Case Study

Carers’ Group – Lisa’s story

Lisa was referred to us from the community mental health team. Lisa attended her initial assessment with one of our mental health workers and was also identified as a carer. Lisa was struggling with her own mental health whilst juggling being a carer for her son, who was diagnosed with ASD. Her other son was also struggling with attachment disorder.

Lisa identified her own mental health needs which were affecting her dealing with the mental health of her children effectively. Lisa was feeling extremely isolated, misunderstood, ashamed, with lots of other feelings involved.

Lisa attended confidence building sessions along with the carers group. When she started attending both groups she was very teary and cried a lot, this was due to frustration more than anything else. She explained she felt like a bad mum as she did not know how to help or support her children who were both having emotional difficulties.

We worked closely with Lisa through both groups. Her first focus was to be able to find help for her children, so she prioritised this with us. Lisa was given the time, space and encouragement that she needed to be able to voice how she was feeling and what sort of help she wanted for her sons. We encouraged Lisa to write a visual list of what she wanted so it would help her to focus on what she needed. We helped her work through the list and supported her to find help for her children.

At the same time Lisa was working on her self-esteem and confidence through the help of the groups. Lisa received one to one support but found the peer support of other members of the group most beneficial. She felt comforted in the fact that she was not alone in her feelings and in dealing with her mental health.

Lisa is still using our service on a drop-in basis and has started a course at the Recovery college in Barnsley.

Real names have not been used to protect the confidentiality of our clients. Picture posed by models.

To find out more about our services please contact the Rotherham office on 01709 919929 or Barnsley on 01226 211188.