Welcome to the Family Centre Castlebar

support services/counselling

The Family Centre provides a professional counselling service. In a confidential, caring & 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 & ethical relationship which enables clients to address difficulties in their lives. The counsellor’s role is to help clients develop their own resources & 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 within our service. Exceptions to this assurance are rare & 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 & avail of clinical supervision within the bounds of confidentiality.

» What can you expect?

The counselling team is made up of five 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & family life. We see individuals, families and couples for a variety of reasons.

» 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 but is usually for a duration of six sessions.

The following range of areas are commonly addressed:

Marital and general relationship problems including communication and sexual problems, family crises including intra family relationships, separation, parent-adolescent relationships, domestic violence, bereavement.

To a lesser extent we are involved in such areas as trauma, anxiety and stress related problems, reactive depression, past abuse

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

» 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 & 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.