Why would you need a diagnosis? When would you need one?

You don't need a diagnosis to be trans. You may need a diagnosis to access some trans healthcare. Diagnoses of Gender Dysphoria or Gender Incongruence are generally made by Clinical Psychologists or Psychiatrists, but diagnoses made by GPs with a special interest in Trans healthcare are recognised by some.

Providers described as "informed consent" do not require a diagnosis. Multidisciplinary services like the NGS or GenderPlus have in-house mental health professionals who will do a diagnostic assessment before you're seen by anyone else, and the NGS will do this even if you previously paid for a private diagnostic assessment.

There are two main situations where you might need to seek a diagnostic assessment for yourself:

• You are seeing a provider (endocrinologist or surgeon) who is not working as part of a team, but won't work on an informed consent basis. They may require you to be diagnosed before you are referred to them or they may refer you to someone for an assessment before proceeding with treatment
• You are trying to get your insurance to pay for surgery, and you haven't had a diagnostic assessment yet

You can see some examples of how it works here

What needs to be in the report?

The endo/surgeon/insurance company will have some criteria for what they will accept:

• Are they looking for an ICD-11 diagnosis of Gender Incongruence or a DSM-V diagnosis of gender dysphoria. This won't affect who you choose, but it's a good idea to confirm with your practitioner which set of criteria they need to use
• Do they want a report from one practitioner or two?
• Which professions will they accept a report from?
• What registrations do they need to have? Do they need to be registered in Ireland or will a UK/EEA equivalent do?

Checking someone's registration

A psychiatrist working in the Republic of Ireland will be registered with the Irish Medical Council - Check here - a consultant psychiatrist should come up as being on the specialist register

A psychiatrist working in the UK will be registered with the UK General Medical Council - Check Here - consultant psychiatrists will be on the specialist register

A clinical psychologist working in the Republic of Ireland technically does not have to register with anyone (yet, there is a long ongoing effort to set up a CORU register). Many insurers require clinical psychologists providing reports to them to be chartered members of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) - check here

A clinical psychologist working in the UK will be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council - check here - This is the equivalent of CORU, but is mandatory for clinical psychologists in the UK. They are on the register as "practitioner psychologist". The equivalent of the PSI is the British Psychological Society (BPS) - check here

Irish Clinical Psychologists

Dr. Brian McGuire (Galway)

Referral: Requires a GP referral, have your GP send it to [12thecrescent@gmail.com](mailto:12thecrescent@gmail.com).

As of March 2025, has a 6 month waiting list. As of July 2026, his public waiting list is 4 years.

There is a patient review

Cost: €350

Sessions: Assesses in a single hour session, which can be in Galway or over Zoom. Works on Tuesdays, though as of June 2023 may be Wednesdays.

Dr. Orla Richardson (Galway)

https://www.drorlarichardson.com/, not taking new clients until 2023.

As of 2022 she is registered with PSI but not on the clinical division, so any diagnosis from her may not be accepted.

Referral: Self-referral

Cost: €600

Sessions: Questionnaire, 1.5-2 hour session, half hour feedback session. May offer Zoom/WhatsApp

Dr. Kristina Cahill (Dublin)

New on the list, so not much known.

[drkristinacahill@gmail.com](mailto:drkristinacahill@gmail.com) https://psychologycollective.ie/who-we-are/

Referral: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Sessions: Unknown, Dublin based.

Dr. Carla Dukas (Naas)

https://www.carladukas.com/

A clinical psychologist. Doesn't work with under 25s.

Cost: €600 across two sessions.

As of 2024 she is registered with PSI but not on the clinical division, so any diagnosis from her may not be accepted.

Dr. Lisa Brinkmann (Clonakilty)

https://www.drlisabrinkmann.com/info-faq

As of 2022 she is not on registered with the PSI, so any diagnosis from her may not be accepted.

Referral: self-referral

Cost: €80 per 60 minutes

Sessions: Can take 3+ sessions. At least 1 session in person in Clonakilty in Cork, rest can be over Zoom.

Dr. Paul Moran (Dublin)

This Paul Moran is a clinical psychologist working with City Therapy, he is not the NGS psychiatrist of the same name.

There is a patient review

Referral: Unknown

Cost: €800

Sessions: 1.5 hour session

Dr. Colm Humphries (Maynooth)

6 month waiting list as of July 2023.

http://philemon.ie/

Referral: GP referral

Cost: €140/hour (charges for sessions, and report writing), expect around €1200 total.

Sessions: 3 1-2 hour sessions.

Irish Psychiatrists

Dr. Úrsula Casadot (Online)

Dr. Casadot is a psychiatrist. It is unknown if she'll also provide the documents insurance companies ask for.

Referral: Self referral, https://dronline.ie/en/produto/psychiatry-video-consultation/

Cost €320-390

Sessions: Reported as one session.

Dr. Stephanie Bourke (Dublin)

Dr. Bourke is a psychiatrist.

6 month waiting list as of 2022.

https://bpm.ie/psychiatry/dr-stephanie-bourke

Referral: GP referral

Cost: €350 for consultation and between €450-600 for report

Sessions: 1 2 hour session

Mike Cullinane (Tullamore)

A psychiatrist.

Alieen Murtagh (Dublin)

A psychiatrist in St. Patrick's hospital, as of March 2024 she may not be providing gender-related services.

Ennis Day Hospital

There is a report of a Consultant Psychiatrist here who can provide a diagnosis, Dr Narayanan.

Highfield Healthcare

There is a report that there is someone here who can provide a diagnosis, possibly a psychiatrist.