Good psychologist/counselor recommendations

wolfieWolf

Hi,

Could anyone please recommend a good professional to help with a possible anxiety issue and who is based in the Galway City area?

Thanks,
Ww

jimbobaloobob

wolfieWolf wrote: »

Hi,

Could anyone please recommend a good professional to help with a possible anxiety issue and who is based in the Galway City area?

Thanks,
Ww

Might be worth doing a google search for possible service providers of this. Hard one for anyone to point you in the direction of except a professional as your needs might not be met by the right professional but a chat with one might point you in the direction of the one to suit your needs.
Best of luck.

Gadgetman496

Can your GP not recommend one?

biko

A mate of mine was going through something a few years back.
He used www.granarytherapycentre.com and seemed to think it helped.


Mod note - although we usually do these sensitive recommendations by PM it may be helpful for others to actually have them named in thread instead in case some one else googles it. Only recommendations please

Mrs OBumble

Strongly suggest starting with your gp to get referred to the most appropriate professional based on evidence. Some types of counselling aren't the best for anxiety, no matter how good the counsellor is in general.

_Whimsical_

I have no idea if these people are good so this isn't a recommendation but as it's a different sort of service I thought I'd add it in for anyone reading or searching this topic in the future.
http://www.helplink.ie/counselling/

It's a service with several counsellors. They see people face to face 7 days a week in their offices but also do a phone service where you can receive sessions via phone or Skype. You never really know who that might suit, it might work for someone working as a carer, a single parent or someone with issues around going out. They were mentioned in a paper recently as it's now a nationwide service and it said phone based counselling is very popular in other countries and research has found it equally as effective as the in-person version.

OP there are counsellors working with some GPs now in their premises. I have definitely seen it advertised in Churchfield Medical Centre in Lower Salthill and heard the lady there is very good. If you ring the surgery they could probably help you out.
Very often with these things you have to go and check someone out yourself and see if the two of you are a "fit". What works for one person might not be for you and vice versa. Feeling comfortable with someone counts for a lot.Good luck!

El_Dangeroso

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Strongly suggest starting with your gp to get referred to the most appropriate professional based on evidence. Some types of counselling aren't the best for anxiety, no matter how good the counsellor is in general.

Yes, yes, yes. People should go through GP as they are more likely to recommend an evidence based practitioner.

There is a LOT of psuedoscience around in this area (neuro-linguistic programming, emotional freedom technique to name a few) that have been shown to be no more effective than placebo.

wolfieWolf

Thanks all,

In response to the suggestion to do a Google search, I have as you may imagine already done that but there are a lot of choices, hence the post for a recommendation.

When I spoke to my GP they dug out a flyer for a counselling centre in Galway but they have a couple of different counsellors to choose from so again I wasn't sure who to contact.

As there are so many choices out there I'm very grateful to those who have mentioned specific individuals. It's a great starting point.

Wishing you all good health and happiness,
Ww

voz es

wolfieWolf wrote: »

Hi,

Could anyone please recommend a good professional to help with a possible anxiety issue and who is based in the Galway City area?

Thanks,
Ww

Hi wolfiewolf,
I would recommend that you/your friend attends a G.P. and get feedback from them. There is a hell of a lot of mis-information on that thread.


Kind regards,
Voz-es

GalwayGrrrrrl

You can access a Hse psychologist by getting a referral to psychiatry from your gp. Each psychiatrist in Galway has a psychologist working on their team. Not sure what the waiting time is on this but they prioritise people according to need.

DK man

Why not try out the Iacp website (Irish association of counselling and psychotherapy). They have a list of accredited counsellors in each county.

Some people recommend cbt ( cognitive behavioural therapy) for anxiety. Cbt is very much about looking at your beliefs and how these maybe causing anxiety. They use and a b c model. A = events / situations. B= beliefs - c = consequences . The a can't be changed but the b is often the problem causer. The cbt therapist will get you to explore and rationalise about just how solid these beliefs are - the aim is to readjust any irrational beliefs or thinking patterns and the c will inevitably changed relieving you of your anxiety.

I like cbt but it is very matter of fact - I think it's important for a counsellor to also have person centred skills and to really listen and reflect with the client

I only ideally a good counsellor will have a range of skills / theoretical frameworks to select from.

Another issue is fit - finding someone who you feel comfortable and safe with. This might not happen on your first try so leave and try someone else if you are not fully at ease....

Best of luck - I hope you find someone who can support you and help you overcome this difficult and challenging issue..

shaza123

wolfieWolf wrote: »

Hi,

Could anyone please recommend a good professional to help with a possible anxiety issue and who is based in the Galway City area?

Thanks,
Ww

Hello.

I just saw this now. You could check on www.psihq.ie. This is the website for the Psychological Soceity of ireland where you will find clinical and counselling psychologists who are trained in this area. Good luck.