by Alan Jacques
(Picture: Keith Wiseman)
THE MyMind Centre for Mental Wellbeing has provided over 800 appointments to clients since opening its doors in Limerick last year.
A not-for-profit provider of accessible mental health care in the community, MyMind is based at 66 O’Connell Street. In its first year, the Limerick hub has provided fast, affordable and accessible mental health services with 808 appointments recorded to date.
Equipped with a team of psychotherapists and counsellors, MyMind provides counselling, wellbeing and psychotherapy services in more than ten languages either online, face-to-face or in the workplace.
Charges are based upon employment status, allowing the unemployed or full-time students to access services at vastly reduced rates. In addition, revenue generated from full fee clients is reinvested, enabling MyMind to provide affordable services to all.
New clients may self-refer and appointments are usually made within 72 hours of contact.
“We are delighted to be celebrating our first year of providing high quality, low cost mental health care in Limerick, and are dedicated to growing and improving this service for many years to come,” said MyMind founder Krystian Fikert.
“In Ireland, someone experiencing mental health issues may be faced with long waiting lists and costly private services. MyMind is working hard to fill this gap through a mental health service that is easily within everyone’s reach.”
MyMind has impacted on more than 20,000 lives in Ireland since being set up in 2006.
“Since we opened the Limerick centre , we have seen demand for our services grow rapidly, with more and more clients referring friends and family members to our centre. This shows just how much of a need there is for MyMind’s uniquely accessible service,” said Mr Fikert.
Speaking at the MyMind’s first anniversary celebrations in the Hunt Museum this week, Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler hailed the mental health service as a “great attribute” to the city. He praised the quality of its service and said that by being located in the heart of the city centre, it “challenges the stigma around mental health”.
“The conversation about mental health is growing. We are getting better at talking about it. We have accumulated the language and we now need to accumulate the understanding to start bridging that gap,” Cllr Butler commented.
For more details on MyMind log onto www.mymind.org.
