Tricia Murphy, psychotherapist
Occupation: Psychotherapist (working with individuals, couples and families), director and trainer with PSM, a human development training company, member of SDIB (Sexual Dysfunction Information Bureau) and Irish representative of the European Family Therapy Association.
Personal/family: Married to Brendan, two children - Leen (12) and Tess (7). Currently living in Dartry in Dublin.
What figure from the world of medicine/health do you most admire?The Bergman sisters in the US - combining the best of the medical and psychotherapeutic worlds to offer a one-stop-shop for women with sexual difficulties. Martin Luther King for his capacity for healing dreaming!
What other career might you have chosen? The list is exhaustive - dancer, fashion designer, skydiver! But I'm one of the lucky ones - I get to do what I love every day.
If you were appointed Minister for Health, what would be your first priority? I would set up centres where people could go to have all aspects of their difficulties dealt with by experts, eg where someone suffering from depression could see a doctor, a psychotherapist and other appropriate disciplines. All this would be covered by the medical card scheme and all the professionals would be fully accredited and registered.
Do you have a phobia/what is your greatest fear? Cows! I know it's ridiculous.
Have you ever been a patient and were you a good one? Yes and no! I hate being sick.
What three books would you bring to a desert island? The Crazy Jane poems by WB Yeats; The Idiot by Dostoevsky and Ulysses by Joyce (I might get time to read it!).
Have you a fail-safe method of dealing with stress? Yes. As anyone who has attended my stress elimination courses will tell you: live in the present and let go the maddening thoughts! Meditation really works.
What is your favourite TV or radio programme? I love ER on TV but my real love is talk radio and I try to catch The Orla Barry Show on Newstalk 106 when I can.
If you did not live in Ireland, where would you choose to spend the rest of your life? I lived in Japan for a while and I'd love to spend a few years there but my heart is in Annascaul in Kerry and I think I'd pine for there if I was away too long.
Summarise yourself in 12 words: I have been called 'the white tornado' in the past but I'm working on developing serenity at the moment! In three words: terribly tempting Trish?
Do you use alternative medicine/therapies? Yes, I believe in using all that the world has to offer - I check for qualifications and connection to accrediting bodies.
Who or what makes you laugh? I have the best of laughs with my two kids and there is nothing better than being out with the girls (brilliant friends, mum and sister).
(Interview by Dr Muiris Houston)