Re-Start is a voluntary organisation set up by former social workers, forensic psychologists and ex-offenders. We work in partnership with a wide range of agencies including Job Centre Plus offices, HM Prisons, Probation, Social Services, and others. We receive, for example, referrals from Job Centre Plus Offices - to engage with people who are vulnerable and have been long term unemployed with a view to help them back to employment. Many of the people we work with are disenfranchised and often disconnected from society. They are people who may have a history of being in care, or they are ex-offenders, or sex-workers, or people who misuse substances.
We work closely with people to help them re-discover their inner strengths and enable them to tackle some of the obstacles that stands in their way.
As an organisation we also work in close partnership with a number of prominent universities, providing the degree in social work. At Re-Start we provide practice placements for the social work students - and our qualified staff act as practice assessors.
At Re-Start we have long recognised that there has been a steady decline in the numbers of people wanting to enter the social work profession contributing to an ongoing shortfall of newly qualified workers to replace those leaving the profession. The new social work degree launched in September 2003 is part of the wider government agenda for the modernisation of social care. The goal of the degree is to improve the status of the social work profession and to stabilise and expand applicants to qualifying programmes. The expansion of practice learning is key to the realisation of this objective.
It is to be noted that students bring important benefits to Re-Start as follows.
• Student placements are increasingly being acknowledged as important to both human resource strategies and workforce planning. Students are the future workforce and a successful quality placement will often lead to the student applying for a permanent position once their course is completed.
• Students contribute to staff development by giving practitioners the opportunity to develop their competence and confidence as they gain experience in managing the work of others.
• Students contribute to continuing professional development. They bring current academic thinking / research into the team and a fresh outlook on long established work practices and attitudes.
• Students contribute towards the work of an organisation and are able to carry a limited number of cases under supervision in particular none complex unallocated cases.
The New Social Work degree was launched in September 2003 as part of the wider Government Agenda for the modernisation of Social Care. The New Degree requires an increase in the number of Practice Learning days from 120 to 200.
Social work students are required to complete assessed practice of a total of 200 days. As a voluntary organisation we are paid £28.00 a day by the relevant university for each student on practice placement with us. The fee is actually paid to universities on block by GSCC.
A practice learning opportunity at Re-Start has a very clear focus and purpose – that is to offer a structured opportunity for students to demonstrate competence in a wide range of knowledge, skills and values against nationally agreed standards and to be assessed by a suitably qualified and/or experienced practice assessor.
A practice learning opportunity must offer the student a range of opportunities to practice the necessary skills, knowledge and values that are deemed to be crucial to the social work role. Practice Learning agencies (Re-Start) must organise an induction period for the student, and provide the opportunity for students to have on-going direct working contact with service users for the duration of the practice learning period.
The National Occupational Standards for Social Work (NOS) were developed following a series of consultations across the UK. The consultations included employers, people who use services, carers, practitioners, government officials and representatives from further and higher education, and from professional bodies.
There are 6 Key Roles against which each Social Work student will be assessed during their 3 years of assessed Practice Learning, which are as follows:
Key Role 1 Prepare for, and work with individuals, families, carers, groups and communities to assess their needs and circumstances
Key Role 2 Plan, carry out, review and evaluate social work practice, with individuals, families, carers, groups, communities and other professionals
Key Role 3 Support individuals to represent their needs, views and circumstances
Key Role 4 Manage risk to individuals, families, carers, groups, communities, self and colleagues
Key Role 5 Manage and be accountable, with supervision and support, for your own social work practice within your organisation
Key Role 6 Demonstrate professional competence in social work practice
Integral to the 6 Key Roles are the values and ethics that underpin all social work practice. Anyone not demonstrating the values and ethics contained within the code of practice for social care workers and the NOS would not be deemed to be a competent social worker.
THE VALUE BASE OF SOCIAL WORK
The GSCC Codes of Practice are fully reflected in this programme in both the course content and in the assessment requirements. This includes the assessment of the student’s practice.
