Southmead Project
Building a pathway to recovery
Rebuilding lives affected by abuse and trauma
Registered charity number 1076617
Operations

Counselling service for those who have experienced childhood
trauma which has led to later drug or alcohol misuse or other ways
of self-harming

Comprehensive training programmes to enhance participants skills
in working with the disclosure of abuse

A support service for the parents and carers of those facing
drug/alcohol dependency

Gathering evidence on the impact of childhood trauma and its
correlation with later dysfunction such as substance misuse and
other forms of self-harm – used to inform public and policy makers
Specialist abuse counselling
o Specialist service for clients with complex needs
including addiction, psychological distress, domestic
abuse and experience of abuse or trauma in childhood
o Structured group work – including prep group
o Long or short term one-to-one counselling – including
referrals through the IAPT programme
o Encouraging clients to take responsibility for the pace
of change and their own recovery
Group Work Programme
Creative Expression (as a means of Managing trauma)
Drawing (i.e. Body map – how people see themselves – group sculpt)
 Writing (i.e. dialogue with the inner critic – we all have one of those!)
 Movement (i.e. boundary exploration/trust exercise-es)
 Music (i.e. songs can say so much)

Narrative Therapy - ( Supportive Reflection on Self-esteem, Identity/Challenge
negative life script)

presenting the story of your life in a safe and respectful forum
 receiving supportive reflection of own life experience via others
 forming a new empowered sense of identity (new script)
Mindfulness/Meditation (Being with whatever is/Stress Reduction)
- practicing relaxation techniques
- meditation in the midst of strong feelings
- inviting people to connect with their own spirituality (i.e. nature, walks,
etc.)
Relationships/Experiential
The full range of relationships (i.e. self, family, other group members etc)
An opportunity to process anything that comes up during the group
Monthly attention to relationships within the group
The impact of trauma
Stage 9
Recovery
Stage 1
Capacity for love
Stage 8
Counselling and
motivational change
programmes
Stage 7
Treatment of
presenting issues
Stage 2
Capacity frozen by
childhood trauma
The revolving door
Unless the underlying causal factors
of self-harm are addressed through
specialist interventions the likelihood
of relapse is increased with huge cost
implications
Stage 6
Need for NHS &/or
criminal justice
intervention
Stage 1:
Stage 2:
Stage 3:
Stage 4:
Stage 5:
Stage 6:
Stage 7:
Stage 8:
Stage 9:
Stage 3
Dysfunction
Stage 4
Self-harm
Stage 5
Excess and
dependency
Human capacity for love, emotion and choice
This capacity can be frustrated and frozen in childhood by trauma
Dysfunctional behaviour e.g. violence, silence, self-harm, etc.
Self-harming in order to suppress emotional pain
The situation becomes compounded by excess and dependency
The need for medical and/or criminal justice intervention becomes highly likely
Access treatment services to address the presenting problem i.e. self-harming
Specialist abuse / trauma counselling and motivational change programmes to address causal factors
Recovery
Abuse counselling statistics 2013
Clients’ abuse issues at assessment
Clients by gender
Male
29%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Female
71%
Clients seen: 85 (60 female, 25 male)
0%
Age range:
l
na
ti o
o
Em
21-71 years
Attendance: 79%
al
si c
y
Ph
ti c
s
me
o
D
xu
Se
al
t
l ec
g
Ne
to
tr a
e
rp
Pe
r
Clients’ drug issues at assessment
Number of referral sources:
16
70%
60%
Number of statutory referral sources: 9
50%
% of clients from NHS sources:
40%
46%
30%
Other services provided included peer-led self-care
support, drama therapy and family support groups and
delivery of training
Current
Historic
20%
10%
0%
ga
Ille
l
ib
cr
s
e
Pr
ed
h
co
Al
ol
Cost to the State
The following costs represent a case study for one service user over a period of 18 months prior to accessing
Southmead Project:








8 visits to GP at £50 per visit:
6 CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) sessions at £62 per session:
2 Ambulance journeys to A&E at £337 per journey:
4 weeks residential mental health care at £805 per week:
52 hours community nursing at £48 per hour:
Psychiatrist assessment:
Pre-sentence report:
1½ years Probation order at £3,325 per annum:
Total
£400
£372
£674
£3,220
£2,496
£435
£175
£4,987
£12,759
Unit Costs of Health and Social Care (Curtis 2012 University of Kent)
This amount does NOT include:

overnight stay in A&E

999 crisis calls and medic responses

night in police custody

appearance at magistrates court

appearances at crown court
Training
Abuse, addiction and disclosure
- “Abuse, Addiction and Disclosure – contributing to recovery” is a two-day
awareness training course for staff in other agencies working with those who selfharm
- The overall aim of the training is to help participants understand the possible
consequences of childhood trauma, the link between abuse and later self-harm and
to increase their confidence when working with disclosure
- Active learning raises awareness of our own attitudes about abuse enabling
participants to hear and understand the reality and impact of childhood trauma
- Survivors’ experiences are told in person and through DVD helping participants
recognise how they can contribute to a client’s recovery
“I feel so strongly that all professionals working to support people who have experienced any
form of abuse NEED this training”
Senior health promotion specialist, NHS
Southmead Project
Building a pathway to recovery
Rebuilding lives affected by abuse and trauma
Registered charity number 1076617