Cabhrú - free online counselling service

New counselling service for Irish in Australia launched on World Suicide Prevention Day.

Cabhrú is a free online counselling service for Irish citizens in Australia launching on World Suicide Prevention Day, Saturday 10 September 2016.

Cabhrú (meaning 'help' or 'support' in Irish) will be available seven days a week with clients able to avail of up to six free appointments with a qualified Irish counsellor over Skype. Appointments will be made during the morning Irish time to facilitate evening sessions in Australia.

The service is being provided by Helplink.ie, a non-profit organisation offering mental health and other social services for free or at low cost. Over the past five years Helplink.ie, a non-profit organisation offering mental health and other social services for free or at low cost. Over the past five years Helplink.ie has been providing thousands of counselling appointments in Ireland online and by phone.

Helplink.ie found itself assisting existing Irish clients who had moved abroad and identified a need for the Cabhrú service. Moving to a new country and settling in can be hard; not having ready access to your traditional support networks available at home can also make dealing with other issues that bit more difficult.

Irish citizens may find that living in another country can act as a barrier to accessing mental health service; Cabhrú aims to remove barriers by putting Irish emigrants in touch with culturally aware counsellors based in Ireland.

Cabhrú is being supported by the Emigrant Support Programme of the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and by the GAA.

For more information on Cabhrú visit the Helplink website.