Previously divorced with children Ms. B had managed to maintain a good standard of living in that she had made a beautiful home. She felt lonely and thought she would never find a partner who would be with a divorcee with children. So when she met her second husband it made her feel that she had found the right man.
Soon after marrying, her new partner began placing demands on her such as expecting her to pay off debts. His behaviour towards her became abusive and violent leading to the point she no longer felt safe and could not cope. She eventually left her abusive partner. After this, Ms. B felt she could not talk to anyone anymore. Ms. B was then referred to Dosti by Women’s Aid.
Ms. B’s needs were assessed with a focus on better managing her mental health and wellbeing and promoting her independence and confidence to engage with others. She accessed emotional support and counselling to learn strategies to cope and rebuild her life. Through Dosti, she joined community groups to socialise which helped to build up her confidence.
Advice was given with support to access a number of other local services including legal, welfare rights and advocacy services.
Ms. B now feels more confident and has joined sessions that have provided information on managing depression, mental health and wellbeing. Ms. B has improved her reading and writing skills by attending the ESOL classes and feels more relaxed due to therapeutic activities such as arts and crafts/walking groups. The key outcome for Ms. B is that she feels she can better cope alone, make friends and to date has not gone back to an abusive relationship, where in the past she had.
Touchstone Annual Review 2015-2016
