ABOUT CPI
LORRAINE LYNCH - CEO AND FOUNDER
Lorraine is an award-winning social entrepreneur and author with a background in health psychology interventions with children and families. The innovation of Lorraine’s leadership in CPI was recognised by Enterprise Ireland as she was selected for the 2020 New Frontiers Entrepreneurship Program, in collaboration with the Hartnett Centre in LIT.
As a young child, Lorraine experienced trauma during her formative years – sexual abuse at the hands of a close family friend – and these events led to her developing severe anxiety throughout her teenage years. The emotions and behaviours Lorraine exhibited were not recognised as trauma responses by the adults in her world.
“Looking back now at the little girl I was, it is crystal clear that she was an innocent child carrying deep trauma. The shame that was put on me by that man was not something I could carry. But it is the reason I will do everything I possibly can in my lifetime to educate adults about how to protect at-risk children. This is what I live and breathe – it drives me like no other motivation.”
Lorraine graduated from the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychological Studies and English before completing her Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology. She attained a First Class Honours in her Masters of Health Psychology with the University of Ulster.
“I remember being small and wishing to be eighteen as soon as possible. I knew that represented freedom and I knew that freedom meant I could take action and start to change other children’s realities.”
After co-founding a national organisation in 2014, which provides children’s therapy to families, Lorraine wanted to develop more accessible services which would inform, educate and raise awareness on a global scale. Her courses are now EPV-approved by the Department of Education and Skills and are accredited by CPDUK.
Lorraine has experience lecturing in the National University of Ireland, Galway and the University of Limerick, and has written for popular parent websites, such as HerFamily.ie. She has also contributed to several media outlets, including The Irish Times and The Irish Independent. She is a published author of #100happydays4kids and Closing Saor’s Day and is a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland and the British Psychological Society, whose ethics she firmly abides by.
“Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place where no one else has ever been.” — Alan Alda