STR - Support Time Recovery - Activity 5.6 - Keeping the boundaries and using support systems
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STR / Support Time Recovery Training course
VRQ Level 2 Certificate in Mental Health
Answer to Question 1
Service users
Boundaries are very important, especially when you work with people over a long period of time. It's sometimes easy to become "friends" with the people you work with, but its also easy for things to go wrong too. It's not easy to explain to somebody that although they have been your "friend" while you are working and they may have told you lots of things they would not tell anybody else, that they cannot have your home number or pop round for a visit when they are "better". This can also work the other way round too, a service user may seem like a great friend, but they may not want to talk to you outside the hospital or wherever as their problems may be very private to them and they may not want to be seen talking with you. If I am out in the "real world" and see somebody I work with I always smile at them, but do not talk to them until they make the first move.
Carers
An additional risk with carers is confidentiality, just because they care for somebody, does not mean they know everything about them. It can be very easy to slip up and say something wrong if you are discussing a service user with their carer. It is important sometimes to talk to the carer for information gathering purposes, but always try to get the consent of the service user first.
Family
Confidentiality and boundaries are even more important with family than carers, as they may not be aware of much at all to do with the service users situation.
Colleagues
With colleagues it's important to try to keep a professional working relationship. When they are outside they may not want to associate with other workers, for some there is enough "shop talk" at work, when they are home they want to get away from it. Everybody has a right to a life outside of work if they want
Answer to Question 2
My supervisor
If it was an important issue that I need support with, then my supervisor would be the first person I would go to. I am lucky that in my various work places I have good working relationships with my supervisors and know that their doors are always open when I have a problem
Other workers
If it was something smaller then I would probably turn to my co-workers for support, they are likely to have been in the same problem situations and may have good tips on how to handle them
Answer to Question 3
Working with Service Users can sometimes be hard for anybody, but it can be even harder if the workers are also current or past Service Users. I have found it very hard dealing with people who are going through mental health distress that are similar to my own problems sometimes.
It's easy for other people's problems to trigger things for any workers. Some people would find dealing with people who have self harmed difficult, as a lot of people have problems with the sight of blood or injuries.
All workers need a good support structure in place, sometimes just knowing that support is there if needed is the support people need to help protect their own mental health. Its like the airbags in my car, I have never needed them, but I do feel much safer knowing they are there in case I ever did need them.
Knowing your limits is very important and having the support to be able to step away from things you cannot deal with is something all workers should have. In a worse case scenario this could even mean choosing to be transferred to a different work place or even changing jobs if that is the only way you can protect your own mental health.
Next: STR Activity 5.7 - Reflective account
Previous: STR Activity 5.5 - An effective mental health worker
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