Providing emotional support is challenging, what’s particularly challenging is being able to manage ones own emotions whilst offering such intensive support. Here, one of our support workers tells us about a recent day at work.
No day is quite the same when you’re supporting people who live on the streets. Providing emotional support can often draw you closely into the lives of others; I find this cause’s my personal emotions to fluctuate on a daily basis. Our service users have complex issues that they have to deal with around the clock, as a support worker encountering these issues during my working week takes its toll on me undoubtedly.
I met V a few weeks ago and we sat on a grass verge one sunny morning. I went to see him to give him some final bits of advice and to wish him luck for his benefits review interview at the Job Centre. We talked generally and I shared some information I had learned from a welfare rights advisor. I had some uncertainty about V getting through this interview, but V maintained that people he knew, with fewer credentials than him, had gotten through it without any lasting effects. We talked about Vs love life and what his plans were for the coming weeks with his partner. Vs optimism and confidence brightened up my day and I left in good cheer to my next appointment.
J was due in court over a minor offence and I went along to support him. He was given a community based sentence and was not fazed too much by the consequences of the proceedings. J was happy that I had come along to support him through this experience and we talked outside the courtroom afterwards about things he had going on. Our next stop was to call in and see his drugs worker for an appointment. J had some reservations about his drugs worker and the relationship was far from perfect. On the way there I encouraged J to put aside his suspicion of his drugs worker and to engage according to his treatment package. At this point J suddenly became volatile and started challenging me on whose side I was actually on and that I was not supporting him, but actually hindering his treatment. J said he was angry which lead to him becoming abusive; he referred to me in some colourful language also. I always thought myself to be tactful and able to get my point across without offending people or disturbing the peace. Clearly I was wrong.
We went through the rest of the appointment but what J said had troubled me and through the rest of the time spent with him I was distant in my own thoughts and self-reflection. I was critically thinking about my actions and whether I had contributed to him losing trust in me. Guilt crept in when I gave thought to my talkative disposition; had I said too much in front of his drugs worker in the past? Was I acting in his interest or against it? Was I even fit for the job of support worker?
Back at the office it was business as usual; there was paperwork to catch up with and phone calls to make, however, the days events had rattled my composure. Fortunately with a supportive manager on the other end of the line and a colleague to listen to my rants I was able to vent my frustrations. I am lucky to have a network of support both inside and outside of work that allows me to share my feelings and thoughts in order to manage and process them. I am grateful that I have access to emotional support, because, for many of my service users I am the only source of emotional support they have. As difficult as I sometimes find this position, I know that it is crucial for our service users to have somebody who they can share their frustrations with, because I know how crucial it is in my own life.