FAQs

All of us, both men and women, experience difficulties in our lives. Some experiences are too hard to deal with on your own. Maybe you can’t talk to family or friends, or there is a limit to the help they can give.

Our counsellors are trained to provide the confidential support necessary to help you heal from the hurt of rape and sexual abuse. 

Counselling is a one-to-one relationship which provides the support and encouragement necessary to allow someone talk about the experiences and events which have affected their lives and their way of being in the world. It is the role of the counsellor to offer a safe and confidential space to enable a person to get in touch with and express whatever thoughts and feelings that are necessary for them to move on in their lives.

Counselling helps by providing a person the time and space, not always available in other parts of their lives, to explore their feelings in relation to their trauma. It is an enormous relief for someone to be able to talk, perhaps for the first time, about what happened and how it has affected their life. It is helpful over time, and without pressure or expectation to be able to open up to and express painful memories and feelings that may have been bottled up for a long time.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre welcomes male clients for one-to-one counselling and group therapy. Currently 12% of our clients are male and we are committed to see this expanding as awareness of male victims of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and childhood sexual abuse increases.

Here in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre we are very clear that the answer to that question is yes – people can and do recover from traumatic events and experiences. Over the past 25 years we have worked with very many clients who have moved beyond the past to fuller and happier lives.

When someone has been raped or sexually abused they can experience nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive memories and high levels of fear and distress. Counselling helps people become aware that these feelings are a normal reaction to the abnormal events they have experienced.

Here in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre we look at what resources and support people have in their lives and help them manage their feelings and move beyond their past experiences.

If you are worried about any of these feelings, please ring us on our 24-hour confidential helpline.

The length of time counselling takes varies from person to person. Everyone is an individual and each person’s experience is unique, so the duration of their counselling cannot be predicted. It can vary from a few weeks up to a few months or longer. Most people feel some benefit even after a few sessions.

It is always the choice of the individual whether or not they wish to continue with the counselling process. There will always be time to discuss this with their counsellor.

A counselling session lasts for one hour.

Here in the DRCC we offer counselling on a fortnightly basis. This is to allow clients time between sessions to integrate their experience of the session. We believe the pace of counselling is vital and we do not want to rush or overwhelm clients. However, if someone needs more support, weekly sessions are usually offered.

Clients of the DRCC will always see the same counsellor and will be able to develop a trusting relationship with that person.

All the counsellors at the DRCC are fully trained and must be accredited with one of the professional counselling organisations.

The DRCC has a policy that no one will ever be excluded from counselling because of money difficulties. The first six crisis counselling sessions are free and after this a contribution is negotiated between client and therapist according to what the client can easily afford to give. Similarly, for more long-term work a fee on a sliding scale basis is agreed.