In summary, in order to achieve the award, the student must demonstrate that in meeting the National Occupational Standards for Social Work Key Roles, they are able to:
• Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers
• Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers.
• Promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm.
• Respect the rights of service users whilst seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people.
• Uphold public trust and confidence in social care services.
• Be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills.
At Re-Start we take Practice Learning Preparation very seriously.
1. At Re-Start our Practice assessors should actively encourage the student to visit the potential practice learning agency prior to confirmation of the practice learning, in order that learning opportunities are identified and related to both the student’s previous experience and intended learning objectives.
2. Arrangements for accepting responsibility for a student should be confirmed before a practice learning opportunity is due to begin. Practice experiences which begin late should commence when the practice assessor and the student has had some time to prepare.
3. The staff team and/or other colleagues at the practice learning agency should be aware of the arrival of a student (and where applicable an external practice assessor from outside of the agency) and the impact of working with a student discussed.
4. Practice learning opportunities should be identified in advance and the practice assessor and the student need to agree that the learning objectives can be met.
5. The practice assessor accepts responsibility for ensuring that an induction programme is organised.
6. The practice assessor or nominated other is responsible for preparing for the reception of the student and should be available on the first day of the practice learning
The practice assessor is responsible for providing information to the student about access to support mechanisms.
Re-Start Practice Learning Minimum Standards
1. Re-Start as a professional Practice Learning Agency arrange a pre-practice learning experience informal interview where expectations of agency and the range of work/learning opportunities are clearly outlined and discussed
2. Students receive an appropriate period of planned induction
3. Students undertake the normal working hours of the agency within which they are placed. However, working less than 6 hours a day is unacceptable.
4. Students have the opportunity for on-going direct working contact with service users for the duration of the practice learning period as deemed appropriate by practice assessor/on-site assessor.
5. Service users/carers are enabled to make a contribution to the assessment of the student and how they experienced the student in a manner that is appropriate to the service user and the agency.
6. Students are required to become familiar with and adhere to the agency’s policies and procedures for the duration of the practice learning experience.
7. Students are not used as an ‘extra pair of hands’ by the agency or expected to undertake tasks which would place themselves or service users at risk. (e.g. to be put in sole charge of a shift or project; carry out of hours bleep; undertake specific duties for which training is required but has not been received; be used solely as administrative support; be used as a ‘member of staff’ to cover paid staff absence etc.)
8. Students receive regular supervision of:
(at least) 1.5 hours weekly from an on-site practice assessor
(at least) 1.5 hours fortnightly from a external practice assessor
(at least) 1.5 hours fortnightly from an on-site supervisor to allocate, monitor and discuss workload
9. Personal tutor will attend a minimum of two 3 or 4 way meetings to discuss and review progress of student during the course of a practice learning experience.
Initial Interview with student.
All students undertaking the Degree in Social Work are required to attend an initial interview with Re-Start - if they are invited to do so, before a practice learning experience can be offered or accepted.
The initial interview may be informal or formal depending on the individual agency, and in some cases students may be required to follow the agency’s own application procedure before a practice learning experience is offered.
It must be stressed that practice learning agencies such as Re-Start are under no obligation to accept a student presented to them if they are uncertain of the student’s commitment to embracing the learning opportunities available to them.
The initial interview is the opportunity for students to find out a bit more about the agency, discuss their previous experience plus intended learning needs. Re-Start will clarify potential learning opportunities for the student and agency expectations of the student. It is expected that all students have a clear idea of the key roles in order to be able to relate some of their questions at the interview to them.
Re-Start may wish to explore some of the following issues at the initial interview:
A student’s ability to work flexibly on occasion in accordance with the needs of the agency.
A student’s previous experience or knowledge of the service user group.
A student’s theoretical and practical understanding of anti-discriminatory practice.
The student’s identification of their learning needs.
What skills or experience a student feels they could contribute to the agency.
