How building good communication skills is changing Reece’s life for the better

Reece is a charismatic, fun-loving individual who enjoys video games, football and spending time with others. He has struggled throughout his life with trusting other people and forming new relationships due to traumatic experiences throughout his life. He’s been supported by Dimensions’ Forensic team since 2016.

Background

During his childhood Reece was the victim of abuse from his family. This led him to not being able to regulate his emotions effectively and not trust others easily. This meant he struggled to form meaningful relationships with others, and therefore he showed challenging behaviour. Reece has a physical condition which affects the way he looks and this led to him being bullied by peers and people on the internet.

Reece had an extensive history of setting fires. He received a 12-month community order for setting a fire in February 2011. He went on in April of the same year to threaten to burn down the supported living he was residing in due to being refused a microwave meal by another resident. Since then he has been convicted and sent to prison for threatening to kill his father with a butter knife.

Reece has also been the victim of hate crime and has been seriously physically assaulted and taken advantage of financially, all of which have added to the trauma of his life and low self-esteem.

Outcomes

Since Reece has been supported he has been guided in how he can manage his emotions. This has helped him in not having to utilise fire to externalise how he is feeling. This has meant he has become more assertive about his needs and does not allow people to take advantage of him.

He has developed his skills in empathy which has allowed him to see why other people act in the way they do, which has developed his meaningful relationships. His support team have been key in this, acting as role models for good relationship skills. The support team have stuck through difficult times with Reece and helped him to learn from his mistakes and unwise decisions.

Reece has demonstrated a huge development in his abilities to regulate his emotions, see his worth, care for himself and engage in relationships. He no longer feels the need to set fire in order to communicate his emotions. When he came to us he was commissioned 112 hours and 7 sleep ins. He is now down to 70 hours with 3 sleep ins (with the sleep ins being in place only to maintain his tenancy whilst we find him a smaller flat to go into.) His support is now about everyday tasks rather than around his forensic risk. He is looking forward to a bright future, and a future of independence and therefore a reduction plan has been implemented to reduce Reece’s hours of support down steadily until he is completely independent.