Working with other professional supports to achieve goals

We met Peter when he was in his late 40’s. He has an active social life where he regularly spends time with his family, but he found it difficult to meet new people outside of his family social circle. He asked his Support Worker, Simon, for support in meeting new people and expressed that he really wanted to find a woman who may be interested in being in a romantic relationship with him.

Peter had never had the opportunity to receive a comprehensive sexuality and relationships education. Simon was able to identify that Peter would like to gain a better understanding of social norms as this was a barrier to him forming successful relationships with others.

Peter’s goal was important to him, so we provided him with support that gave him the tools to be able to explore his goal of meeting new people and finding a romantic relationship. Through our Positive Relationship Service, we provided training and one-on-one sexuality and relationships education to Peter. His Support Worker would then work with Peter so he could practice these newly learned skills in social settings. Our Positive Relationships staff member also helped Peter to access support outside of our services in the form of specialist sexuality and education counselling services. We were then able to work collaboratively with the counselling provider appointed to Peter to ensure a complete delivery of support. This helped Peter get the best support possible to achieve his goal.

With his new skills and newly found confidence, Peter has started exploring singles groups in his local area. He has also recently joined an online dating platform where he hopes to meet someone new. Peter has a great personality and a lot to bring into relationships with others, and now has the practical skills and tools to be able to connect with someone new.

Names have been changed due to privacy reasons