BREAKING FREE ONLINE: APPLICATIONS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Transcription

1 Breaking Free Online 274 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4JB t: e: w: breakingfreegroup.com BREAKING FREE ONLINE: APPLICATIONS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM CASE STUDY 1: An offender s perspective on Breaking Free Online Provided by Emma-Louise Roberts (Project Worker), The Recovery Partnership, Coventry. The Recovery Partnership is an integrated, recovery-focused service that covers Coventry and Warwickshire and is provided by Addaction. The offender s circumstances: Tom is a 32 year old male who is currently on a medium intensity DRR after committing two burglaries to fund drug use. He is currently on a methadone maintenance prescription, which he is reducing by 2mg a fortnight. Tom has used cocaine and heroin since he was 18 years old and has had numerous custodial sentences for acquisitive offences related to his drug use. He has been in treatment with drug agencies previously, and in was abstinent for almost nine months after reducing from his substitute medication. However, he relapsed and then committed his current offences. The offender s views on Breaking Free Online: Tom said, I m drug free at the moment apart from my methadone, but I ve been off drugs before and then relapsed for silly little reasons. I m getting too old for this and I don t want to relapse again. I have already made a safety plan with my key worker about what signs could indicate I m at risk of relapsing. We ve agreed steps she will take, what other professionals will do, and what I am responsible for. My key worker suggested I try Breaking Free to help me develop strategies so I am less likely to relapse. I was unsure about trying it as I m not very good on computers, but I have found it easy to use. 1

2 There were a lot of questions to answer at the beginning but it made me think about some things that I wouldn t have thought of otherwise. I like the colour coded system on my diagram. I expected more of it to be red, so it was reassuring that things weren t as bad as I thought. I haven t finished the programme yet but I have found the activities to be useful. They aren t all necessarily new ideas but having them in a different format on the computer, which I can access at home, is very helpful. I am able to spend time thinking about each item rather than wanting to rush through it and end my appointment early. I have suggested to one of my friends to give the programme a try as I think it would help him too. I enjoy using Breaking Free at home and then discussing the activities with my key worker, and discussing new approaches to what has caused me to relapse in the past. As I have two appointments a week, we generally use one to recap what I have done on Breaking Free and build on it. The other appointment is for problems which may be affecting me that week or things that are bothering me. 2

3 CASE STUDY 2: A key worker s perspective on Breaking Free Online Provided by Oscar Revolledo (Project Worker), ASPIRE Drug Treatment Service, Peterborough. ASPIRE (A Service Providing Inspirational Recovery Empowerment) is a CRI project based in Peterborough that delivers drug treatment and supervises drug misuse-related criminal justice orders. The offender s circumstances: I first had contact with Daniel, who is 28, almost a year ago when he attended a drug assessment in police custody. He had been arrested for shoplifting, and this was his first arrest. During the assessment, Daniel explained that he never believed he would ever find himself in this position as he felt his life was well organised. He was holding down a job and had many aspirations he wanted to fulfil in his life. He discounted everything that was happening to him, and he could not understand how he had ended up so out of control due to his drug use. Daniel had started using heroin only three months before this arrest, and was now in a predicament. He was finding it very difficult to meet the responsibilities of his job. He also felt more and more entrenched in using heroin, and was unable to pay for his increasing habit. He thought there was no other solution but to shop lift to fund the drugs. Daniel had never requested support before his arrest. He said he was too proud and found it difficult to listen to other people s advice. But at this point, he felt he was no longer able to handle this situation on his own and requested support from our service. After I assessed him and worked with him to develop a care plan, Daniel agreed to start a methadone prescription to support the process of stabilisation from heroin dependency, and also to participate in oneto-one intervention. Daniel was given a caution for the offence he committed and after starting his methadone prescription, he quickly felt he began to regain control of his life. However, in less than a month, I was informed by a colleague that Daniel was seen again in custody for a similar offence and provided another drug test that was positive for heroin. I saw Daniel after he was released from custody and he explained that he had relapsed and started using heroin again. He told me how embarrassed he felt for failing, and that he did not want anyone else to know. 3

4 We discussed some of the issues that had triggered his relapse, and we agreed to work up an action plan to prevent relapse. But Daniel did not attend his next appointment and I received news that he was again in custody, which this time led to a prison sentence. Several weeks later, I received a referral from the CARAT team. This informed me that Daniel was about to be released from prison, and requested a methadone prescription and further intervention. Daniel did not attend this appointment, and I did not hear anything from him until he was arrested once more and sent back to prison. Daniel was referred back from the CARAT team on his release, and he attended the appointment. I found him co-operative but much less optimistic than before about his ability to stay free from heroin. Daniel and I had an honest conversation about his expectations of treatment and the triggers for his previous relapses. He explained that although there were emotional reasons behind every relapse, he found it very difficult to communicate and discuss these openly. The key worker s views on Breaking Free Online: I explained to Daniel about Breaking Free Online and how much I believed this programme could help him to explore his triggers for relapse, understand his dependency and develop positive coping strategies. I pointed out that he could do all of this in his own time and in his own way if he did not feel confident discussing his emotions with other people at this stage. Daniel was very receptive to this idea and agreed to explore the facilities of the programme with me. Daniel started using Breaking Free Online at the beginning of November 2011, assisted by me at first. But quickly he felt confident using the programme by himself and at his own pace. It makes me feel better to do it this way, I feel more in control, he said. Daniel was captivated by the idea that this programme gave him the chance to understand his triggers and develop strategies in a way that still allowed him to be independent. He felt the programme s language, and the graphics it uses to present information, made it easy for him to follow. Daniel really valued the opportunity to understand his cravings and the reasons for his dependency. And he felt that being able to revisit this information whenever he wanted increased his capacity to reflect on these issues. Daniel was feeling more in control of his recovery and although he was enjoying using his own resources to understand his problems, he became more receptive to the idea of discussing triggers and coping strategies with me at the same time. This was because he had the opportunity to reflect on these issues during the week when he was using the programme. So, for him, our weekly appointments became a continuation of a process that took place during the week, and an opportunity to consolidate what he had learnt and reflected on. 4

5 Daniel reported that he used Breaking Free Online for approximately 2 to 3 hours per week for a period of 3 months. During this time he was revisiting the strategies offered by the programme and using them as a model that he then applied to other aspects of his lifestyle. Daniel stopped using heroin in December and he has not had a relapse since. He has not committed any further offence and he remains extremely focused on his recovery. Registered office: Innovation Birmingham Campus, Faraday Wharf, Holt Street, Birmingham Science Park, Birmingham B7 4BB Breaking Free Online Limited Registered in England No