About Us
About us
In this section, you can find out all about icap as an organisation.
Vision and mission statement
Our services
History
Governance
Annual Reports
Partner organisations
Careers
Our vision & mission statement
Purpose: To provide an accessible psychotherapy service.
Aim: To promote the mental health and well-being of our client communities in the UK.
Objectives:
- Providing accessible, professional, culturally sensitive counselling, particularly to people of Irish origin.
- Raising awareness of the psychosocial issues which impact on the mental health of the Irish and other ethnic immigrant groups.
- Making counselling accessible to minority/marginalised/disadvantaged English-speaking groups.
- Promoting healthier lifestyles and living strategies amongst the migrant communities.
- Contributing to the removal of entrenched stereotypical views of Irish Immigrants and promoting social inclusion of the Irish and other minority groups in the U.K.
- Helping immigrants deal with underlying problems of alienation and addiction.
- Developing ways of disseminating information collected through icap‘s work to increase understanding of the particular issues affecting the mental health of immigrants.
Our services
icap provides the following services:
1. One to One Psychotherapy - Short-term or long-term psychotherapy from by culturally sensitive, qualified, accredited and experienced psychotherapists.
2. Focus Groups- Facilitatory groups focusing on particular issues such as emotional, physical or sexual abuse, loss, and change.
3. Training Workshops - Workshops and information days for staff working within the caring professions, on working with people who have difficulty coping in the workplace or in relationships, have suffered abuse or who need emotional support.
4. Supervision – Supervision on a one to one or group basis for staff who manage, support, advise and/or counsel people who have suffered trauma of various kinds.
If you would like to find out about accessing any of our services, please click here
History
icap was founded in 1996, in response to the lack of culturally sensitive psychotherapy for people of Irish origin. Today it has grown to become a recognised independent, not-for-profit professional psychotherapy service, with a proven track record of providing culturally sensitive psychotherapy for clients from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.
icap was founded by psychotherapist Teresa Gallagher. Teresa came to London in 1992 for post-graduate study in Psychotherapy, and Whilst working in the Irish Chaplaincy, she identified a glaring gap in the provision of any established culturally sensitive counselling for people of Irish origin. The Irish had the worst history of mental health problems in the UK, and it was clear to Teresa that a service to help them was clearly needed.
Survivors of childhood abuse and institutional abuse and trauma had moved to Britain in significant numbers, and still suffered from their experiences. In the early 2000s, the Irish government finally acknowledged the impact of the horrific abuse experienced by generations of children in Ireland’s austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the 1990s. The Ryan Report published in 2009, investigated this abuse. The Irish government set aside funding to pay for counselling for the survivors of these terrible experiences. icap is one of the organisations receiving this money and helping the victims to re-build their lives.
Many older Irish people who arrived in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s had moved from a poor country with few employment prospects, hoping to improve their situation. Some, however, didn’t do so well economically in Britain, and began to feel isolated and stranded here as the Irish economy boomed during the first decade of the new millennium.
Meanwhile, numerous younger Irish people now arriving in the UK are highly educated and starting off in well paid careers. But Ireland is a country where family and local community ties are still very strong, and losing these ties can lead to mental distress.
Teresa recognised that the Irish and some other ethnic minority groups were reluctant to use statutory services, because they felt that these services did not cater for their specific needs. It was clear to Teresa that an independent professional service was required – and thus the vision of icap was born.
Setting up icap was a struggle. Lack of awareness within the statutory and funding bodies made the acquisition of funding almost impossible. By lobbying, meeting with relevant bodies and gaining the generous support of clinicians and volunteers, icap finally became established as a charity in 1992.
Four years later, icap was officially opened by the President of Ireland, Mary Mc Aleese.
icap’s remit has since expanded to include the provision of counselling to immigrants of all nationalities.
icap’s work to date includes:
- Working with people who were abused in childhood
- Providing therapy to people who have experienced institutional abuse
- Working with women who have experienced rape, sexual abuse or domestic violence
- Working with people who misuse alcohol and drugs
- Group therapy on a range of issues immigrants, not just those who are of Irish origin. including loss and bereavement
- Working with people who have experienced post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In 2006, icap moved into purpose-built premises near Finsbury Park in London. An office in Birmingham provides a West Midlands regional centre. From a single psychotherapist in 1996, icap has continued to grow. It now consists of a network of 100 therapists throughout Britain and Northern Ireland, providing over 14,000 therapy sessions a year, nationwide.
Governance
icap is governed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of seven members.
The Trustees include:
Maire Brankin - Chair
Oonagh O’Toole – Company Secretary
Joe Browne – Treasurer
Jerry Kivlehan
Janice Flynn
Dr John Walshe
The trustees of icap are charged with a number of responsibilities; for example, they must ensure that icap complies with its governing document, organisation law and other relevant legislation or regulations, and ensure that icap applies its resources exclusively in pursuit of its objectives. The trustees give firm strategic direction to icap, setting overall policy, defining goals, setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets. icap trustees are responsible for the actions of icap, ensuring its financial stability, and overseeing its effective administration.
Annual Reports
Reports can be downloaded by clicking on the links below:
Partner organisations
| Cricklewood Homeless Concern |
| London Irish Women’s Centre |
| Irish Youth Foundation |
| NHS Islington |
| NHS Birmingham & Solihull |
| London Irish Centre |
Careers
We currently have no paid employment vacancies at icap, but we are looking for volunteers. Please click here to find out more.