“Ellie has emotionally unstable personality disorder. A person with this disorder tends to have disturbed ways of thinking, impulsive behaviour and problems controlling their emotions.”
They may have intense but unstable relationships and worry about people abandoning them. Ellie had experienced Domestic Abuse in two relationships and has two daughters.
During her initial assessment, Ellie was invited to discuss her situation in as much detail as she felt comfortable. As well as access to our Liberty Programme (a group for women who have children under the age of 18 who have experienced or may still be experiencing domestic abuse), it was established that Ellie and her children also required one to one support, counselling, play therapy for both of her children, referral to the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) service and legal advice regarding protective orders and children’s matters.
Ellie finds it difficult to trust professionals, over analysing any conversation that she has with them. To help build trust, we invited her Health Visitor, the only professional she trusted at that time, to attend meetings with her. Ellie was originally referred to Horizons by Children’s Services requesting a place on our Liberty Programme, she completed this and her case had been closed. However, she later referred herself back into the service expressing the wish to end her relationship with her husband. She disclosed that her inability to build trust and bond in a group had affected what she had taken away from Liberty the first time she attended and wanted to complete the course again.
The trust the Horizons team had built with Ellie was validated when she felt reassured enough to meet with our worker and the hospital IDVA after her ex-husband assaulted her, enabling her and her children to be safeguarded and referred to the appropriate agencies swiftly. Ellie was then assisted through the court process by the IDVA service whilst maintaining the support of Horizons. This included the case being heard at a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), a meeting where information is shared on the highest risk domestic abuse cases between all key agencies, again the Horizons team were central to the process. Completion of our Liberty Programme allowed Ellie the time and space to gain a full understanding of the domestic abuse she and her children had been subjected to.
“Gaining the confidence and knowledge to make the necessary changes to her family situation to keep herself and her children safe, reduce social isolation and access counselling to help them all with their mental health recovery”
