Guidance counselling · Dublin & online
Clear guidance for what comes next.
Whether it's exam results, a course that isn't working, a first career or a change of direction twenty years in — the decision is easier to make with someone who has helped hundreds of people make it before.
MSc in Guidance Counselling, DCU · 10+ years in second-level education
Who I work with
Three questions, one at a time.
Choosing, or rechoosing
Subject choices, CAO lists, results, offers and the routes that don't run through Round 1 at all. Also the students who picked something last year and now know it isn't right.
Helping without steering
You can see more than they can, and saying so rarely lands. A session gives the decision somewhere neutral to happen — and gives you an honest read on what the real options are.
The question that won't go away
A career built on decisions made at seventeen. A field that's changed under you. Or the thing you keep talking yourself out of. Same process, different starting point.
About
I'm Donncha.
I have an MSc in Guidance Counselling and, over the last ten years, I've helped hundreds of people navigate change, uncertainty and the question of what's next. Most of that has been in second-level education, which is where you learn quickly that the tidy version of these decisions is not the real one.
People rarely arrive because they can't read a prospectus. They arrive because there's a decision to make, a deadline attached to it, and no clear way to think it through. Sometimes it's a results day that didn't go to plan. Sometimes it's a course three weeks in that already feels wrong. Sometimes it's a career that was chosen a long time ago by someone who no longer exists.
My role isn't to tell you what to do. It's to help you get the full picture, understand what actually matters to you, and take practical steps towards a decision you can stand over.
I work with students, school leavers, parents and adults, online or in person in Dublin.
Sessions
Clear pricing, no packages you don't need.
Most people come once and that's enough. The longer options exist for bigger rethinks, not because more is better.
- One hour, one-to-one
- Your situation and options gone through properly
- Online or in person in Dublin
- The session, plus a written plan afterwards
- Your options ranked, with the reasoning behind it
- Deadlines and next steps in one place
- Four sessions across a transition
- For changing direction, repeating, or starting again
- Support through the decision, not just the moment
Family rate: €55 per sibling session. If more than one of your children needs a session, mention it when you get in touch and I'll apply it.
In their words
What people say afterwards.
I'd been stuck in the same place for years, always going to sort it 'eventually.' Donncha helped me see I was waiting for permission that was never coming from anyone but me. I'm moving now.
I came for a career plan. I left understanding that the thing holding me back wasn't my CV — it was the story I kept telling about myself.
He helped me look at the things I'd been avoiding for a long time, and somehow it never felt heavy. I walked out lighter, and a little braver.
I'd written off the life I actually wanted as 'not for someone like me.' Donncha wouldn't let that one stand — and I'm further down that road now than I thought I'd get.
Get in touch
Tell me what's going on.
A few questions before we meet — takes five minutes and means we spend the session on what actually matters.
Get in touch →Or email directly: donnchamckenna@gmail.com · @donncha_mckenna
Leaving Cert or CAO question? Use the guidance form instead →