About PRHA
One step at a time - Alice's story
Alice was referred to the Tower Hamlets Linkworker team by police after she was arrested for a minor offence.
Now in her late thirties, Alice had been drinking heavily since she was ten, following persistent sexual abuse. She was treated for depression in her early twenties and stopped drinking. She relapsed when a close family member died. She then started using cannabis, crack and heroin. She has been in abusive relationships and has poor physical health because of her drug use. Alice is socially isolated - her acquaintances are also drug users.
Alice is now being supported to make changes in her life. The Linkworker team recognise that this is a massive task for her to undertake. They have guided and encouraged Alice to take small steps to move forward. She receives support with the physical and emotional side of her drug use and also with tackling underlying issues, especially her low self-esteem.
Alice has no other ways of coping or family/friends to support her, so she needs to tackle her self-esteem and confidence issues. This will reduce her vulnerability to relapsing. She has been referred to a domestic violence support group to help her to understand why she stays in violent relationships. She is also attending the second stage of a drug programme and is doing very well. Once Alice has decided to make permanent changes in her life, she will also need to find new social networks and ways of occupying her time. To change her life completely, she may need to move away from her past abusive and drug-related relationships and 'start again' somewhere else. This is something that anyone would find daunting.
Alice's background is not uncommon. Our team supports hundreds of people like Alice to change their lives, reducing the level of harm they do to themselves and the related problems this creates for their local communities.
