Hiberno Stories

This week, I speak with Maria-Gabriele about her experiences with healing her body and mind after a close call with meningitis, what transculture means and why it's more important than ever, how to embrace all of your inner feminine aspects, and lots more. Try Gaby's Assessments:Home - Intercultural Consultancy & Training - Intercultural Consultancy & TrainingMaria-Gabriele Doublesin is a multi-award-winning intercultural consultant, diagnostic tool developer, and leadership facilitator with over two decades of international experience helping organisations bridge cultural divides and unlock high-performance, inclusive workplaces.She holds a first-class dual master’s degree in Transcultural Community Counselling and Counselling Psychology from the University of Malta and the University of Maryland, College Park. Throughout her career, Maria-Gabriele has advised entrepreneurs, senior executives, NGOs, and civil society leaders across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and beyond—bringing nuanced understanding to culturally complex environments.Her work is rooted in systems thinking and behavioural insight, with a sharp focus on the hidden dynamics that affect inclusion, collaboration, and operational efficiency in diverse teams. Known for transforming theory into actionable strategies, she equips leaders with reflective, practical tools to navigate difference confidently and ethically.Maria-Gabriele is the creator of several original, copyrighted and trademarked diagnostic tools, including:Ethnocentricity Perspective Inventory (EPI-33 ©) – a self-assessment to surface unconscious cultural biasCultural Adaptability Scale (CAS2-20 ©) – a measure of intercultural competence and flexibilityOPE-360™ – a trademarked tool for assessing operational efficiency across cultural and sectoral boundariesBias Audit Sheet © and the Intercultural Pattern Scan © – team-level tools for mapping inclusion gaps and cultural assumptionsHer tools and frameworks are used in onboarding programmes, leadership development, HR audits, and DEI initiatives across both public and private sectors.Maria-Gabriele has received the Best Business Woman Lifetime Achievement Award and the Best Social and Business Care Award, the latter in recognition of her exceptional contribution to setting organisational standards for excellence and delivering measurable impact across social and business domains.Whether delivering keynotes, facilitating strategy sessions, or licensing her frameworks globally, Maria-Gabriele brings a distinctive blend of academic excellence, cross-sector experience, and cultural intelligence to every engagement.Contact me: hibernostories@outlook.ie

This week, I talk a bit about folk medicine, cures for asthma in Ireland, and the return of the Osprey bird.

A roam around some unknown roads exploring narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, the narcissistic stages of abuse (love-bombing, idealisation, devaluation, discard, hoovering), Psychological FOG(S), triggers and switches - with some tips on how to spot narcissistic abuse and what can switch off a victim's brain so that they stay for longer than they want to. Substack still not fixed after being hacked.

This week, I talk about pain - Perception of pain, how the brain creates pain, my experiences of pain (and a jellyfish sting), some of the psychology and neuroscience on pain, a full-on technology hack, how the body and mind gets hacked, and a few exercises to help you unf*ck your body and mind. Still working on it. Let me know if you'd like a PDF download of the template I mention.The Divided MindSubstack to come when it's fixed.

This week, I chinwag with Ray McLennan, angel investor, finance mentor, mortgage "fraud" mentor, public speaking World Record holder, dad, and generally sound fella.https://www.creditoracademy.co.uk/http://substack.com/@hibernostories

A story about the Irish Famine (or genocide) whichever term you want to give it, the introduction to the Irish storytelling wheel, and a few comments about narcissistic abuse and walking the Camino de Santiago. https://substack.com/@hibernostories