It is a Tuesday and our helpline day. We are normally in the office from half nine in the morning.  First off prior to anything, I need a cup of tea to start the work day. It requires skill to juggle and prioritise – hence the need for caffeine. I also never have breakfast in the early AM so my colleagues know that I am in when they smell the burnt toast.
 

Whilst the toast is burning, Eithne our administration finds me and we talk about that database again. I check the phone lines for any calls. A client has requested that I phone her back.

 Our Coordinator Marie catches us for a quick update on yesterday and assigns any immediate appointments scheduled for the day. We catch up on any headline news and inform each other where we will be during the day. My colleague Roisin has been pencilled in for a crisis court accompaniment (from speaking with a client yesterday) and she will be offline for the day as we can never be sure when a court will finish. Our staff meeting is scheduled for half ten. 

I log into emails and respond accordingly but I shelve these when the helpline rings early at 9.50am and I speak to our first client of the day. As a situation occurred over the weekend, she needs to offload the stress of both the incident and its aftermath. I spend over half an hour speaking with her and by the time the call comes naturally to a close, she states she feels calmer, more in control. She has talked through the options available to her and has made a plan as to what she needs to do next. I phone the first client who left a message and we arrange an appointment for 12.30pm in the office.

All our client’s contacts need to be documented from two perspectives:  we need to record the amount of calls we receive each year from clients plus it helps when Roisin has contact from the same client and she is aware of what has recently happened to her. I spend some time documenting the key issues addressed with the clients I have spoken with. A repeat client links in to thanks us for our support yesterday and that she is in a better place today. 

I return back to the emails and finish the one I had started earlier and also confirm our attendance at a training event scheduled for next week around substance abuse. A community welfare officer rings to refer a client on the office line, I ask to speak with this client and we arrange an appointment for tomorrow at ten. I make a to-do list at this stage as I know I am not going to get around to the work I left yesterday. We all meet up to begin the staff meeting and plan our activities. Twenty minutes later the helpline rings again, I leave and work with this client for another forty minutes. I return and catch up with what I have missed (and find out what activities I have been kindly “volunteered for” in my absence).

My client arrives for my 12.30pm appointment and we spend 70 minutes together. We cover issues regarding what domestic violence is, dynamics, tactics and profiles of an abuser all of which enables the client to recognise for the first time that she is experiencing emotional abuse. She believed everything was her fault. A lot of time is spent on this and on making her safe in her current environment. She has been experiencing physical violence also but she hadn’t recognised this as violence as “he only nudges and pushes” her against the wall. We talk through a safety plan for the next time that violence occurs and pinpoint who she can go to for accommodation. She leaves with contact numbers for the local refuge in Cork city and information about the other options open to her. Roisin is on the office line having finished court so we spend some time talking about this case and she heads back to the office. 

I grab a sandwich and fill out client paperwork at my desk. Things quieten somewhat when Roisin is back in the office as there are now two of us to share the phones. Marie sticks her head in to check that we are all still working hard, gives us some more work ( just in case we don’t have enough) and we enjoy some banter. I hear Roisin on the helpline to another client. Roisin and I consult on a child protection issue and about what next to do in this case. 

Niamh our intern comes to help me to figure out what I did to my desktop feature when I hit that small button. A client drops in unexpectedly at half 2 carrying a 2 year old toddler with a baby in a buggy and 90 minutes is spent with her. The toddler decides to ransack the client room (at that age we just leave her to mangle the place) and we concentrate on the clients needs. She was referred by Bantry Citizens Information Service, is trying to access the housing list in the county Council and needs support due to the physical and financial abuse she is experiencing with her partner. I provide information around the application process and help her in filling out the application forms that we have in the office. I also complete an advocacy letter to support her application and contact details for the local refuge in Cork should she need to get out in a crisis. We also work on the impact the abuse has had on her and the resultant diagnosis (made by her GP) of post natal depression / post traumatic stress disorder. We offer on-going support to her and reinforce that this will be given regardless of her choice to remain in the relationship or leave. I fill out all the paperwork (again). 

At this stage its nigh on half five pm and my computer pings me (again) to remind me that I had set myself a deadline to write an article for the next Whisper due tomorrow.  I still haven’t returned to my- to- do list so I add it onto my- to- do list, take a deep breath and turn off the computer.