Getting to know the client is often a difficult task because they often feel let down by the system, family and friends. Many of our clients have suffered with poor mental health for a number of years, often without support or diagnosis and therefore often without……….OK lets stop there and discuss the elephant in the room – the over use of the word often. You see many of our cases are very similar, in the respect of late diagnosis, lack of easily accessible support or treatment. They sometimes share a dual diagnosis, meaning that the ability to diagnose is harder for professionals as they can not tell what the drink or drugs are controlling and what the mind or body is in control of.
This makes our job, initially, difficult as we have to keep professional but also create a form of friendship. Not one where we invite them to social gatherings or attend their family events but one where they feel that they can rant and rave knowing that they are safe to do so. Don’t get me wrong there have been times where I have had to say “Just a second, take a moment before you say something that I will have to report” or “Don’t forget that I am your support worker and somethings I just can not agree too”. Often, I know that I’m using it again, they only have us, nobody else visits – sometimes because family have become exhausted from supporting them, friends have moved on and those who stick around are often their for their own personal gain.
I have a new client, seems a nice enough person but felt let down by their previous support worker. I can not say what happened but I can say that the support worker felt that they needed to report something. This angered the client and this has been a big hurdle for us to get over, however our director made it clear that we will follow the same set of values and regulations but we will make sure that the client is made aware of any concerns. This has created a good basis for me to build upon as the client feels part of the service and not the outsider.
We are getting there
