Taking a person-centred approach to help a young person manage their mental health and grow into a thriving future:
RC was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, depression and anxiety, and was a care leaver who had been in lots of different placements. They had previously stayed in mental health facilities as a child.
When she moved into Coops Foyer her mental health was poor and she was engaging in a lot of self-harm, often presenting at A&E with numerous injuries. This quickly culminated in RC attempting suicide, and over a four-day period, similar incidents led to both the police and ambulance services being called to her as an emergency. After a short stay in hospital, RC returned to Coops Foyer where referrals were made to the appropriate agencies to help support her in the community.
While working with RC it became apparent that she was very unhappy at the apparent lack of control in her life. She felt that since being a child and having social care involvement, she had always been told what to do and could not make choices for herself. I encouraged to take the lead on her own support plans using the online Outcome Star system, empowering her to set her own goals and allowing her to see improvements on reflection.
We established that RC felt isolated and vulnerable and that she was very self-conscious about the labels and preconceptions that people had about her, particularly in relation to her diagnosis. We supported her in finding voluntary placements at a local amateur sports team which was identified as an interest of hers and provided her with a meaningful use of spare time. She was linked with a local young women’s group to socialise with others and developed coping strategies for when she was struggling with her mental health.
RC expressed a great interest in being creative and supplies were purchased as part of her ‘toolbox’ that meant she could explore these activities and her artwork was displayed around the building. She had ambitions to attend university and was encouraged to complete her studies with support to ensure she achieved the necessary results. As she was very self-conscious of her self-harm scars, funding was sourced to purchase make-up to cover these which boosted her self-esteem and meant she became a lot more confident.
RC was able to manage her mental health independently and sought staff support when needed rather than relying on the emergency services as she had done previously. This negated the need for continued crisis intervention and involvement with other statutory agencies and services. “RC was successful in obtaining a place at University and left us to study a BA in Early Childhood Studies at the University of Chichester.
