Trusted Resources & Community Partners
Mental health care is a community effort. While I provide dedicated integrative psychotherapy, well-being is connected to many other areas of life — from housing and employment to specialised youth and identity-specific support. Below is a curated directory of Irish national services, charities, and community supports I proudly signpost.
If you are in immediate distress or crisis, please don't wait.
Samaritans: call 116 123, free, confidential, 24/7 ·Text About It: text HELLO to 50808 ·Pieta: free specialised support for suicidal distress, self-harm, or bereavement by suicide ·Women's Aid: 1800 341 900, 24-hour national freephone helpline
Domestic violence & abuse support
- Women's Aid — the 24-hour National Freephone Helpline, 1800 341 900, free and confidential, support in 240+ languages, for anyone experiencing domestic abuse including coercive control and stalking, or worried about someone who is.
- Safe Ireland — the national network of local domestic violence services across Ireland (safeireland.ie), running the "Safe Homes, Safe Communities" campaign. Helps find safe accommodation, local support services in your county, and guidance on court proceedings and protection orders — signposts to the same national helpline above rather than a separate number.
Low-cost & community therapy services
If private therapy is currently inaccessible, these organisations offer vital community-based and sliding-scale support:
- MyMind — community-based, fast access to counselling and psychotherapy, sliding-scale rates for students, the unemployed, and part-time workers.
- Turn2Me — free, professional online counselling and online support groups for adults.
- Aware — free support, education, and information for depression, bipolar disorder, and mood-related conditions, including free CBT life-skills programmes.
Youth & young adult support
- Jigsaw — the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, offering free, early-intervention therapy for ages 12–25. No GP referral or diagnosis is needed — a young person can self-refer, or a parent, guardian, teacher, or GP can make contact with their permission. Under-18s need parental/guardian consent, and a parent or guardian attends the first session. Jigsaw operates 18 hubs nationwide plus online support, and a drop-in Live Chat for in-the-moment conversations. It's designed for mild-to-moderate difficulties — anxiety, low mood, stress, family conflict, grief, bullying — and will help you find the right service elsewhere if your needs fall outside that scope.
- Spunout.ie — Ireland's youth information website, created by young people, for young people.
- Childline (ISPCC) — a 24-hour listening service for children and young people up to 18.
Government-backed & HSE-funded support for adults (18+)
There's no exact adult equivalent to Jigsaw — once you turn 26, Irish public mental healthcare shifts toward a GP/Medical-Card-dependent model. Here's what's actually available, and how each is accessed:
- Counselling in Primary Care (CIPC) — free, around 8 sessions, for mild-to-moderate difficulties. Requires a Medical Card and a GP or primary-care referral.
- National Counselling Service (NCS) — free counselling for adults who experienced childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect. No Medical Card or GP referral needed — self-refer by calling your regional service.
- Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) — for moderate-to-severe difficulties, multidisciplinary care. Not self-referral — your GP refers you.
- Turn2Me, Aware, SilverCloud (HSE Online CBT), and MyMind — all offer HSE-funded or partially-funded self-referral routes with no GP needed for most programmes.
Housing, homelessness & basic needs
Mental health is deeply intertwined with physical security and housing:
- Simon Community — services for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including emergency accommodation and outreach.
- Focus Ireland — preventing homelessness, supporting families and individuals into long-term housing.
- Threshold — free, independent advice and advocacy for tenants facing housing issues or eviction.
State support & employment
- HSE Mental Health Services — the central hub for public health services; your GP can refer you to your local Community Mental Health Team for specialised psychiatric care.
- Intreo — the State's single point of contact for employment and income supports, useful if unemployment is part of what you're navigating.
Neurodiversity support (autism & ADHD)
Understanding and navigating a neurodivergent profile deserves dedicated, specialised support. Whether you have a formal diagnosis, are self-identifying, or are seeking an assessment, I recommend these national organisations directly:
- AsIAm — Ireland's autistic-led national autism charity: peer-led adult support, family support, and an Autism Information Line.
- ADHD Ireland — support groups, psychoeducation, and a dedicated helpline for adults, parents, and young people.
- HSE Adult ADHD Clinical Programme — the public pathway for adult ADHD assessment; ask your GP whether it's currently operating in your area.
- Adult autism-assessment waiting lists on the public pathway are currently very limited; many adults seek private multidisciplinary assessment — AsIAm has the most current guidance on navigating this.
LGBTQ+ mental health & community support
- LGBT Ireland — the National LGBT Helpline, online chat, and peer support groups.
- BeLonG To — the national organisation for LGBTQ+ young people aged 14–23.
- TENI — peer support, family support, and guidance on navigating healthcare and transitioning in Ireland.
- The Switchboard — Ireland's longest-running LGBTQ+ helpline, 01 872 1055, run by trained volunteers.
- Gay Project & LINC — Cork-based, national reach: counselling and social support for gay/bisexual men and lesbian/bisexual women respectively.
Ready to look for a private, in-person therapist? Seehow to find and vet one safely in Ireland.
This directory is reviewed periodically, but services and contact details can change — if anything here looks out of date, please let me know.