1 minute read
You help provide a light in dark times
Della* is a bright girl who had been managing well at school, despite having a diagnosis of a serious mental health condition. Then COVID struck in her final year, and the prospect of important upcoming exams, during a time of such uncertainty, set her back.
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Della started attending drop-in counselling sessions run by her school’s Place2Be School Project Manager (SPM). During the sessions, Della disclosed increasingly concerning issues, including having suicidal thoughts and even making a suicide attempt. Our Place2Be SPM immediately completed a risk assessment, which was shared promptly with Della’s school and her parents, in line with our strict safeguarding procedures. This led to Della gaining the support of an NHS Community Mental Health Team.
Della’s mental health journey had its ups and downs. As she said in one drop-in session, “it is so dark inside my head”. Keeping her safe from this darkness was a joint effort between home, school, the Community Mental Health Team and Place2Be.
Della and the SPM continued to talk, and together they completed a safety plan identifying strategies that Della could use to keep herself safe. The safety plan was shared with school staff so they were able to support her. This helped Della, who said she felt more able to regulate her emotions and bring her destructive thoughts back under control. Della also spoke of her hopes for the future and her supportive network of friends and family.
For the SPM, having faith that Della could survive the darkness relied on being able to see the light within her. This involved her career ambitions and her passionate political beliefs but also her love of Harry Potter. The SPM used these details to gently reflect back to Della that what helped her cope might also be the things which made life worth living.
By the time their sessions ended, the SPM felt that she was saying goodbye to a young woman who was slowly starting to embrace life again – going out with friends and looking forward to a brighter future.
Thank you for helping to provide children and young people like Della with vital support, advice – and hope.