These are just prompt questions, and there may be areas you wish to explore that are specific to your agency, or based on the information contained within a student’s Practice Learning Application Form.
Some questions that students may wish to think about for the initial interview are:
What are the working hours? (Students are expected to complete a full working day in accordance to the agency)
Will I be expected to work overtime/shifts?
Is there a dress code?
Will there be other students on practice experience at the same time?
Is there literature I could be reading to familiarise myself with the agency/client group?
What would be my role within the agency?
Who is the client group and how are they referred to the organisation?
What range of work would be available for me to do?
Would I be involved in team meetings?
Would I have access to available training courses?
Does the organisation have any resources I may be able to access? (i.e. particular books, videos etc.)
Will I receive an induction at the start of my practice learning experience?
This list is by no means exhaustive and many of these areas may come up in the student’s general discussion. However, students are strongly encouraged to give further thought to areas they would want to discuss with the agency prior to the interview.
Following the initial interview both the student and the agency (Re-Start) should be clear as to whether the practice learning experience is confirmed or not. Either way the Practice Learning Team of the respective university must be informed of the outcome of the meeting as soon as possible after the interview.
Re-Start Our APPROACH TO THE PRACTICE LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
Pre-practice learning planning
The practice learning opportunities are a key part of every social work student’s learning experience and assessment. It is therefore vital that a good ‘match’ is achieved between student, practice learning opportunity and practice assessor. The student’s pre practice learning visit is where this assessment is made by both student and practice assessor. Many practice assessors will also involve service users and/or carers and other agency workers in the decision to accept a particular student.
No practice learning experience will be ‘perfect’. There will always be potential problems. These should be looked on as difficulties to be managed and should be acknowledged in the subsequent practice learning contract. There may be problems of a practical nature (such as desk space) or in relation to the range of available work and opportunity to demonstrate the requisite range of competencies. Most of these difficulties can be managed and overcome at Re-Start. However a crucial consideration is the student’s learning needs. It is vital, in the pre practice learning visit, for the practice assessor to explore with the student, his/her learning needs to ensure that these can be met by the agency and through the practice assessor’s own knowledge and skills. For example if the student has expressed a need to develop in depth counselling skills, a practice learning in a welfare rights agency might offer very limited opportunities both in terms of work and the practice assessors knowledge/skill base. However, if the main learning needs are around advocacy and empowering clients this is likely to be an entirely appropriate type of practice learning opportunity.
A practice assessor at Re-Start should prepare thoroughly for a student’s arrival. This will involve informing colleagues that they are arriving, their name, where they are from, how long they will be in the agency, arranging desk space and access to a telephone, etc. The practice assessor should also make contingency arrangements in the event that s/he is away for more than two weeks (i.e. who will take over as a temporary practice assessor). Whilst an induction pack with details of what the student will be doing in the first few days/weeks of the practice learning opportunity, will be helpful, it is a minimum requirement that they undertake a structured induction programme.
The learning needs of the student
Learning needs are not necessarily the same as the key roles. Students may come to the practice learning experience equipped with a range of skills and competencies that they simply need the opportunity to demonstrate.
Learning needs can be broadly split into two areas:
a) those areas where they still have progress to make and where particular development and learning needs to happen in order for the student to perform to the required stage; and
b) those areas of particular interest to the student where they wish to develop in-depth skills which may take them beyond the normal competency requirements of the BA (Hons) in Social Work (e.g. in bereavement counselling).
It is important for the student to come to the practice learning with a clear picture of their learning needs (the programme design will ensure that this happens), for these to be written into the practice learning contract, and for the practice assessor and student to regularly discuss and review these against the learning objectives of the practice learning and the key role and unit requirements.
Range of Learning Opportunities Available.
There will be a range of work opportunities available at Re-Start. These should be selected to ensure that the student’s learning needs are addressed and that they have the opportunity to demonstrate the full range of key roles and values to the required stage. If there are gaps in the available opportunities the practice assessor should consider talking to other agencies to see if a temporary collaborative arrangement can be made to allow the student to gain the necessary experience and collect the appropriate evidence of competence.
