The Irish Women’s Service is a specialist mental health initiative offering free counselling and therapy for Irish women and women of Irish descent living in London. As our longest-running service, it has supported generations of Irish women — including those from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland — to heal, reconnect, and grow.
We understand that being far from home can bring up deep feelings about identity, belonging, and heritage. Our BACP therapists and counsellors offer a safe and understanding space for you to explore how your Irish culture and background shape your life experiences.
This intercultural approach helps women process transgenerational trauma — the impact of experiences passed down through families, such as migration, institutional abuse, or loss. Many of the women we support are daughters or granddaughters of immigrants who still carry emotional scars from their parents’ or grandparents’ pasts.
We also work with Traveller women, multi-heritage women, and survivors of institutional abuse, recognising how being part of a minoritised group can add extra layers of isolation and pain. Our London therapists provide sensitive, trauma-informed support to help you find strength, identity, and hope again.
Our service welcomes Irish women of every faith (or none), race, sexual orientation, and neurotype. We know that Irish identity is beautifully complex and diverse. Whether you’ve lived in London for years or recently arrived, our counselling services help you reconnect with your sense of self while healing from gender-based violence, abuse, trauma, or loss.
This has always been a service run by Irish women, for Irish women — a place where shared understanding makes space for healing and belonging.
You can access our free counselling if you:
If you think you qualify, simply tick the Irish Women’s Service box on our referral form or contact us for more information.
We are deeply thankful to the Emigrant Support Programme of the Irish Government for their continued support. Their commitment has allowed us to keep offering this vital free therapy to Irish women in London for many years.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh — thank you from all of us at The Maya Centre.
