Occupational therapy

When psychotherapist, Maureen Courtney and her partner, Terry Arthurs decided they wanted to run their own B&B as part of Maureen’s counselling practice, they packed up their home in Herfordshire and relocated to the beautiful backdrop of the Mourne mountains. Maureen has been talking to LCN’s Jennifer Warnock…

“I’m a psychotherapist”, explains Maureen, “I take people away on very bespoke one-to- one retreats. For the last 10 years, I’ve taken people to places such as Cornwall to B&Bs that friends of mine own. They were all very beautiful, holistic places, near the sea with plenty of garden space. It was working very well for me – apart from the fact that I was having to give away half my fee paying for the rooms. I thought, If I ran my own B&B, that problem would be  solved.”

After taking her search to Cavan, the birthplace of Maureen’s mother, a close friend pointed out the beauty and affordability of the north of Ireland. Maureen widened her search and came across the stunning eighteenth century farm house that is now a base for her business as well as her home.

Tranquillity and inspiring scenes played a huge part in Maureen’s decision-making process when it came to choosing a location, as she knew a large part of her clientèle would be patients of her psychotherapy practice.

“A lot of my clientèle come from England and abroad at the minute” says Maureen, “I get a lot of professional people who perhaps want to move a little faster than conventional therapy permits. We work wih hypnotherapy, ESP, Neuro Linguistic Programming and all kinds of new therapies that are available today. It’s a very concentrated experience, most people come for three days but you can come on taster sessions as well, one or half day sessions.”

With a capacity of 23 people over nine en suite bedrooms, Maureen is also offering her services to holiday-makers as well as small business teams.

“I’ve got nine en suite bedrooms, two of which have been fully modernised up to a five-star level. We also have two  three-bedroom cottages on the grounds, which will be fully refurbished by Christmas,” Maureen continues. “This will allow me to take in more groups. I really want to promote company bookings. I have a lot of coaches in my contacts. By utilising them, we can work on a problem that a business team might be having, there are always issues in the workplace that need to be resolved.

“There is also a large space in the garden that I would love to turn into a proper therapy centre. People can sleep in the B&B and the therapies could take place in the centre. That way I wouldn’t have to use the bedrooms for the therapies such as massage and reflexology.”

Maureen has taken her ideas to a number of counsellors and MPs,including the new Health Minister, Jim Wells, who, she says, seemed very interested in what she has planned. Maureen explains that further development really depends on how much funding she is able to get, as a summer of refurbishments has taken an inevitable toll on her bank account.

“We really did have to do a lot of work to the place to get it up to the standard I wanted to offer people. We had to put in new pipes and install new flooring. I think it had been a long time since the building had been worked on. We want to completely refurbish the downstairs as the next project and we want to very much keep it in line with the feel of the rest of the house.

“Although its been a hard summer with a lot of the focus being placed on refurb work, the location makes it all worthwhile. There are a lot of activities for our guests to do and we would work a lot with local outdoor pursuit groups. When guests come to stay they can do morning yoga, mountain walks and water sports. I think this makes it the perfect retreat for a range of guests, not just for the therapeutic aspect of the business. we have 1.7 acres of gardens around the B&B and they are stunning. Everyone that has come to stay has said it would be perfect for small wedding parties.”

At the minute, Maureen is running the kitchen as a small operation with chef Jennifer Spires, offering guests a range of breakfasts with lunches and dinners available upon request, however, this is an area of the business where Maureen sees a lot of potential.

“We have a commercial kitchen and a liquor licence, so there is room to expand this side of the  business,” she tells LCN.

Maureen explains one of the ways in which she might do this could be hosting pop-up restaurant nights and inviting guest chefs in to cook for her guests.

“The Briars as it stands is such a beautiful B&B, perfect for any kind of getaway. We are really happy with what we can offer our guests at the minute. But saying that, there is so much potential here as well that it makes it a very exciting business to run.”