It is helpful, to ensure wherever possible that the student is undertaking a range of work representative of the particular agency, allowing the evidence to flow from that, rather than trying to manufacture the work opportunities simply to fit the competency requirements. A certain amount of the latter is inevitable, given the nature of a competence based approach to assessment, but should not be the main driving force behind the selection of work for the student.
A practice learning agency such as Re-Start must consider carefully the range of learning opportunities that would be made available to a social work student.
Some agencies have found it useful to undertake a general ‘learning audit’ in order to clarify all the different areas of work done by their particular team/project, and then look at how a student could get involved in that work.
All agencies are different and have different policies and procedures and so it is left up to the agency (Re-Start) to determine what it would be appropriate for a student to become involved with. However, in order to meet the programmes requirement, students should have some direct contact with service users on a regular basis throughout the practice learning and become involved in the ordinary business of the agency (i.e. attending team meetings etc.).
Some other ideas for student involvement are provided as a general guideline –
Liasing with other professionals/statutory/voluntary agencies
Keyworking
Shadowing experienced/qualified professionals
Co-ordinating and attending reviews/team meetings/external meetings
Outreach work
Advocacy work
Developing and/or reviewing care plans
Undertaking and completing assessments
Developing and/or facilitating group work
General advice and information work (in accordance with agency’s policies and procedures)
Resettlement work within the community
Supporting service users with independent living/practical tasks
THE ROLE OF THE PRACTICE ASSESSOR at Re-Start
1) to oversee the day-to-day management of the student’s time and work and to co-ordinate the collection and completion of all the required elements of the Practice Learning Portfolio
2) to provide the student with day-to-day supervision, advice and guidance; to have weekly formal practice teaching/supervision sessions with the student of a minimum of 1½ hours duration;
3) to develop a practice learning contract which will identify the learning and practice opportunities to be made available to the student, based on the key roles and unit requirements and the student’s evaluation of their own learning needs;
4) to ensure that the student is introduced to and integrated with other members of staff within the agency;
5) to provide the student with induction and relevant paperwork in connection with agency policies and procedures;
6) to allocate an appropriate range, level, amount and type of work to the student, in line with the indicators contained in the practice learning contract (or, where the practice assessor is ‘external’ to negotiate and agree this with the on-site assessor)
7) to assist the student to link college and practice learning work, and with the transfer and application of learning from the college to practice learning contexts;
8) to help the student to apply social work values in the practice learning situation and to practice in an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory way; to undertake direct observation of the student’s practice according to the key roles and unit requirements;
9) to liaise with the college tutor as necessary and to attend regular 3/4 way meetings with the tutor (at least three overall);
10) to organise a mid-point review of practice with the student, tutor and assessor and identify issues, problems and make plans for action;
11) to assess the student according to the module assessment requirements, to include the preparation and signing of a practice learning report which will assess the students to the appropriate stage in relation to each of the key roles and unit requirements with appropriate evidence for the assessments;
12) to attend the meeting of the college assessment board if the attendance of the practice assessor is requested.
13) to observe the student in a practice learning situation on three occasions.
THE ROLE OF THE ON-SITE ASSESSOR
1) to oversee the day-to-day management of the student’s time and work;
2) to provide the student with day-to-day supervision, advice and guidance and to ensure that the views of service users and/or carers contribute to the overall assessment of the student
3) to ensure that the student is introduced to and integrated with other members of staff within the agency (Re-Start);
4) to provide the student with induction and relevant paperwork in connection with agency policies and procedures;
5) in consultation with the external practice assessor to identify suitable work for the student to undertake in line with the indicators contained in the practice learning opportunity; this will include opportunities for learning anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice;
6) to contribute to teaching and assessing the student as agreed in the contract; to attend meetings with the external practice assessor as agreed in the contract;
7) to attend meetings when the student’s college tutor visits the practice learning experience.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COLLEGE/COLLEGE TUTOR
1. To arrange and attend at least three 3-way meetings during the course of the practice learning. Two at practice learning environment and one in college.
