THE Government has been urged to put funding in place for long-term counselling for children traumatised after losing a loved one through violence.
Current Government funding only allows AdVIC, the advocacy group for families of victims of homicide, to offer 12 counselling sessions to children and adolescents free of charge.
However, AdVIC is concerned that the limited number of sessions is inappropriate and unethical due to the lack of support available through the health system.
The counsellors who provide the service to AdVIC have highlighted their ethical concerns to the AdVIC board about the lack of long-term professional support to help young people deal effectively with the trauma experienced.
The inadequate short term therapeutic intervention risks causing long term consequences with children and adolescents potentially experiencing low self-esteem, mood swings, substance abuse, flashbacks, panic attacks or relationship difficulties later in life.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
The advocacy group reiterated its call to both Ministers ahead of its bi-annual Memorial Service for victims of homicide on September 25.
The event, which was streamed on the AdVIC website this year due to the pandemic, allowed families to pay respect to their loved ones.
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Speaking at the memorial day, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, who lost his father to homicide, spoke of the “collateral impact” grief has on people.
He said: “With every passing year, there are pivotal moments shared without a loved one physically being present.
“Birthdays missed, graduations that have never been. All of the hopes ad dreams so cruelly (taken).
He added that grief can be “all consuming” and said that An Garda Siochana’s liaisons services are available “to those affected by homicide in Ireland.”
FUNDING INCREASE
An increase in funding would enable AdVIC to recruit additional professionally trained and qualified psychotherapists to meet the demand of an increasing number of children and adolescents who are experiencing complex bereavement and trauma due to homicide in Ireland.
AdVIC currently has three qualified Child and Adolescent Counsellors in the counselling team and has to cap counselling to 12 sessions maximum.
Short term time limited work with young people presenting with trauma and bereavement is clinically challenging, as bereavement and trauma associated with homicide requires medium-to-long term therapeutic support, and at times open ended support.
Referrals to HSE counselling are not appropriate as there are extensive waiting lists and AdVIC is increasingly concerned about starting a counselling process with a young person for 12 weeks and then having to refer them to a service with a long waiting list.
UNANSWERED REQUESTS
AdVIC has requested meetings with the Minister for Children and Minister of State for Mental Health to discuss the issue and raise the need for increased funding, but the requests have gone unanswered to date.
AdVIC spokesperson Joan Deane said it is completely inappropriate that children can only access short term help under current funding.
She said: “Losing a loved one through violence is one the most traumatic things that anyone can experience and the impact is even more of a burden on young people who can be left haunted for the rest of their lives.
“We feel that it is completely inappropriate that children and adolescents can only avail of short term counselling for extremely complex trauma, but our calls to address this seem to be falling on deaf ears.
“It just goes to show once again that families of homicide victims are the only people that really serve life sentences.
“The lack of suitable therapeutic intervention means that young people can be left with extremely serious long terms effects due to untreated trauma that impacts their future. The current approach by Government is simply sticking a plaster on a wound and letting it fester.”