What are the aims of PCS?
Is PCS a national organisation?
How do people get in touch with PCS?
What practical help can PCS give?
Does PCS help with adoptions?
Can PCS do anything for a person distressed by a past abortion?
Is PCS involved in sex education?
What happens when a woman rings PCS?
What style of counselling does PCS use?
How can I help PCS?
What is the attitude of PCS to abortion?
How confidential is the PCS service?
Ask your own question.
What is Pregnancy Counselling Services?
PCS is a non-profit organisation providing free counselling and other support to anyone involved in a worrying pregnancy.
It was founded in Auckland in 1980 and registered as a charitable trust in 1984. Its advisory board includes professionals in the fields of psychology, medicine and law. All counsellors are volunteers. Some administrative work is carried out by paid staff.
What are the aims of PCS?
- To enable women distressed about a pregnancy, and those involved with them, to cope better with the pregnancy and birth of the child.
- To provide recovery counselling for women or men suffering post-abortion trauma.
Yes, it has 12 branches throughout New Zealand, from Whangarei to Dunedin, and telephone links to the whole country. PCS has also been established in the Philippines, India and Hong Kong.
How do people get in touch with PCS?
PCS runs a 24-hour, 7-day telephone service. Callers have a choice of a national free call 0800 line or a series of local calling numbers. PCS is listed in all telephone directories and is advertised in various ways including newspapers, school diaries, website and radio.
What practical help can PCS give?
PCS will endeavour to help a client with any need she may have. This includes free pregnancy testing and, where we deem it appropriate, medical and legal consultations at no cost to the client.
Counsellors can help clients with accommodation, continuing education, baby clothes and equipment. They provide friendship and personal support which may be lacking, and help clients find the courage to face undue pressure they may be experiencing from certain people.
Does PCS help with adoptions?
Yes, PCS co-operates with the Adoption Information Service Unit of CYFS (Child Youth & Family Service) in facilitating adoptions. It provides support for either the birth family or adoptive couple throughout and after an adoption.
Can PCS do anything for a person distressed by a past abortion?
Yes, PCS provides counselling for those suffering post-abortion grief, which has much in common with other experiences of traumatic loss.
Is PCS involved in sex education?
In dealing with younger clients in particular, PCS endeavours to raise awareness of the facts of life and of the physical, emotional and ethical risks involved in sexual activity outside of the stable commitment of marriage.
What happens when a woman rings PCS?
The call goes through to the local counsellor on duty, who is trained to respond to crisis calls. She will provide information and counselling by telephone, the option of a face-to-face meeting if desired, and the offer of other practical help.
What style of counselling does PCS use?
PCS counsellors are trained in the use of "reality counselling" in which the realities of the client's situation are explored. These are seen as:
- The reality of the woman's problems in regard to husband/partner/boyfriend, parents, existing children, education, work, future with or without her child (adoption, guardianship); possible physical and/or emotional complications.
- Finance, welfare entitlements, support, friendship and practical aids available, and the reality of all resources she can call upon, and which pregnancy counselling can enable her to utilise, including the ongoing support of PCS.
- The reality of the gestational development of her child at the time she contacts PCS.
- Where the client raises the subject, the reality of an abortion procedure.
How can I help PCS?
You can join the group of PCS financial supporters who contribute to our twice-yearly appeals (contact your local branch - see phone book)
You can also donate goods or services which would be useful to pregnant women and their families (contact your local branch - see phone book).
If you are interested in becoming a voluntary counsellor, contact your nearest branch (see telephone directory) or the national office (04 472 7010)
What is the attitude of PCS to abortion?
The primary aim of PCS is to enable a woman to cope with her pregnancy to its natural end. PCS does not consider abortion a desirable solution to a crisis pregnancy but seeks to resolve the underlying problems which may give rise to a request for an abortion.
Around 70% of those who contact PCS do not seek abortions but often experience the same reactions (panic, resentment, confusion, lack of self-esteem, guilt) and have the same problems as women considering an abortion. Some 60% of our clients seeking an abortion change their minds after counselling and are able to cope with their pregnancies.
In matters where moral and social issues are involved - as with abortion and to a lesser extent adoption - PCS takes particular care to give clients only verifiable factual information. From this information the client makes her own judgements and decisions.
If a PCS counsellor is asked for her personal opinion on a moral issue she will give it honestly, but without in any way imposing her view onto the client.
How confidential is the PCS service?
Confidentiality is integral to our counselling procedures, which conform to the Privacy Act 1993, and to best practice in the professional sphere.