2. To clarify the college’s expectation of the practice learning opportunity, the practice assessor and of the student, particularly in relation to the BA in Social Work requirements.
3. To be involved in the resolution of any areas of conflict involving the practice learning experience and/or affecting the student.
4. To draw to the attention of the practice assessor the programmes academic requirements and inputs so that links might be made between the academic curriculum (i.e. college based learning and academic work undertaken by the student) and the practice curriculum.
THE PRACTICE LEARNING CONTRACT
The basis for successful adult learning is the principle of empowerment. Adults benefit from being empowered by, and through, the educational process. In the practice learning context this in reflected by an honest and open relationship with their practice assessor. The practice learning contract forms the basis for this relationship and will set out all the process and content details of the practice learning to which all stakeholders in the practice learning (student, practice assessor, on site assessor and college tutor) will sign up. One of the purposes of the contract process and agreement is to minimise the inevitable power imbalance between student and practice assessor. It is expected that the student will make an active contribution to writing the contract. This programme has a recommended series of headings which should be incorporated into a practice learning contract.
These are:
1. Front Sheet:
• College name, course (BA (Hons) in Social Work) and (academic) year
• Student’s name
• Practice learning module (i.e. intermediate or final)
• Practice learning location
• Dates of Practice learning
• Practice Assessor’s name
• On site assessor’s name (if an external arrangement)
2. Introduction
This will include a brief statement of the overall purpose of the practice learning opportunity, a section on the student (what his/her past experience is and the strengths/skills/knowledge that s/he is bringing to the practice learning), and a section on the practice learning context (e.g. statutory/voluntary, agency aims, purpose, client group, methods of work, management structure and accountability, etc.).
3. Practice Learning Dates / Days and Attendance Requirements
(State duration of practice learning, start and finish dates, and reasons for any variations from the college timetable (e.g. extra days at end of practice learning due to a late start, etc.)
4. Responsibilities of the Student
(Accountability; General Conduct; Recording; Meetings; etc.)
5. Practical Arrangements and Support
(Resources available to the student - desk, telephone, typing and other admin. support, support/interest groups, specialist staff, etc.)
6. Roles and Responsibilities of the Practice Assessor and On site Assessor
7. Substitute Practice Assessor
(a colleague or line manager who will take responsibility for the student in the event of the practice assessor being absent for a period of more than two weeks)
8. Links with the College (and responsibilities of the college tutor)
9. Workload
(how many cases are likely to be carried by the student, etc.)
10. Service user / Carer Involvement
(Brief outline of how it is intended that service users / carers will make a contribution to the assessment of the student and how they experienced the student in a manner that is appropriate to the service user / carer and the agency)
11. Supervision and Practice assessing Sessions
(When and where these will take place, any structure to the sessions, responsibilities for setting agendas, note taking, etc.)
12. Assessment
(Assessment methods to be used, responsibilities for collecting evidence, formative assessment, summative assessment and the report writing process)
13. Learning needs / learning objectives
(This will be based on the preparatory work that the student has undertaken and discussion between practice assessor and student)
14. Work to be Undertaken During Practice Learning
(This should include opportunities for the student to develop in line with their learning needs and the opportunities to demonstrate competence in each of the key roles and unit requirements at the required stage. Brief summaries should be given of the type of cases likely to be carried, projects to be undertaken, group work, etc..)
15. Social work values (expectations)
(To include a statement on anti racist and anti discriminatory practice and ensuring a commitment from both student and practice assessor to work in an anti discriminatory way (with clients, other work and the within the practice teaching/assessory relationship).
We are presently in the process of developing an Access To Social Work Course ~ so if you have aspirations of a career in social work ~ watch this space!
We are a wholly self-funding voluntary organisation and rely on donations to exist. We are making a tremendous difference to the lives of people who are often written-off by society - and find themselves on the slippery cycle of re-offending.
