The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

The PAVE Project Report 67
effectiveness of specific forms of counselling and the skills of counsellors before this
approach is extended too widely” (p.12).
Actually, some of the interviewees in this research found that counselling made them
worse, although most had availed of it outside the group:
“My house was attacked, it was shot up one night by the IRA, you know. They sent
me afterwards, you know, … , they sent me for counselling, away to doctor in [name
of hospital], a nice enough man, but after three or four visits, I took my wife and
me. And I said to my wife, I think it was the third or fourth visit, I asked her ‘do
you think this is helping us?’ and she said, ‘no’, and I said, ‘Thank God, me and you
agree in something, because I don’t think it’s helping me.’ And because, for a start,
it was too early. This was just right after my house was attacked and there was a
rage in me, you know, that somebody would come and shoot up my house and could
have. It should have come later, you know.” (Interviewee I)
[Going to the psychiatrist] made us worse. Because… you know, he brings the
daughter and you get out everyday and, as I did said to the doctor, I says, ‘Look, I
take her up here and she’s coming back worse, she’s coming out crying’, and I was
coming out crying. It just made things worse. It does not help whatsoever.
(Interviewee C)
And, in the end, my doctor put me on anti-depressants. I’m still on them. And I
can’t do without them. I went and got counselling, one-to-one counselling. It didn’t
help. … I’ve done the counselling for about… five months, once a week. … The last
time I had counselling and that was enough (laughs), the last time I had counselling
was last year. (Interviewee A)