Nicole and her daughter Chloe were referred by Lambeth Children’s Social Care due to multiple complexities around communication, Chloe’s physical and emotional wellbeing, and Nicole struggling to navigate parenting of Chloe after multiple breakdowns in their relationship.
The family had a long history of social care involvement including several police referrals and the relationship between Chloe and her mother was deteriorating. Chloe, who has Type 1 diabetes took an insulin overdose resulting in hospitalisation. Chloe felt she couldn’t engage with CAMHS and was struggling with her emotional and physical wellbeing. Both mother and daughter needed a safe and supportive space to explore their difficulties, and Welcare was able to offer their Let’s Talk – a programme run in partnership with Lambeth Youth Justice Service (originally funded by the Youth Endowment Fund) which provides relationship building support for families where young people are at the end of their out of court intervention.
Nicole said, ‘After years of working with professionals, this has been the only thing that has got us to really talk’. Each week Welcare offered a non-judgemental and safe place for them to explore different areas they were struggling with and through a range of therapeutic activities, helped open discussions and create understanding. The sessions focused on consistency, care, communication, health/self-care, social networks and peer groups, creating a genogram (a family tree with more details about how members interact with each other) and discussing hopes and dreams for the future.
The main difficulty identified during the sessions was recurring communication breakdown. These breakdowns had a profound effect on the whole family’s emotional wellbeing, stability, and their day-to-day functioning, including Chloe’s struggles to manage her insulin which could result in serious health complications. After a few sessions, Nicole and Chloe were able to identify their different communication styles and how these created barriers when conflict arose, and that previous conflict had not been addressed which was creating underlying tension for the whole family. With Welcare’s help they were able to listen to each other without forming judgements. This learning had a positive impact on the relationship and allowed them to gain a better understanding of each other. The family’s Social Worker was very pleased with their progress and messaged to say ‘I just wanted to share Nicole’s positive feedback about the last few weeks. She said it has been really useful, the people are cool, and they created a comfortable environment for Chloe to engage. Amazing!’.
Welcare was also able to apply for grant funding to purchase a new smart phone for Chloe which was compatible with an app that she could use to manage her insulin medication. The app also sent information to the diabetes team which meant they could monitor if she became unwell and offer emergency support. Nicole and Chloe were really pleased and mum text after the session saying, ‘Thank you for your support in today’s meeting, and for sorting out this phone for Chloe. We are so happy with all your support since accessing the great service being delivered at Welcare.’
Through Chloe and Nicole being able to understand each other’s communication styles they have learnt how to resolve conflict before it reaches the point of breakdown, and since working with Welcare they have not had any major conflicts. Chloe’s physical and emotional health have improved, she is now monitoring her diabetes much better, and Nicole now feels much more confident in supporting Chloe’s needs. Chloe said, ‘I’m sad Let’s Talk has come to an end, it has been the only thing that has worked so far’.
