and self-expression. By working gently with the body and unconscious, clients can begin to access and process experiences that may feel difficult to put into words.
For many adults, art therapy can also support inner child work, offering a compassionate way to reconnect with earlier parts of the self. Tara works at your pace, follows your lead, and supports the gradual development of safety, awareness, and self-compassion over time.
Tara’s Specialist Areas
Child & Adolescent Art Therapy Adult
Child & Adolescent EMDR Therapy
Art Therapy
Adult EMDR Therapy
Neurodivergent Therapy
Yoga Teacher
Goals & Areas of Specialisation
Tara’s primary area of interest is supporting neurodivergent children, adolescents, and young adults, particularly those with Autism, ADHD, and AuDHD. She is especially passionate about working with women and girls with low support needs, who are often under-recognised, misunderstood, and under-supported in both educational and therapeutic settings.
She supports clients with emotional and sensory regulation, non-verbal communication, self-expression, anxiety, anger, and low self-esteem. As a trauma-informed practitioner, Tara places strong emphasis on creating a predictable and safe therapeutic environment that supports regulation of the autonomic nervous system — including fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses — and helps clients build capacity and resilience over time.
Tara’s ongoing goal is to continue developing an integrative practice that weaves together art therapy, yoga, and trauma-focused approaches such as EMDR, while remaining grounded in creativity, embodiment, and neuro-affirming values.
At the core of her work is the belief that creativity, when held within a safe, attuned, and respectful therapeutic relationship, can support healing, connection, and meaningful growth.
