Suravi
We helped her unpick her thinking and find alternatives to the negative story she went along with in her head. Finding powerful thoughts that held off negative emotions was a turning point for her, as well as prioritising doing things she enjoyed like singing.
We completed some work to build her self-esteem, encourage better sleep patterns and proactively seek time with people whom she thought might like her. As a couple of key relationships improved and Suravi became more practiced at challenging her negative thoughts, her panic and anxiety lessened.
At the end of 2 school terms of weekly work, Suravi had not engaged in self-harm for 13 weeks and said she now knew what to do to stop her thoughts and feelings getting to the point where she felt she had to hurt herself.
*Names have been changed and models have been used to protect the identity of young people.
Suravi said she had struggled with anxiety in social situations since junior school. She had also begun to harm herself when her parents separated at the start of secondary school due to feeling overwhelmed. When we began to meet weekly with her, she had been experiencing panic attacks and was feeling very low due to thinking they would not stop.
Our work helped Suravi to identify and understand the triggers for her panic attacks and the times when she felt very low. Some of this was related to her relationships with other people and some was as result of how she viewed herself quite negatively.