Amy’s story

At a very young age Amy was kicked out of her family home as her family didn’t accept her mental health difficulties. She spent year’s sofa surfing, and living with different family members for short periods of time. At times she managed to secure her own tenancy however due to circumstances beyond her control they fell through and she was left homeless again. Amy has a history of self harm and has attempted on numerous occasions to take her own life.

Amy has had both practical and emotional support from The Junction. Often her depression made it difficult for her to manage the practical things in her life so she was offered practical support around securing housing, benefits and around training and education. Amy was supported to attend vital mental health appointments and our role kept her engaged with Adult Mental Health Services particularly around times of crisis. On a weekly basis Amy was supported emotionally to deal with all of the challenges she faced. She was also offered support through social groups.

Since Amy was diagnosed with depression and anxiety it has been suggested by Adult Mental Health Services that a combination of medication and talking therapy would be beneficial. Although she has engaged well in taking medication so far she has tried 3 different types of talking therapies through different services and hasn’t been able to continue with any stating that she feels they make things worse.

In August 2014 Amy was doing well having secured a house and completing her Level 2 in beauty at college. She found out she was due to have a baby in March 2014 and although this presented her with more challenges she coped very well. She came off all medication and had very positive mental health at this time. As a way of coping with being off her medication Amy was supported intensely around building positive coping strategies and she stopped self harming. Amy gfaced many challenges being a young parent and at times due to circumstances was  at “breaking point”, and her mental health deteriorated. However, with dedicated support she continued to move forward. Amy was supported after this to rebuild her confidence and get back on track. We enrolled her on another course and Amy hopes to become a mobile beautician having recently passed her driving test. She also took part in a Sollihul parenting course to strengthen her skills as a parent – this took part at The Junction with our trained counsellor.

Amy has since had another baby and although she copes well sometimes it is still hard for her.  Amy was able to confide this in The Junction and she is now getting the right support from specialist services to help her with this.

• Amy has agreed and is due to start counselling with The Junction having already established a good relationship with our counsellor through completing the parenting course, and through building up her trust with The Junction.
• She has secured a house through the council and feels for the first time she is settled.
• Amy’s mental health has improved and she no longer uses self harm as a way of coping.
• Amy is more confident and feels less anxious about dealing with practical issues, making phone calls etc.
• She has achieved qualifications in Beauty and hopes to pursue a career in this in the near future.
• Her relationships with immediate family have significantly improved so she no longer feels so isolated and is much more supported both practically and emotionally.