Whitney’s case study

Whitney was referred to SHINE in August 2023 by Justice Social Work as a Structured Deferred Sentence (SDS). Whitney moved to the area in March 2020 just before lockdown, becoming very isolated in a town with no friends or family. 

Her offence was an isolated incident resulting in her being charged with assault on a police officer. As Whitney hadn’t been involved with the police before she was given a SDS for a period of good behaviour before returning to Court in December for a review. 

On my 1st meeting (home visit) with Whitney it was very clear that she suffered with social anxiety and presented with issues around trust, she very rarely left the house and when she did, she would wait on it raining as she said there were less people about when it rains. She would regularly take the long way to destination to avoid encountering other people. She hadn’t always been this anxious and wanted to get back to her bubbly self. 

Whitney loved to draw and was interested in anything spiritual; we spoke about courses she could do online to keep her mind busy and together we researched a few courses on things she had an interested in. Through her spiritual interest we found an online course about crystals that she completed and enjoyed. This helped with her focus and her confidence.  

We decided that the next steps for Whitney was to get her social worker to refer her to ‘Change Mental Health’, Whitney was very keen for this to happen. 

As the weeks went on I would ask Whitney to challenge herself by meeting me halfway rather than me going to her home address, we progressed this a little bit at a time and by the end of her time with SHINE Whitney was coming to the office for our meetings, even on sunny days when lots of people would be about. 

Whitney engaged well with ‘Change Mental Health’ after I supported her to her 1st appointment and even applied for a gym membership and was attending this on her own with no issues. 

Whitney’s case was admonished when she went for her review in December meaning no criminal record. 

Whitney was very appreciative that a service like SHINE existed and thanked me for everything the service done for her.