His time at Cygnet Delfryn House has been meaningful, purposeful and a chapter that has supported him into becoming an informal service user to look at living more independently in the near future. He is proud of his accomplishments and would like to share some positives, giving hope to others who are in similar positions to him or are new to coming into a hospital setting.
This is his account when discussing his time at Cygnet Delfryn House, the professionals he has worked with and what advice he would give to other individuals coming into hospital:
“Delfryn has got me through some rough patches by speaking to staff. I can speak to most staff about anything I need to.
“I haven’t had much luck with psychology in the past. It has been better recently. I’ve learnt how to deal with things better in a way rather than doing anything like self-harm. I engage better now than I did which is alright.
“I’ve done a bit with OT. Been cooking, done lots of artwork, made bird boxes bird and bird feeders which I put up in the garden on grounds. I’ve had 3 therapy jobs, I’ve DJ’d at events external to hospital, got a picture with the Mayor of Mold, done some education courses and first aid training, did some tree planting volunteering which was good and got put in the newspaper… got another volunteer role lined up, now running a therapy group of coffee afternoons for rest of the service users which I started this month.
“I get on with my key workers like my key nurse and has helped me to stay on track. Going to be starting stage 2 medication soon, engage well in 1:1s with key nurse, sit and chat to them a lot, go through my care plans, haven’t self-harmed for a long time because they help keep my risks low. Work well with my key nurse and she reminds me how far I’ve come too.
“I’ve been happy at Delfryn House, had ups and downs but that’s life. Never been off a section before so I am happy to be informal at Delfryn House. Staff make time for me and help me when I need it. It’s changed my life where I haven’t self-harmed for ages. I do things I wouldn’t normally do. OT wake me up to do things in the day so I don’t miss out on things I like doing so it has helped in a way.
“I’d recommend Delfryn House as a placement because it helps people. I think people move on quick from Delfryn, well as soon as they need to. I’ve been 4 years at Delfryn and the most close I’ve been to independence. Shortest time I have been in a place where I feel like I’m going somewhere. Staff support is good, whenever needing to speak to someone can always have a 1:1 with staff. OT team have helped me with doing things I wouldn’t normally do by myself.
“Advice I would give to others coming to Delfryn: “Stick at it, stick to it, work with staff and you’ll come out the other side.””