Working with Families through Lockdown Kerry Evans, Big Manchester Family Intervention Worker I have been working with families referred to Big Manchester for the last five years and there is always layers of complexity that never comes to light immediately – the aim is to build a really trusting relationship and through this comes the story. Covid-19 added a completely unexpected level of complexity to everyone’s lives and for Sarah this was no different but had an unexpected positive outcome. Sarah is a single mother with two children, Emily aged 10 and Scott aged 6. The family were referred to Big Manchester as they had previously experienced domestic violence and the children’s school were concerned about the impact of this on the family unit. In particular Scott’s behaviour at school was becoming increasingly difficult to manage and Scott was frequently excluded from school. Prior to the onset of the pandemic the family began work with Big Manchester. This involved a therapeutic intervention with Sarah to give her space and opportunity to discuss her own childhood, her previous and current mental health, the various traumas she had experienced in her own life, her experiences of being pregnant, of parenting and her hopes and fears regarding her family’s future. This deep level of discussion and work with Sarah enabled her to identify past experiences that were causing her issues in the present and make a Annual Review 2020-21
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