New figures show around 103,000 people took up a face to face, online or phone consultation between January and June 2019.
That has increased to over 105,000 for the same period this year.
Psychotherapist Stella O’Malley says it shows how much of an impact the Covid pandemic has had on people's mental health:
"I know there are a lot of people who are really feeling it and I would say people are turning to a councillor who never had to before.
Certainly people are relapsing that were perfectly fine and then it has just kind of kicked off for them again.
In terms of the age groups of those availing of the HSE's mental health services, she noticed a trend:
"While there might have been a rise in younger people, there might have been a drop in older people."
She said this increase reflects the "weirdness of the year", and how a lot of people's mental health really has been impacted by Covid-19.
