Almost Like Pulling Teeth

New clients can be the tricky ones as we are not given a folder with all of the information that we may need and a lot is relient on our experiences and skills. Today my new client looked like they were hiding something in their cheeks like a squirrel and when asked they answered with the to expected answer “I’m fine, it will sort itself out soon”.

 

I have not been working with this client for long and I am aware that it has taken a LOT of effort by others to get me in the door so I had to be careful not to undo their hard work. With a few jokes and some quick thinking I was able to find out that they had no dentists, or none that they were aware of, and I was able to get them an appointment the next day. They didn’t need any teeth pulling but it could have been almost like pulling teeth for me if I hadn’t had the skills or experience to have built up a level of trust with the client. The effort that goes in to assigning PAs to clients has really paid off for me as my personality matches the clients needs and allows us both to get things out of our time together.

Alcohol Aware?

This week is not something new for me as a PA, many of my clients suffer from alcohol issues and it isn’t as straight forward as many people think. The mental health can often guide a person towards drink, then the drink increases the mental health issues so the person increases the drink. We work with many clients and understand that they are often treated for one of the issues but never both/all at once. This means that once one issue is sorted the other steps in and “reintroduces” the other again. If you feel that someone you care about or love is having issues then you really do need to find them help before it has an effect on other parts of their health.

Bullying Online

Today we had a fantastic time providing sessions for both year 8 and 10 at Ratcliffe College on Anti-bullying. We asked the students to develop and designed their own T-shirts on the theme of bullying and cyberbullying.  It was very interesting to see that the topic of online bullying on social media and online games was a concern to the students, something that is shared with many parents.  We did a lot around the role of the bystander vs upstander as many children are fearful of becoming bullied for being an upstander but don’t always understand the implications of being the bystander.  We can not wait to run our next session in a couple of weeks on spotting scams.

What is a Healthy Relationship?

Today we worked with year 8 boys and girls from Ratcliffe College on gaining a better understanding of what a relationship was, what makes it healthy or unhealthy and how to manage relationships to avoid it becoming unhealthy or even abusive.

 

The sessions were so much fun for myself and to see the brains working out the difficulties between saying something and doing it, for instance “Would you be able to identify an unhealthy relationship?” was a yes and give them their dues they managed to come up with lots of answers but they often focused on physical but with some support they identified the other types. “Would you be able to remove yourself from an abusive relationship?” was another one that saw a chorus of yes’ but we dug down and had a little role play it became obvious that it wasn’t as easy as they had thought.

 

All in all I had a blast and look forward to working with them again soon.

 

If you or your school needs support with it’s PSHE sessions please click here to find out a snapshot in to what we can provide.

A simple text means a lot

Today I had a text from the mum of one of my clients that I wanted to share. We get these more than we realise and they mean a lot more than I think those who send it realise.

 

Just thought I’d let you know how much better my son is today. I met him for coffee before he went off to see his friends at the football club. We had a (nearly) normal conversation, so whatever you’re doing it’s working well! He’d had a shave and asked for skimmed milk ( instead of cream) in his coffee and checked his change. He recognises he’s not well enough to work and has bought a few sweets for the young boys.

 

All of us PAs work hard to make a difference and to many the differences seem small but if you asked the client or the family members they are bigger than they seem.

Great meeting to help us grow

Today myself and our PA manager met with a lovely young lady who works within Leicester to help find people, from employees looking for the right work for them and employers looking for the right staff. The feeling we got from her was great and we are hoping that her support will help to find the right person to fill our current roles.

As much as we are keen to grow, as we continue to gain referrals, we are keen to find the right staff that can keep the values that we hold important to us. Fingers crossed we can find the right person for us and continue to support those who need it. Our PAs need to be able to provide a high level of support for our clients, we will not grow just because the work is there but we will grow if we can find the right person.

If you are interested in what we do please find below our job description.

 

Breaking the Cycle work with individuals with a wide range of mental health and other disabilities. Our holistic personal assistance service is tailor made to the individual needs of each of our clients. Our approach is focused on the principles of empowerment, it is based on a comprehensive needs based assessment and a strong person-centred approach. We are a company who understand the importance of keeping clients socially involved and mentally stimulated to get the very best from life.

We are looking for individuals who are able to:-

Demonstrate understanding or show experience within the mental health environment

  • Being mature enough not to be phased when dealing with people who suffer with mental health
  • Demonstrate an understanding of a person-centred approach
  • Have a DBS or willing to gain one
  • Have a clean driving licence and access to a vehicle

We will provide the right person with the following:-

  • A good rate of pay
  • Hours to suit their needs
  • A flexible working day to suit their needs
  • Training and support
  • Mentoring from peers and management

If you feel that you are the right person to fit in with our team then please contact us at Admin@Breaking-The-Cycle.org with a copy of your CV and covering letter.

Rebuilding

Today was a difficult one for me as a PAs. Many of us PAs become emotionally invested in the client which allows us to offer a really good person centred care. I too have become emotionally invested in one of my clients but due to issues outside of our control we had to suspend the service. However the other party were able to fix things within around a month but on visiting the client it felt like a punch to the stomach to see how quickly things had gone backwards.

 

I can not go in to the details of the case but unfortunately this thing seems to happen regularly and it does knock us Pas for 6 but on the other hand it enthuses us to make an impact again and to get the client to where they were before we had to step back. I suppose it is one of the many tools needed to become good at this job.

Lovely Feedback

It was great to receive the following message from one of our clients.

 

“My PA was able to speak up for me, when I got tongue tied, or got confused about how to say what I needed to, or when I felt too upset to talk. It was also really helpful to have someone friendly with a good sense of humour ( & who didn’t need anything explaining to..), to rest & calm me”
Client – June 2018