When we first met Katie, she had come from a chaotic, high-risk environment which meant her emotional and physical wellbeing had suffered.
Our teams quickly recognised Katie’s potential, her willingness to engage in education and her desire to pursue a career in social care. With our support, Katie flourished during her time with us, and we were soon ready to plan Katie’s next steps, ensuring a positive future for her once she was ready to leave us.
Our Registered Manager worked with Katie to assess and overcome the potential barriers to her success once she transitioned back to her home environment. Katie’s challenging relationship with her family was identified as something which may hinder her success, and our staff felt that the key to her successful transition would be to explore these relationships before her return.
Katie’s carers planned and implemented a programme of Family Intervention work for Katie and her family over several months. Meeting with Katie and her mum, our Registered Manager was able to help the family to identify goals, acknowledge the past and the present and create a foundation on which to build a positive relationship.
In a series of therapeutic sessions, Katie was able to explore her thoughts and feelings around her family, attachment and trauma, and how she perceived parenting and her life events. She was able to identify strategies to re-frame her interpretations of the actions of others and to set herself manageable goals. In sessions with Katie’s mum in the family home, she was able to explore her own parenting styles, expectations and strategies for preventing the escalation of conflicts.
After several positive sessions separately, we were confident that Katie and her mum could explore these issues together, and our Register Manager began to conduct joint sessions with them during Katie’s visits to the family home. Katie’s mum welcomed these sessions and was highly grateful for our support. The family were able to establish the principles on which to build a positive life together, and to explore the strategies which would enable them to overcome potential problems. These sessions helped Katie and her mum to develop a relationship of mutual trust and respect, and Katie became actively engaged in reflecting on their progress.
As Katie’s contact with her family increased over time and our therapeutic sessions continued, Katie acknowledged that there was a transition taking place and she began to feel a sense of belonging in her home environment. She acknowledged that the road ahead would not be easy, but that, through our sessions, she and her mum had reached a stage where they felt they could successfully manage the challenges ahead.
After almost a year with us, Katie returned home, having secured a place at college to study Health and Social Care. Following this transition, our Registered Manager conducted more sessions with the family to help ensure a smooth return to family life. Despite this change to their lives, Katie and her mum managed her return with confidence, and it was clear that our work had a positive impact. Katie and her mum were now able to communicate effectively and express their thoughts and feelings, which allowed their relationship to flourish into a rich mother and daughter partnership.
Katie’s time with us and her transition home have been a great success; she now has a successful relationship with her mum, is enjoying her college course and is looking forward to a bright future. Our staff remain in regular contact with Katie and her family, and it has been a pleasure to witness her ongoing progress and the confident young woman she is becoming.
Through implementing a programme of therapeutic interventions, Katie’s care team helped her build a strong and stable relationship with her mum and achieve her goal of returning to the care of her family.
