Graduates of Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Skills Course Conferred at NUI Maynooth

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency today celebrated the latest graduates of its certificate course in crisis pregnancy counselling skills at a ceremony in the NUI Maynooth. This course is delivered by the Department of Adult and Community Education, NUI Maynooth and was developed in partnership with the Agency, who also funds it. Sixteen crisis pregnancy counsellors completed the year-long, skills based programme which aims to support individuals working in a paid or voluntary capacity to further enhance their counselling skills in this unique field of counselling and to set standards of good practice in the area. In the two years since the programme was established, a total of 46 counsellors have completed the course, while a third year of the course commenced in October.
The sixteen graduates represent seven of the fourteen crisis pregnancy counselling service providers in receipt of Agency funding, and are based at centres in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Mayo and Wexford. All of these services are promoted through the Positive Options campaign and women can access free crisis pregnancy counselling at over 50 centres nationwide by visiting the positiveoptions.ie website or by freetexting the word ‘LIST’ to 50444.

Speaking today, Caroline Spillane, Director of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency said: “I would like to congratulate the 16 graduates on their achievement in completing this course. The Agency is committed to ensuring that free, non-judgemental support is available to all women who experience a crisis pregnancy. The level of commitment and skill which the graduates of this course have displayed further demonstrates the high-quality of State funded counselling which is available in the event of a crisis pregnancy.”

Mary B Ryan of the Department of Adult and Community Education at NUI Maynooth University, Co-Director of the course added: ‘I would like to acknowledge the openness of the participants to review and develop their approaches and ideas to crisis pregnancy counselling and their ongoing commitment to providing a service that enables the client to make an informed decision that is appropriate for her. Crisis pregnancy is a concern for everyone, this course challenges us to consider our attitudes and approaches to pregnancy and how we as an Irish society take responsibility for this issue’.

Ends.

Editor’s Notes:

1. The Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) was established in 2001 and is mandated to provide for:
A) A reduction in the number of crisis pregnancies by the provision of education, advice and contraceptive services
B) A reduction in the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by offering services and support which make other options more attractive
C) The provision of counselling services, medical services and other health services for the purpose of providing support, after crisis pregnancy, as may be deemed appropriate by the Agency.

2. Crisis Pregnancy Counselling
Free, State-funded crisis pregnancy counselling is available at over 50 centres nationwide. For a list of organisations offering free, non-judgemental crisis pregnancy counselling, members of the public can freetext the word LIST to 50444 or visit positiveoptions.ie.

For more information contact:

Lorna Farren
Crisis Pregnancy Agency
087-6289831