Services for survivors
of Institutional abuse
funded by the hse
icap
Our therapy service for survivors of institutional abuse is available to survivors living in Britain.
It is funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE), Ireland and is provided free of charge.
We have many years of experience in providing psychotherapy for adult survivors of institutional abuse and their families.
You can use this service if
– You and/or a parent/ were resident in an institution such as an industrial school, Mother and Baby Home or Magdalen Laundry in the Republic of Ireland And You now live in BritainIf you live outside London or Birmingham, we will find a therapist as close as possible to your home area.
To refer yourself to this service, please complete an application form online by clicking on the Electronic Referral Form button below or you can call us and we will send you an application form to fill out by hand.
Sometimes filling forms can be difficult and you might appreciate some help. If so, please call the icap office in London or Birmingham and we will be happy to do this with you.
referral form
Cáirde (Friends) Survivors Group
Cáirde is a London based survivors group which meets weekly in Kentish Town, North London. Being a member of Cairde enables people to talk about their early experiences as well as current everyday issues.
What our therapists say
We don’t offer advice, or opinions or judgement. We listen, learn, and respect the emotional truth of what we hear. Our clients come to trust the security of our knowing together, and from this comes understanding, healing, and growth.
In an initial assessment I met a woman in her 50s whose life had been a constant experience of deprivation and abuse, I asked: “how have you managed to be still here, still hoping for things to be better?”
She said: “the will to survive. And love – but love as a yearning for something. You can find it in anything: books; dreams; images.”
We aim to engage with this will, nurture that love, and transform survival into potential for self and future generations. We address trans-generational trauma: injustices of history, personal and political. We try to make the buck stop with icap
Heather Allen
icap therapist