A personal story submitted anonymously by a worker on 11th November 2014.
A relationship can be an individual process and can take different forms. Of course boundaries cannot be breached but you must always consider and remember how relationships development. From working in care for over 10 years I have seen therapeutic relationships form between different people and the amazing work that has been achieved through this. The down side is people whom judge these people and the detrimental effect this has on the person receiving care. They do this because they are concerned that the individual is becoming too dependant. I can understand this concern but usually the positives outweigh any negatives in all these relationships I have witnessed. Negative judgments can cause regression in development and forces the young person to become even more attached to the care worker. This then creates massive issues when the young person leaves care.