Marriage counselling services report post-Christmas calls surge
Marriage counsellors say they have been flooded with calls from distraught couples after Christmas.
Dublin's AIM Family Services told the Irish Examiner the volume of calls is the highest in its 30-year history.
The voluntary agency said yesterday it had dealt with 60% more clients between November last year and the first week of January in comparison to the previous year.
Financial difficulties are being blamed for the rise in calls, as well as the pressure of the Christmas break.
Michelle Clarke, AIM spokeswoman, said: "We opened back up on January 3, but we’ve been completely booked up in both the pre and post-Christmas period.
"Financial difficulties have made it particularly difficult for a lot of families this year and if there’s been a loss or bereavement in the family, that makes things all the worse. There’s a bigger demand on services at this time because the Christmas period magnifies any existing issues tenfold."
Relationships Ireland also says it experienced a higher-than-average number of calls.
Lisa O’Hara, a counsellor with the charity, said: "We only opened up a couple of days ago, but the phones have been busier than ever. What’s unusual about it is that couples usually wait until the kids are back at school before they contact us.
"What I’ve noticed this time is that a lot more men, mainly in their 40s or 50s, have been picking up the phone, which is highly unusual.
"In some cases, they’ve been forced to make the call to show their commitment to the relationship and they might say they have to go to therapy immediately, because their wife is threatening to leave. Others are doing it without any prompting from their partners.
"But it shows counselling doesn’t have the same stigma it used to for men. That’s a trend I’ve noticed over the past two years.
"Now between 30% and 40% of the clients I’m seeing are through appointments made by men, whereas five to six years ago that figure was between 10% and 20%."