If you are interested in the work we do and wish to make a donation, please make cheques payable to "Re-Start". If you wish to volunteer with us, we often have many vacancies, feel free to contact us. You will receive training, support and a worthy reference from a pioneering voluntary organisation.
At Re-Start we recognise that many groups are disadvantaged in the labour market – for example, this may be due to, for example, substance misuse, or because they are ex-offenders or sex-workers. We are able to work therapeutically with service users, drawing on their strengths - and giving them hope for a restart in life.
At Re-Start we came up with an innovative idea called "Bridges 2 Work" - this is for anyone who is out of work - and deemed to be needing specialist support by Job Centre Plus - living in the North East London Districts (from Leyton up to Edgeware) . The service user needs to be motivated with a flexible approach and who is open to new and innovative ideas.
If you misuse substances we will expect you to have completed drug treatment programmes, or at the very least we expect you to be stabilised, and still undergoing drug treatment programmes.
The following is a list of some of the things we do:
- Practical help in taking the next step
- Personal Consultant (social work student)
- Personalised Action Plan
- Defining realistic job goals
- Effective job searching
- Specialist provisions / education
- Motivational workshops
- Ongoing support
- Relaxed atmosphere (counselling & therapy)
- Interview techniques
- Job matching sessions
* Sorting out work experience and looking for jobs
* Help writing CV and Cover Letters and going to interviews
* Understanding benefits
* Opening a bank account
* Training or further education
* Interview techniques – Do’s and Don’ts
* Mock interviews for pre interview practice
* Job search sessions – suitable vacancies
* Help with application forms
* One2one confidence building
in addition:
Apart from the practical support, we use a range of therapeutic interventions with clients including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Solution Focused Brief Therapy:
What is CBT
It is a way of talking about:-
* How you think about yourself, the world and other people.
* How what you do affects your thoughts and feelings.
CBT can help you change how you think (“Cognitive”) and what you do (“Behaviour”). These changes can help you to feel better. Unlike some other talking treatments, it focuses on the “here and now” problems and difficulties. Instead of focusing on the causes of your distress or symptoms in the past, it looks for ways to improve your state of mind now.
It has been found to be useful in:-
* Anxiety * Depression * Panic * Agoraphobia and other phobias * Social phobia * Bulimia * Obsessive Compulsive Disorder * Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
* Schizophrenia
How does it work?
CBT can help you to make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking then down into smaller parts. This makes it easier to see how they are connected and how they affect you. These parts are:
A Situation – a problem, event or difficult situation from this can follow:
*Thoughts * Emotions * Physical feelings * Actions
Each of these areas can affect the others. How you think about a problem can affect how you feel physically and emotionally. It can also alter what you do about it.
An example:
There are helpful and unhelpful ways of reacting to most situations, depending on how you think about them:
Situation: You’ve had a bad day, feel fed up, so go out shopping. As you walk down the road someone you know walks by and apparently ignores you.
Unhelpful Helpful
Thoughts He/she ignored me He/she looks a bit wrapped
they don’t like me. up in themselves – I wonder if there’s something wrong
Emotional Low, sad and rejected Concerned for the other person
Feelings:
Physical Stomach cramps, none – feel comfortable
Low energy, feel sick
Action Go home and avoid them Get in touch to make sure they’re
ok
The same situation has led to two very different results, depending on how you thought about the situation. How you think has affected how you felt and what you did.
In the example in the left hand column, you’ve jumped to a conclusion without very much evidence for it – and this matters because it’s led to:
A number of uncomfortable feelings,
An unhelpful behaviour
If you go home feeling depressed, you’ll probably brood on what has happened and feel worse. If you get in touch with the other person, there’s a good chance you’ll feel better about yourself. If you don’t, you won’t have the chance to correct any misunderstandings about what they think of you – and you will probably feel worse.
