Alice’s book an aid for schoolchildren
PSYCHOTHERAPIST Alice McLoughlin was surrounded by family, friends and neighbours as she launched her book for children entitled Yes to Health! No to Drugs in Wexford Library.
Four of her sisters, Bernadette, Anne, Cathleen and Carmel, all with the surname O’Neill, and all from Tinneranny, New Ross, turned up to wish her well along with other family members.
The book was launched by Marion Rackard, a daughter of the late legendary hurler Nickey Rackard, who is an expert on addiction with the HSE. The book’s illustrator Mirona Mara was also in attendance.
Alice, a psychotherapist with a private practice in Curracloe self-published the book because she felt there was a gap in the market for suitable information on the dangers of drugs and alcohol for primary school children aged 10 to 13.
Her experience of being invited by the parents’ council of St Joseph’s primary school in New Ross on an annual basis over the past 20 years, to speak to sixth class pupils about the harm caused by drug and alcohol misuse convinced her of the need for a child-friendly book to reach a wider audience.
The programme she put together for the school was so well-received that she felt it would benefit other senior primary school student in Ireland.
Yes to Health No to Drugs outlines in clear language the dangers involved in abusing drugs and alcohol and encourages children to make positive, healthy lifestyle choices.
Alice, a native of south Kilkenny, spent 11 years working in addiction treatment in Aiséirí centres in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, and in Wexford. She has a BA in psychology and a master’s in counselling.
Yes to Health! No to Drugs is available from the author’s website alicemcloughlin.com.