Over two years, the author collaborated with a mental health social worker to provide culturally appropriate mental health support to the Traveller community. The service evolved from weekly sessions to an outreach model to better meet client needs. Client presentations often involved complex issues like homelessness, abuse, and family crises. Engagement increased over time. Barriers included lack of trust, transport issues, and insecurity. Client feedback was positive. The report recommends ongoing funding to continue prompt, culturally sensitive crisis response and facilitate relationships with mainstream services.

1. My Geel Glorying
two years of systemic psychotherapy work in collaboration with Exchange House
Ireland mental health social worker
from within Offaly Traveller Movement

2. A Vision for Change (2006) calls for
 “community initiatives aimed at providing care and support around the
mental health needs of people from diverse cultures and ethnic
backgrounds’’ which will be supported and promoted within the context of
the model of community mental health.
 It calls for ‘formalised links between specialised mental health services and
primary care and mainstream community agencies to support the care and
integration of individuals within their local communities’ and it suggests
additional services being necessary to meet these needs.

3. What would a coordinated community -based
culturally appropriate mental health support service
look like?
 A culturally appropriate Traveller specific therapeutic outreach service
 Supported linkages to mainstream services
 Early therapeutic engagement with Traveller families and individuals in crisis in
their own community
 Therapeutic support for Traveller clients in difficult living conditions and awaiting
service interventions
 Practical supports and advocacy
 Co-working of complex multi-issue cases on behalf of vulnerable at-risk families
and individuals.
 Pro-active targeting of hard to reach vulnerable and at risk clients.

4. Development of service
 Initially Friday mornings with SW engaging clients and reminding people
 Moved to Friday afternoons
 Moved to greater flexibility during week
 Offered on an outreach basis
 has evolved to meet the needs of people who are in crisis and experiencing intra-
familial crisis

5. Presentations
 Client presentations tended to be complex,
 practical living problems which had developed
incrementally
 often with child safety considerations
 layers of crisis

6. Patterns of engagement
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4
Therapeutic engagement over 2 years in 6 monthly blocks
Taken Not taken DNA Client Systems familys

8. Types of presentations
 Managing crisis situations such as homelessness, prison sentences, ill health
 Suicidal ideation, self-harm and risk taking behaviour
 Intra-family communications and conflict
 Individual safety in the face of conflict
 Concerns for other family members
 Depression and despondency
 Historic sexual abuse and interfamilial abuse.
 Intergenerational difficulties
 Grief and loss
 Self-care in face of psychiatric diagnosis

9. Obstacles to engagement
 Issues of trust and fear of consequences
 Lack of perceived value of counselling
 Lack of perceived welcome
 Client perception of what is stress or depression
 Risk of family censor and of exposure
 Clients overwhelmed by multiple crises
 Transport
 Insecure Accommodation
 Timekeeping

10. Client Feedback
 It helped me a lot, I needed someone to talk to that wasn’ family
 I found the counselling helped me a great deal
 Got you talking, helped out with my problems
 I thought it was very helpful
 Got me true[sic] hard times
 Very good
 For once I was thinking about myself and not my family. If I did not meet her I would[not] talk to anyone else
 More sessions. I would like to keep going.
 To stop this service would be wrong. It has helped so many, myself and family included.
 I availed of the service for a year+ I found it helped me a lot. The fact that Catherine was able to come to my
house made it a lot easier for me in many ways, I felt more relaxed, I found it easier to talk and I found it easier
to reflect on each session. I think Catherine is a great benefit to the OTM and I hope funding can continue for
this essential service.

11. Feedback from services in Offaly
15
4
56
16
8
20
Numbers of Travellers accessing each type of service
HSE services Bereavement Addiction Sexual Health Personal Safety Youth Suicide Counselling Specialist OTM Pilot

12. Mainstream v Parallel Services
 Reductions in funding for peer support services & lack of investment in specialised
training
 Practical problems of living affecting engagement & delivery (V for C, 2006)
 Impact of legal constraints on cultural practice
 Unequal sharing of resources such as education
 Traveller Mental Health crosses multiple sectors from Housing to Legal to Health
and Education

13. Final recommendations
This project should be funded to continue to;
1. promptly meet Traveller individuals and families in crisis and at risk of developing
further health complications in a prompt and culturally-sensitive way
2. work with mainstream specialist services and facilitate their engaging with Travellers in
a culturally responsive way.
3. offer an outreach wraparound systemic family support service, with flexibility around
referral systems, meeting the specific needs of Travellers in a culturally respectful way
4. build understanding of what counselling is and can offer for Travellers encouraging pro-
active help seeking behaviour
This report recommends that an on-going Traveller Counselling Service is funded in
Traveller organisations with sufficient funding and resources to build formal two-way
referral pathways which will benefit this vulnerable and deserving minority group in a
culturally sensitive way.

14. Sin e; That’s All Folks!