David's Story

David was in his thirties when he first came to WDP. He was a cocaine user, with a habit of up to £200 per week. At the time he referred himself, David was anxious and paranoid, with low self esteem, unable to hold down a job, and having to rely on benefits and borrowing to fund his cocaine use.

David was assigned to work with WDP's Suzanne Reid. She realised that David had problems with trusting people, and so she took things slowly and built his confidence in her gradually. David had been physically abused as a child and in order to help him best, Suzanne had to appreciate that he wasn't going to trust her easily. She referred him to a mental health team in order to get a full assessment around his anxiety and how his past might be affecting him. This assessment gave her a better understanding of her client and the needs that must be met.

Suzanne worked with David over a period of four months. Clients often have fewer sessions, but as a client led service, our practitioners need to find what is best for the people they are working with. A huge amount of progress was made in this time and David began to feel more confident about himself. He was using a lot less cocaine and David and Suzanne felt that the next move should be for him to enter into a residential rehab. Suzanne felt that David was a very motivated client and that this would be the best move for him.

David completed his stay in residential rehabilitation successfully. He contacted Suzanne, a year after they first met, to let her know he was doing well and that he was now in an after care programme. Suzanne felt that there had been vast change in David. He had realised his goal of abstinence and his confidence and general well-being were obvious. He was not the anxious and paranoid person she had met a year previously. Suzanne had played a vital part in changing his life for the better.