Biography

Éadaoin Bhreathnach is a Consultant Occupational Therapist, Attachment Counsellor, and Clinical Director of the Sensory Attachment Centre at Ash Cottage, Northern Ireland. With extensive experience in Sensory Integration and Attachment Trauma, she has played an important role in the development of professional practice and training in these fields.

Éadaoin worked for 15 years in the National Health Service as a clinical practitioner and senior manager. During this period, she founded the Irish Sensory Integration Association and later collaborated with colleagues in England and Scotland to establish the Sensory Integration Network UK and Ireland.

Sensory Integration & Attachment

In 1990, she entered private practice, working particularly with children and adults with complex needs who experienced difficulties with sensory processing, regulation, relationships, and engagement. Drawing on her training in both Sensory Integration and Attachment, her clinical observations led to the development of Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI)—an approach that explores the interaction between sensory processing, arousal regulation, attachment, and trauma.

Ash Cottage & Clinical Practice

In 1995, Éadaoin established Ash Cottage as a Sensory Attachment Centre, creating a therapeutic environment inspired by Bowlby’s concept of a secure base. A central principle of her work is the importance of regulation and co-regulation in supporting engagement, participation, and relationships. SAI places particular emphasis on the caregiver’s role in co-regulation and on embedding regulating sensory experiences into everyday life at home and school.

Professional Training & Current Work

Éadaoin has developed Sensory Attachment Intervention training programmes for professionals and continues to collaborate with clinicians and academics. Her current work explores the relationships between autonomic nervous system stress patterns, attachment patterns, and sensory processing patterns, with a particular interest in advancing assessment and intervention approaches.