Sarah. Rebuilding family.

Sarah is in her thirties and has two adult children and one of school-age who is still in the care of paternal grandparents. Sarah has a long history of drug misuse and re-offending to feed her addiction habits. Her partner died of an overdose a few years ago and her two older children blame her for his death and would physically fight with her, smash her windows, generally abuse her and cut communications. Sarah’s ‘Teddy Bear’ or ‘Buffer’ is her mother and father who are both elderly, no longer fit for the stresses and had completely cut off from her just before she was most recently imprisoned.

In her own way, she explained this to me and stated her biggest issue was the lack of communication with her parents and the fear that she would slip back down the road of full relapse with her addiction.

Not long after release, I was dropping Sarah off at home after attending an appointment with her and her mother was passing by the car. Sarah called her over and introduced me to her explaining how I was there to help her and that, for the past few weeks, she has been doing well away from drugs, something she asked me to confirm, which I did. Sarah’s mum was hesitant but eventually invited her to come over for dinner that evening. Sarah was crying when her mum left. She was happy, scared and excited.

Sarah now regularly goes to her parents' home for meals and support with finances and has managed to rebuild a relationship with them and with her sister and her children. The family buy her adult colouring books and pens to keep her busy at home and she is invited to family gatherings at her parents' home. This means the world to Sarah and is helping to keep her strong and stay away from illegal substances.

On occasion, she has had to call the police on her children when they turn up unannounced at her home to cause trouble. She understandably struggles with calling the police on her own children, but knowing she has support from her own family, she has gained more confidence in doing so when feeling scared.

Sarah is not a confident person and is uncomfortable in group settings other than her immediate family. She is not ready for local community group engagement, but I will continue to work with Sarah, at her pace.

She tells me she appreciates the support and looks forward to meeting weekly as it helps her plan and break up her routine by having something to look forward too.

Although there have been no major interventions here, Upside support has helped Sarah to make significant improvements within her own immediate family relationships. For her, this has been a massive step and has helped keep her strong and making progress.

The issues with her own children may take some time but Sarah believes this may improve as they continue to see her sober and appear to be getting her life under control.