Florence* was supported by the Wellbeing Cafe service that provides a social space and access to therapeutic support for young people. This story shares her journey of support.
Florence is home schooled and experiences isolation, low mood and self-harming on a regular basis. She starts attending the Wellbeing Cafe but finds the group setting overwhelming and struggles to stay in the room for the whole session, instead having ‘time out’ breaks in a quieter space.
A Barca Youth Worker delivered 10 weeks of one to one mentoring with Florence to support her to build confidence and learn techniques to better manage her mental health and urges to self-harm. Florence continued to attend the Wellbeing Cafe group and, over time, began to feel more comfortable and started to talk openly, laugh and connect with her peers.
Florence’s confidence continued to grow. Her relationships at home have improved, her ‘time out’ during groups has reduced and she has built healthy and sustainable friendships. Florence is managing her mental health better and hasn’t self-harmed in over a month.
*Names changed to protect identities
