A NEW SUITE of counselling rooms have been opened by the Dublin Simon Community, aimed at offering counselling to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The rooms are to be opened today by the Minister for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee.

The counselling rooms form part of the Dublin Simon Community’s Sure Steps counselling service, which provides support for people who are homeless or at risk.

A report into the service shows that there was a 71% increase in the number of people accessing the counselling service in 2015 compared to the previous year.

The report also shows that the service provided 1,712 hours of counselling and one to one mental health support last year.

Commenting on the launch of the new rooms, Sam McGuinness, CEO of the Dublin Simon Community said that the counselling provided support for people accessing other services from Dublin Simon.

“In addition to one-to-one counselling, Sure Steps offers supports to clients across Dublin Simon Community’s housing and treatment services,” said McGuinness.

On-demand crisis intervention for people with suicidal ideation or who are in emotional distress and a variety of emotional wellbeing groups are also provided.

The rooms are located at a secure location in Dublin 8, and are being launched to facilitate the increasing demand.

There were 659 cases received by the counselling service between 2012 and 2015.

Between 2013-2015, the main reasons for people accessing the service were:

Mental Health (32%)

Addiction (30%)

Grief/Bereavement (19%)

Relationships (7%)

Minister McEntee said the counselling service and other services offered by Dublin Simon gave people “the key to a new start, helping them leave the trauma of homelessness behind, and move towards a future filled with hope”.