The Relationships Centre

Chloe's story

At 15, Chloe was a bright and engaging student, well-liked and popular amongst her peers.

Then she was sexually assaulted at a party and she began to rebel against everyone around her and started to use drugs and alcohol placing herself at continued risk.

Chloe was offered support from a variety of agencies but would not engage. Her parents came to Talk... Don't Walk as they feared what would happen, if Chloe continued this behaviour.

Initially, Chloe's parents came to Talk... Don't Walk and had one-to-one sessions came together for mediation.

Chloe was finally persuaded to attend and began to realize that she did not provoke the sexual assault and she was not too blame.

We continued to support Chloe and her family and life at home started to improve.

All the family were brought together for mediation, boundaries were agreed and after initial teething troubles, Chloe's behaviour began to improve.

We worked with PHAZE to address Chloe's substance and alcohol misuse.

Chloe returned to school and began to form positive relationships again with her peers. We regularly keep in touch with Chloe and she is aware that they can return to the project at any time.

Liam's story

Liam is 12 years old, lives with his mum and two older sisters.

Liam doesn't often attend school and is behind with his education. His friends are much older than him. He likes to show off and be the centre of attention, which can often lead him into trouble both at home and outside.

Before Liam came to Talk... Don't Walk, his mum got help first. Liam could see his mum was starting to change and this helped him to engage with our service. He worked closely with his worker and Liam disclosed that he was very angry with his mum. His mum had lost a baby and he came to understand that his behaviour was a way to get his mum's attention, when Liam ran away, his mum would get upset which showed Liam that she did car

After individual sessions, Liam and his mum received joint sessions and the situation improved.

• Arrangements were made with the school to re-integrate Liam back into education.
• Relationship with his mum improved.
• Liam stopped running away.
• Liam learnt how to manage his anger, making the home environment safer and calmer.
• Liam wanted to be at home more and therefore his involvement in crime reduced.