About Harry
Testimonial from Therapist
Harry (Male, 13yrs) was involved in ‘moving things’ for gang members and deemed at risk of becoming involved in further gang related activity. He had encountered numerous traumatic experiences including exposure to family related drug/gang involvement and violence. Harry was increasingly ignoring boundaries, struggling to manage his emotions, displaying aggression, behaviour difficulties and trauma-related symptoms.
Harry received one to one mentoring from our specialist gang Youth Worker exploring self-esteem, managing emotions and building on his strengths in sports, especially football. Specialist therapy (TF-CBT) was also provided to process his difficult past experiences. Harry successfully worked through his trauma in depth, became able to recognise his triggers and manage these effectively by using coping strategies. His trauma symptoms greatly reduced and his general wellbeing largely improved. His relationship with both his Grandmother and brother also improved, as did his School performance where Harry, as the School’s top footballer, is now making positive steps in progressing with his professional football career.
“The therapist and youth worker helped me to believe in myself. Thank you for sticking by me from the start. I have learned to trust and understand. I have learnt how to deal with things and I’ve learned how to talk about things”
You’re never in too deep to make a change
Testimonial from Service User 3
I am a 17 year old Lithuanian girl, who has lived in England for 9 years with my parents, older sister and younger brother. I was in the middle of studying for my GCSE’s, in my final year of secondary school when I was referred by my school teacher for support. I had witnessed a traumatic event in the summer of 2018, I had been experiencing flashbacks and was finding it very difficult to manage in all aspects of my life.
Last year in August 2018, during the summer holidays, I was in town with some friends. I witnessed two males arguing. They were approached by another two males who began shouting at and becoming aggressive towards the original two. All four males started fighting. One of them pulled out a knife and slashed another across his stomach. I witnessed the whole incident. I helped the victim to contact an ambulance and the police. I stayed with the victim until help came, I gave a statement to the police and was requested to be a witness in court.
I kept thinking about the stabbing and continued to have flashbacks. I struggled to manage my thoughts and feelings and found it difficult leaving the house. I worried about who was around and if I was being followed. I lost all of my confidence.
Stacey attended court with me and supported me to give evidence in court on two separate occasions. Both males involved in the stabbing were sentenced to 10 years and 20 months imprisonment. Post court case, Stacey also supported the victim and I to meet. We talked through the stabbing, the court case and shared strategies used to help ourselves work through it. The victim and I exchanged contact details and discussed keeping in touch to support each other in the future.
The support from Stacey has helped me so much, I was never really confident, did not want to talk to anyone about what I went through but Stacey has got me through that. She helped me gain more self-esteem and helped me get my head in the right place. I am very happy that I got to meet Stacey and I appreciate everything she has done for me a lot. I am still working with my mental health, I am doing so much better after we have worked on it and found out what the problem was. I am doing a lot better, it’s helped me work better at College and I even have a new job now, I would never have gone out of my house a year ago when I met Stacey.
Testimonial from Service User 2
When I was 16 years old, I was trafficked to the UK and experienced an extremely difficult journey. The journey lasted for two months and from the moment it began, I felt terrified. I started on a lorry with other people that I did not know, we were transported for days at a time and were often left in the lorry at a standstill for a couple of days with no food or water. The lorries were cramped with no room to lay down and sleep due to amount of people on board. We were taken to forests during some days where we would have to hide until dark then we would be transported somewhere else. Often, we found we were transported back to the same place we had begun at. The people in the lorries changed too and spoke different languages, we were separated into different groups continually, so it was hard to make any connections with others. I was treated in an inhumane way, beaten, starved and made to work in slave conditions throughout the whole journey. The last part ended in a refrigerated lorry. I feared for my life several times as we suffered with the cold temperature.
Once I arrived in the country, I continued to be abused repeatedly and was made to work hard for long hours for only scraps of bread and water. I attempted to stop this from happening but was beaten and then forced to comply. I have struggled greatly emotionally due to these experiences and suffered from nightmares, flashbacks, repetitive and distressing images and physical sensations such as pain, feeling sick and trembling, but I worked hard with my Therapist to try and overcome the effects of my trauma.
I received Trauma Focused CBT Therapy with the help of an interpreter and worked through stress management strategies to support my symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. My Therapist and I then worked through my Trauma story looking in depth at my thoughts and feelings. I thought it would be hard to share things with someone else, but once I knew her it was easier than I had thought and I really wanted to move forward positively with my life, despite the extreme trauma that I had endured.
At the end of my Therapy, I felt that she had helped me to overcome something that I would never have thought I could. She has made me feel completely accepted despite a possible social stigmatism. She has helped me with everything in every way. She has encouraged me to be strong and have a positive view about the future.