Case study
[Ben] Hello, you're through to Get Connected. Can I help?[Matthew] I feel like total crap at the moment. Can't cope, don't know what to do. Need someone to talk to. Sorry.
[Ben] No need to say sorry to me. What's upsetting you?
[Matthew] was in court today and it's making me think about everything that happened.
[Ben] Can you tell me what happened?
[Matthew] me and my friend were beaten up and robbed.
[Ben] I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like an awful situation. How did the trial go?
Matthew confided that his attacker was due to be sentenced in a month, before which he would be let out. Matthew was worried the man would find him and attack him again. But he was anxious about something else too.
[Ben] What type of help would you most like? Earlier you mentioned just wanting someone to talk to. Would you like other forms of help - counselling, practical advice etc?
[Matthew] I've bin getting counselling for other stuff but I can't tell you about it.
[Ben] Get Connected is confidential, so you can tell me and it won't go any further.
[Matthew] i was abused by my dad.
[Ben] I'm really sorry to hear that. Do you think the counselling helped you?
[Matthew] it helped me work stuff out in my head but it stopped when I turned 16 and then I tried to kill myself. I didn't want to take up a counsellor that someone else could be seeing so I've bin trying to cope by myself.
Ben reassured Matthew that there were services that could help and he'd look into whatever Matthew thought would be useful. Ben gave him the details for Victim Support in case he wanted advice on the trial and what to do about his attacker being released.
[Ben] The NSPCC run a webchat service for children and young people. It's at www.there4me.com and is open from 10am-9pm, weekdays, and 12noon-7pm weekends. They offer many types of help (advice, counselling, info, emotional support) on any subject.[Matthew] thankyou
[Ben] There is a webchat for anyone up to 19 at www.youth2youth.co.uk They're run by young people. It's open from 6.30pm-9.30pm, Mondays and Thursdays.
[Ben] And if you want emotional support, and someone to chat through your problems with, Samaritans may be good for you. They offer email - jo@samaritans.org.uk - and a helpline - 08457 90 90 90. They're open 24 hours a day.
[Matthew] ok I'll have a look. thankyou for listening to me going on. means alot
[Ben] That's no problem. Feel free to get back in touch if you need further help. You can call us for a connection to any of these services for free. If you mention you had a webchat it will save you having to explain it all again.
[matthew] :-) I'm smiling! Thankyou! bye
[Ben] Me too, bye!
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