Specialist service offers care and treatment to women with severe learning disabilities
Karen, 26, has severe learning disabilities and a history of aggression and fire setting. As a child, she was sexually abused and regularly self-harmed. She has two children who are currently in the care of social services.
Emotional Regulation Groups teach Karen to cope with difficult feelings
Karen had learnt to use aggression to gain attention from nurses and peers. To address this, her clinician introduced a combination of techniques to reverse this behaviour. These included ‘RAID’ (Reinforcing Appropriate and Imploding Disruptive behaviour) and ‘Behaviour Chain Analysis’. Both helped Karen understand the severity of her actions along with her reasoning behind them and the possible consequences.
Learning how to understand and express emotions correctly was a key priority and regular participation in ‘Emotional Regulation Groups’ ensured Karen would be able to cope with her feelings during one-to-one psychological treatment sessions.
After years of self-neglect, the development of daily living skills was paramount. Karen took part in both practical and theoretical lessons including food preparation, nutrition and personal hygiene.
As her behaviour and competencies improved, Karen’s psychologist recommended regular contact with her children. These supervised visits were held in the unit’s dedicated child visiting suite.
Therapies deliver measured improvements
During her time at St Andrew’s, Karen’s behaviour has improved dramatically. Incidents of aggression are now rare and typically do not escalate beyond verbal outbursts. There have been no episodes of self-harm and consequentially her risk and observation levels have been reduced. Her daily living skills are growing and Karen is learning to trust in her ability to make good decisions.
She is now able to make healthy food choices and prepare simple meals. She has become a keen swimmer and participates in a number of creative projects including mural painting and poetry. Karen’s children’s visits have also become more frequent.
Progression to work placement and new step-down facility
In the near future, Karen will progress to St Andrew’s new step-down unit which has been specifically created for women with learning disabilities. She will also spend time at ‘Workbridge – one of the charity’s work placement facilities which will develop and build her vocational and interpersonal skills.
This is a hypothetical case study created from a number of service users. All names and identifiable information have been changed or removed and where relevant, consent has been obtained.