Interviews
Name: Jason O’Callaghan
Trinity Qualification: M.Sc Applied Psychology (2012)
Title: Founder of The D4 Clinic (Corporate and personal wellness services)
About: For a decade Jason was one of country's most well known journalists with The Sunday Independent but in 2008 he returned to college to do a BA (Hons) in Psychology and then a Masters in Trinity. After graduating he founded The D4 Clinic for individuals and companies who wish to improve their physical and mental health and that of their employees.
What was your earliest childhood ambition?
I always wanted to be a Garda but I was terrible at Irish in school so I then decided to be a hotel manager as I worked in our family hotel since I was 14. Then I failed maths in my leaving cert so could not get into management school. So it was back to the drawing board.
Having worked in the media and music industry, what inspired you to go back and study psychology at Trinity?
I come from a relatively working class area and I think from both my primary and secondary school perhaps one person in the class went to university so Trinity was only a pipe dream for most kids from my area. However, as I made a career in the media industry I discovered that plenty of people who came from my area made it to university. So I made it my personal goal to attend Trinity.
What is your strongest memory of your Trinity days?
The Dining Hall was where I loved to go as I felt a great sense of history there. However, my strongest memory is of my graduation in the Exam Hall and my father coming to see the occasion which made me feel very proud. The reason being, at 12 years I failed to get into Templeogue College and I always felt I had let my father down. So, attaining my Masters was a great personal achievement.
Tell us about the award winning humour therapy programme you created to reduce stress in cancer patients?
The idea came from a book by Norman Cousins called "Anatomy of an illness" where he watched comedy to reduce pain for rheumatoid arthritis. My undergrad Hons BA was in Psychology and as my own mother had died of cancer at 46. I was interested in an alternative treatments to help those with cancer reduce anxiety and stress. So I focused on a pilot group of 11 for my undergrad studies in humour and hypnotherapy with positive results. For my Masters I ran a nationwide study into using clinical hypnosis, humour therapy and mindfulness to help cancer patients reduce stress and anxiety. Again it proved positive and I am honoured to have been named in the 2012 Trinity College Roll of Honour for this work. I have gained massive exposure around the world with my methods and research so maybe in time I could do a Ph.D. in using alternative therapies such as diet, mindfulness and lifestyle changes to reduce chronic illness.
What has been your proudest moment since setting up your D4 clinic in 2011?
I have helped clients lose up to seven stone, others have overcome debilitating bad habits and phobias which have taken over their lives. I even helped a groom at Gatwick get to his honeymoon by using hypnosis after he had a panic attack and would not get on the plane. However stopping people smoking is my favourite therapy as I hate smoking and love helping people stop and in turn helping them save their own lives.
What is the best advice that you have ever received?
"Neither a borrower or a lender be”...it advises to never loan money or borrow money especially from or to friends as you may lose both the money and the friendship.
What ambitions do you still have?
We relaunch our website in 2017 www.D4Clinic.ie to focus on more online sessions to sell around the world. To work more with corporations by improving the confidence of staff, helping them with goal setting and using the unconscious and working more with CEOs and sports personalities to help them reach their full potential.