Strabane-Lifford Women’s Centre

Today, I gave the introductory sessions for the courses I will teach/ facilitate at the Women’s Centre. I am teaching “Listening Ear” and Basic Counselling Skills, and it’s going to be challenging and enjoyable. These courses are really about personal development and don’t result in certification of any sort. Therefore, I don’t have to worry about not being a certified instructor (tutor – as they call all teachers here). These introductory sessions were simply to introduce myself, let the students know what is expected of them and what to expect. Patricia, the director at the Strabane & Lifford Women’s Centre, was worried because some of the students are coming with their own unresolved issues and she worried about those people in terms of confidentiality and inappropriate self-disclosure. 

Patricia takes confidentiality very seriously, and later when I talked to her in private, I figured out that it’s because practically everyone gossips, even her own staff and volunteers, and she has to go overboard on the issue of confidentiality to keep things contained. Even if no names or details are mentioned, something with seeming insignificance might stimulate gossip and speculation, and Patricia tries to nip all that before it buds. Patricia has done a magnificent job in developing the Women’s Centre. They run anywhere up to 25 programs simultaneously, in the town, as well as in some rural areas. This is great because there are lots of people who are pretty isolated, not everyone owns a car, although it’s pretty hard to get around without one. 

Patricia creates a warm and inviting feeling in the Centre. “It’s like being in your granny’s kitchen,” is what she always says about the atmosphere she creates. And, like in any other agency or home, there are plenty of tea bags, buns, and biscuits. Buns are basically sweet pastries – people here love their sweets! You can not have a cup of tea without something to eat along with it. Bernadette, the counselling coordinator at the Koram Centre, is trying to fatten me up, and I have a weakness for sweets, so there’s a chance that might happen.