Affordable Marriage Counselling Recommedations

jklie111

Hi there.

I was wondering if anybody can recommend a decent marriage counselling service with an affordable cost in or around Dublin (even nearby places around Meath are okay).

I have seen a few with sliding scale fee options, but I'm hesitant as to how cost-efficient or effective in general they actually are, and it's generally difficult to choose without experience from others.


I know there are some other threads on this but they are mainly from before the economic crisis or else from the countryside.

Any help appreciated, and thank you very much in advance.

Payton

Try www.accord.ie

Kalimah

Would second the recommendation for Accord. I have personal experience of them. They were excellent.

jklie111

Thank you both very much for the recommendation.

@Kalimah, would you mind me asking what the fees were like when you went? I know before the crisis them seemed to operate on a donation basis, but I can't seem if that's the sme case as recent years as it says the costs are agreed beforehand.

PandaPoo

jklie111 wrote: »

Thank you both very much for the recommendation.

@Kalimah, would you mind me asking what the fees were like when you went? I know before the crisis them seemed to operate on a donation basis, but I can't seem if that's the sme case as recent years as it says the costs are agreed beforehand.

It's still donation basis. You bring your donation in an envelope and it's put into a drawer with others

ted1

Kalimah wrote: »

Would second the recommendation for Accord. I have personal experience of them. They were excellent.

We did our pre marriage course with them, I would run a mile and steer clear of them.

They were awful. There idea of contraceptives is the temperature method.

jklie111

ted1, Sorry to hear about the bad experience with them.

I'm getting mixed reviews about them online. I would expect their marriage preparation course to be a rather old-fashioned given that it is meant to be a Catholic tradition technically.

But their counselling is meant to be non-denominational, which is important since both myself and my partner are both not religious and may even be looking for advice on separating. Did anybody find this an issue with them?

Kalimah

They never ever mentioned religion to us. The funny thing was we went for one session and my husband was told he didn't need to come again. I was the one with the issues! The counsellor was spot on. I went 9 or 10 times locally. We slipped them 50 quid or so every so often. We couldn't afford more at the time.

woodchuck

I did couples counselling with accord, so a couple of points:

- Religion was never mentioned.

- In terms of the payment, this is something that was discussed with us up front in the first session... after they had taken a bit of background history, including our jobs and labelled us both as 'professionals' (decent enough jobs, but by no means high earners). Then they said that in order to break even they would appreciate a 'donation' of 70euro for each session. So we agreed to that and they wrote the amount down for their records. So even though the donation is done anonymously (envelope into a box), they did pressure us into agreeing to a certain amount up front. Maybe they're not as upfront about money if they feel people are under financial strain though. But to be honest, had I known we'd be paying 70euro per session anyway I would've done a bit more research to find the most suitable counsellor for us (70euro or a little above is a fairly standard rate anyway, so didn't feel like we were getting a bargain by going through accord).

Accord didn't work for us, but to be honest our relationship was a sinking ship and himself had already taken off with the last lifeboat. So we were doomed when we walked in the door anyway. I wouldn't let that put you off going to them though, but I think the money is worth pointing out, as I had been told before that it's all 'donation' based, but my experience felt very different.

The Princess Bride

I would have to agree with those who advise against Accord.
Both from a personal and a professional point of view.
There are many qualified counsellors who provide a service - it can be hit and miss, not every counsellor will be suited to every client.
Accord work on a donation basis, whatever you think you can afford is offered in an envelope.
I'd advise you, OP, to look up the list of available counsellors in your area( available in the charter here in PI) and save up to go to see someone experienced and non-judgemental.

Best of luck

Toots

OP it might be worthwhile asking your GP. I see a therapist (not marriage counselling) and my GP recommended her, and she's fantastic. A friend of mine went to marriage counselling and it was someone who her GP recommended also. He was very happy with the counsellor. The Irish Institute of Counselling & Psychotherapy have a handy therapist directory, and a lot of the therapists have their price listed beside their name. A lot of them are negotiable, and will work with you to arrange something you can afford. Just because they're charging less, doesn't mean they're not as good as the ones that charge big bucks. My own therapist charges €70 for regular private sessions, but she does 'sliding scale' for one day out of the week.

I'm not sure if this would be in your area, but Oasis Counselling Centre might be somewhere you could try. They work on a sliding scale of voluntary contributions from €20 to €60. I know a couple of people who have used them, and have found them to be very good. At least it would give you a taster for counselling, hopefully at a price you can afford, and you can see if it would be something that would work for you.

jklie111

Thank you very much everyone for your advice, I really appreciate it. @Toots That website especially is extremely helpful, thank you.

The affordability was what made me lean towards Accord, but the negotiated fee/ donation gave me some hesitation along with some mixed reviews. I will keep all of the advice in mind and look through the link for an affordable private service.

Thank you all again, here's hoping it'll go well.

Neyite

Mod:

gsi300024v, your posts were deleted as they breach the charter. We cant recommend a specific counsellor here.

LegacyUser

Me and OH are atheists and went to Accord.

It is only the pre-marraige course where religion makes an appearance. Its only for people getting married by the church, so I assume they believe all that stuff anyway (why else would they be marrying in a church if they didn't???)

Anyway, they were excellent, no religious nonsense. It's all donation based. But honestly, its really about the counsellor and not the organisation at the end of the day. A good counsellor is a good counsellor regardless