Acessing Jigsaw services for my young person

Friday, 29 October 2021

A parent or guardian of a young person aged between 12 to 25 can access a Jigsaw service through a number of ways.

You can access a Jigsaw service by calling or emailing your local Jigsaw service yourself. If your young person is under 18, Jigsaw requires your consent. If they are over 18 years-old they do not need consent.

Check here for contact details for each of the different Jigsaw services.

Parent of a Jigsaw user

My daughter found a place where she was being listened to and where all her feelings were respected. She felt safe and understood and supported.

What is Jigsaw?

Jigsaw is a mental health service, specifically an early intervention service for young people at primary care level. This means Jigsaw helps young people going through mild to moderate mental health difficulties. We offer support at difficult periods of their lives, before these issues become more serious, needing longer, more intensive mental health supports.

Getting support early can strengthen a young person’s resilience for the future, teaching them positive ways to cope with difficulties. This can nip problems in the bud before they snowball into something less manageable. It can prevent some young people from developing long-term and serious mental health problems later in life.

Jigsaw supports young people facing a range of different challenges and difficulties. These can go from struggling with relationships at home or with friends, to feeling down or experiencing anxiety.

Everyone’s situation is unique. We may need to learn about the young person’s circumstances before knowing if we are the right service for them. Some things we take into account when making this decision are: the type of difficulties they are experiencing, how long they have been present, how severe they are and any previous efforts made to manage or resolve the difficulties.

As a parent there is a lot you can do to help support a young person’s mental health.

Another parent of a Jigsaw user

Every time we come in it's warm and welcoming. Me and my son enjoy it very much, my son is so happy after his sessions.

What Jigsaw is not

Jigsaw is not the right service for people in crisis or those who have chronic mental health issues. People experiencing these require long-term, more intensive support.

In some cases, Jigsaw may not have the expertise to adequately help a young person. When this happens, we would advise on specialist services to turn to.

Young people’s problems can develop beyond the “early intervention” stage and the “mild to moderate” end of the mental health spectrum. Though this does not mean they are beyond help.

There’s never a wrong time to get support for your mental health. Jigsaw just might not be the service for them.

Learn about the ecosystem of child mental health services in Ireland in our guide.