The Family Centre - Counselling

Counselling

The Family Centre provides a professional counselling service. In a confidential, caring and healing environment, individuals, couples and families are helped to cope with problems affecting their relationships. You will be most welcome to contact the Centre for an appointment.

» What is counselling?
Counselling is a skilled and ethical relationship which enables clients to address difficulties in their lives. The counsellor’s role is to help clients develop their own resources and to work towards personal growth.

» Confidentiality
Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the counselling relationship. As a counselling service, we give our assurance that everything discussed in counselling is confidential. Exceptions to this assurance are rare and only occur in extreme situations, for example where it is deemed that someone poses a serious threat to themselves or others or where a child might be at risk. In keeping with best practice, counsellors at the Centre are professionally qualified and avail of clinical supervision within the bounds of confidentiality.

» What can you expect?
The counselling team is made up of six professionally qualified counsellors who are accredited with relevant professional bodies. You can expect to be accepted in a non-judgemental manner. Initially, there will be an emphasis on establishing rapport and trust while exploring the key issues presented. After this, some time will be devoted to establishing key goals and deciding on the plan of action.

» What not to expect?
Counselling is not a quick fix and can offer no magical solutions to life problems. It will aim to assist you in achieving your own solutions.

» What are the costs?
There is a nominal fee of €30 per session. This is considerably below the market fees for counselling (€60-€85). The service is a diocesan initiative, supported by the Health Services Executive and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Consequently the service can offer counselling at a reduced rate. Where financial circumstances are problematic this fee can be negotiated as appropriate. Lack of finance should not deter anyone from seeking counselling at the Family Centre.

» Who is counselling for?
Counselling can be useful for anyone seeking help with significant life problems. If you are unhappy with your current situation and are looking to find ways to adapt or change, then counselling may be of assistance. At the Family Centre, we are primarily interested in supporting people in their relationships and family life. We see individuals, families and couples for a variety of reasons.

The following range of areas are commonly addressed:

The service works in collaboration with a variety of other voluntary and statutory bodies. We welcome referrals from these services and where appropriate we inform and refer clients to other agencies.

» How long will I be waiting for an appointment?
The waiting time for a first appointment is approximately 10-12 weeks. This time delay reflects the demand for our counselling service.

» Frequency and Duration?
The frequency of visits varies for each situation but normally people can expect weekly or fortnightly appointments. The duration of the therapy is again dependent on each individual situation. This will be discussed in the initial stages of counselling.

» Attendance:
Part of the contract between counsellor and client is that both agree to honour the appointments made. The counsellor agrees to be available for the appointments made and the same is expected of the client. This is particularly important in light of the number of people waiting for a counselling appointment.

If you are unable to attend your prearranged appointment, you are asked to contact the Family Centre a minimum of twenty-four hours in advance so that the appointment time can be allocated to another client.