Frequently Asked Questions

We are members of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP). This national organisation represents over 5,000 members making it the largest counselling and psychotherapy association in Ireland. It develops and maintains professional standards of excellence in Counselling and Psychotherapy. All members adhere to their Code of Ethics and are held accountable to high standards of professional integrity. You can visit their website here.

We offer an initial 10 or 15 minute phone call prior to scheduling an appointment. This is to give you some time to explain what your needs are in relation to attending counselling. We will tell you a little bit about how we work and you will have a chance to ask any questions you may have. This gives you an opportunity to see if we would be a good fit for what you need. To arrange this initial call you can send us an email or text message. We often have our phones turned off, but if you leave a message for us, we will respond to you as soon as we can. You can find our contact details here.

The first session is to get to know each other a little bit and to help you decide whether counselling might be helpful for you. We will capture some information like contact details and the name of your GP or next of kin. Then we might look at what brought you to counselling, your hopes for counselling and any context you want us to know about. We will answer any questions you have for us.

The fee for a counselling session is €60.

We strongly believe that money should not be a barrier to people receiving the care and support they need. For that reason, we hold space to offer clients a sliding scale fee. This is a fee that we would determine together based on what you are able to comfortably afford. Feel free to send us a message to see if we have availability for sliding scale or if there are other ways to fund your counselling with us.

You can pay for your session via Revolut, bank transfer or cash directly after your session. If you would like to pay by Revolut we will provide you with details during your first session

We offer counselling during weekdays and evenings. Please contact us to find out about current availability. We will try to accommodate you as much as we can.

If you are insured for counselling, we recommend that you contact your insurance provider to confirm with them whether (and to what extent) your sessions with us are covered.

We are members of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) and we are guided at all times by their Code of Ethics. Our systems are GDPR compliant. The information you share with us is confidential. However, there are some rare limitations to confidentiality, specifically relating to safety. These situations can be discussed in more detail at your first session and any session after that.

We generally ask for 24 hours notice to cancel a session. However we also understand that life can be unpredictable. We are happy to discuss this further during your initial consultation.

While we recognise that social media are an integral and often useful part of people’s lives, we have made the choice to refrain from having a social media presence with The Together Collective. This is to honour the confidential nature of our work, and the value we place in ‘human’ contact with our clients and community.

The counselling happens during the sessions. For confidentiality reasons, we limit our contact to when we meet for counselling. It is safe practice to not let our work spill over into, for example, text exchanges or chats in the streets. However, if you are experiencing a crisis, we urge you to contact us or a dedicated crisis support service. See Resources for contact details.

You may have children to care for and it can be challenging to take time out for your counselling sessions. It is important though that you attend counselling alone, so you have no distractions as you are taking care of yourself. We will work with you to find a time that suits you best.

When you come to us for counselling, we want to create a private and confidential space for you. For that reason, we avoid working with close family or friends of our existing clients.

The answer to this question will depend on a number of factors. Sometimes therapy is short-term and focused on a specific need or recent life event, while in other cases, regular weekly counselling is needed to explore more complex life experiences in more depth. We understand that attending counselling can be a significant investment both in time and in money. We will explore the right balance with you.

We offer in-person therapy at our practice in Sackville Street, Dunmanway, Co. Cork, P47 V500. We are in a relatively secluded location in the main town with access to onsite parking. Our practice is on the ground floor and is wheelchair accessible. See here for more detailed information. We also offer online counselling via a secure link. With online counselling, it is important that you have a private space where you won’t be interrupted, and that you have reliable technology and an internet connection.