Real Life | Jess & Barbara
We’ve been supporting Jess and Barbara* for a number of years now. Scroll down to read their story.
JESS & BARBARA
Background
Jess and Barbara* had several VPAs (vulnerable person assessments) relating to substance misuse, physical altercations and emotional abuse. Jess had been heard at MARAC (multi-agency risk assessment conference) seven times in just a few years.
Professionals were worried about the couple’s substance misuse, low mental health and domestic abuse, but they were both reluctant to engage. Eventually, working together with specialist domestic abuse police officers, My CWA approached Jess and Barbara to try and encourage them to seek help.
introducing my cwa
We visited Jess and Barbara in their home, listened to their concerns and let them tell us more about their relationship. That visit marked a real change for Jess and Barbara and they agreed to let us help them move forward.
We’ve been supporting Jess and Barbara for a number of years now. When we first met them, Jess was drinking a significant amount of alcohol every day. By engaging with us, she was able to complete a CGL** (Change, Grow, Live) assessment followed by a detox programme, which allowed her to become alcohol free and return to work.
**Change, Grow, Live is a voluntary sector organisation specialising in substance misuse and criminal justice intervention projects in England and Wales.
Progress
Jess and Barbara attended weekly face-to-face support sessions with My CWA, which moved online due to Covid-19 restrictions. During lockdown, Jess and Barbara encountered problems and two MARAC referrals were made in April and June 2020. Victim and perpetrator were different on each occasion.
At the second MARAC referral, Jess and Barbara confessed that they’d been drinking alcohol and misusing substances but had taken the decision not to share this information with their support workers.
Jess admitted she’d been finding it difficult to use the de-escalation strategies she’d learnt during her My CWA sessions and was struggling to take responsibility for her harmful behaviour. The couple’s openness and honesty at this point enabled us to review their support needs.
Jess has now completed denial-focus sessions to help her accept accountability for her harmful behaviour. Barbara has also completed her work with her support worker and can confidently apply the de-escalation strategies she’s learnt. We still check in with Jess and Barbara from time to time and they’re both doing well.
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of our service users.