This is a simplified way of looking at what happens. The whole sequence,
Situation
Thoughts
Actions Feelings
This “vicious circle” can make you feel worse. It can even create new situations that make you feel worse. You can start to believe quite unrealistic (and unpleasant) things about yourself. This happens because, when we are distressed, we are more likely to jump to conclusions and to interpret things in extreme and unhelpful ways.
CBT can help you to break this vicious circle of altered thinking, feelings and behaviour. When you see the parts of the sequence clearly, you can change them -
and so change the way you feel. CBT aims to get you to a point where you can "do it yourself", and work out your own ways of tackling these problems.
If you have individual therapy:
You will usually meet with a therapist for between 5 and 20, weekly, or fortnightly, sessions. Each session will last between 30 and 60 minutes.
In the first 2-4 sessions, the therapist will check that you can use this sort of treatment and you will check that you feel comfortable with it.
The therapist will also ask you questions about your past life and background. Although CBT concentrates on the here and now, at times you may need to talk about the past to understand how it is affecting you now.
You decide what you want to deal with in the short, medium and long term.
You and the therapist will usually start by agreeing on what to discuss that day.
The work
With the therapist, you break each problem down into its separate parts, as in the example above. To help this process, your therapist may ask you to keep a diary. This will help you to identify your individual patterns of thoughts, emotions, bodily feelings and actions.
Together you will look at your thoughts, feelings and behaviours to work out:
- if they are unrealistic or unhelpful
- how they affect each other, and you.
The therapist will then help you to work out how to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours
It's easy to talk about doing something, much harder to actually do it. So, after you have identified what you can change, your therapist will recommend "homework" - you practise these changes in your everyday life. Depending on the situation, you might start to:
Question a self-critical or upsetting thought and replace it with more helpful (and more realistic) one that you have developed in CBT .
Recognise that you are about to do something that will make you feel worse and, instead, do something more helpful. At each meeting you discuss how you've got on since the last session. Your therapist can help with suggestions if any of the tasks seem too hard or don't seem to be helping.
They will not ask you to do things you don't want to do - you decide the pace of the treatment and what you will and won't try. The strength of CBT is that you can continue to practise and develop your skills even after the sessions have finished. This makes it less likely that your symptoms or problems will return.
Solution Focused Therapy is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem(s) that made them seek help. The approach does not focus on the past, but instead, focuses on the present and future. Our therapist/counselor uses respectful curiosity to invite the client to envision their preferred future and then therapist and client start attending to any moves towards it whether these are small increments or large changes. To support this, questions are asked about the client's story, strengths and resources, and about exceptions to the problem.
Ok ~ enough talk about therapy, what else do you need to know about us at Re-Start?
Re-Start, for example, involves its service users in the delivery of services; for example, ex-offenders, survivors of domestic violence and service users with mental health issues. Actually employing ex-offenders means that Re-Start “walks its own talk” and this has earned respect from employers who can experience examples of people who have experienced the criminal justice system as offenders, but who, not only are not offending – but committed to putting their skills to work for social benefit. It earns respect with programme participants – they know they are understood, accepted and respected. Indeed, this gives us the unique ability to gain the trust of, access to, and insight from offenders within the criminal justice system.
Whilst we acknowledge the good work of other organisations, we at Re-Start sincerely believe the only true way to effectively engage with offenders is through a offender-led and delivered organisation. This is how you gain the trust of, access to, and insight from offenders.
The current practice: the people with most insight around the services (the users themselves) are not being asked how to improve those services.
There are over 500 funded voluntary organisations providing services for offenders and ex-offenders, but few of whom are working with user-led evaluation of those services.
In our recent research the majority of prison governors said that they believed that it was time to engage offenders and use their insight to improve services.
At Re-Start whilst we acknowledge the work of other organisations - we believe the only way to effectively engage with offenders is through a offender-led and delivered organisation. That is why Re-Start exists.
Re-Start is located at No. 1, Riches House, Suites 3&10, Riches Road, Ilford, IG1 1JH. Call Moinal at the office on 020 8911 7047 / 07415 096359
