Case Study

Adjusting to life on the outside

7 Jul 2022

Having spent many years in prison, Charles was feeling lost and isolated. The 48-year-old needed help to adjust to life on the outside and was referred to Ingeus for personal wellbeing support.

Ingeus works with the probation service and charity partners to deliver Commissioned Rehabilitative Services, helping ex-offenders reintegrate into their communities. As well as personal wellbeing support, help is available with securing accommodation and accessing education, training and employment. 

After being referred by Sunderland probation service, Charles was put in touch with Stephanie Bell, personal wellbeing adviser for Ingeus in Northumbria. Steph focused on establishing a good rapport with Charles as he had major trust issues. Steph knew it was vital to earn his trust if he was to benefit fully from the sessions.

Charles needed support with his emotional wellbeing, so Steph arranged for Charles to attend a Thinking Behaviour Cycles and Mind Traps workshop delivered by partner Change Grow Live. This enabled Charles to explore the behavioural traps he had learned over the years and consider how things could change. 

Steph also referred Charles to the Turning Point service to receive additional mental health support. Turning Point offers specialist one-to-one support for people with low-level mental health problems and substance misuse issues. Charles was given the tools to improve his mental health by recognising how thoughts, feelings and behaviours affect each other, and how easy it is to develop negative cycles. Charles was shown how he could challenge his thoughts and reframe them to think more positively.
 
Charles is hoping to move closer to his fiancée, so Steph also helped him contact the local authority housing department. Despite his application for housing being unsuccessful, once Charles’s mental health improves he will be given further support with his accommodation needs. 

Since his referral to Ingeus, Charles has developed resilience and coping strategies. He now feels more confident to deal with any barriers standing in the way of his rehabilitation. 

Charles told his mentor: “Thanks for what you are doing for me Steph, I am very grateful. I don’t know what I would do without you, thanks.”
 
Ingeus delivers personal wellbeing services in the East Midlands (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire), West Midlands (Staffordshire, Warwickshire), Yorkshire and the Humber (West Yorkshire, Humberside) and the North East (Northumbria).