By Niamh, BB4K placement student
Coming into my student placement at BB4K, I was feeling quite nervous about being in a work environment for the first time. I was unsure about how I would adapt due to my lack of experience working with both children and adults in a therapeutic manner. I recognised that this would be an eye-opening experience for me as I have lived a very sheltered lifestyle. However, I believed this would be really valuable – especially as this area of work is something I am looking to go into. I hoped this would give me some of the experience I needed to continue with my academic studies and go beyond this.
Throughout my year, I have taken part in a variety of groups, such as BB4K’s groups for 3 to 5-year-olds. These groups have been so valuable as they have taught me to work in a child-centred and therapeutic manner. At first, this was challenging as I had to not ask questions and allow the child to lead the conversation. However, I have really grown in this skill and become more accomplished throughout the year.
I also got the opportunity to help with a parents’ group. Originally, I was nervous about this as I didn’t feel I had the experience or knowledge to help facilitate a group for them. But after speaking to my manager, I understood that sometimes just being a listening ear can be valuable. This group helped me to understand the impact of and the many challenges that domestic abuse can cause for someone. It also added an emotional side to this as we heard the stories from the women attending. It was lovely to see the bond that was formed between the parents and the support that they provided for one another. This helped me when the group came to an end as I knew they would still have each other to lean on.
As my confidence grew throughout the year, I took on more responsibilities to help lead the children’s group with certain activities and discussions. This was a great opportunity for me as I had to practise managing different ideas and make sure I expressed instructions clearly.
Additionally, I learned a lot throughout the year from the work I did outside of groups. I had to ensure I was organised and prioritise my time to ensure that I had all the resources ready for when the group started. I improved in this as I gained more experience and knowledge of the sessions. This also allowed me to contribute my own ideas for resources that could help the groups run more smoothly.
Taking part in team meetings was helpful as I learnt so much about the support that was available to people. Hearing conversations like these in the office helped me learn a lot about the journey that people go on through services like ours.
This placement has also helped me recognise my own personal limitations. One of my groups had a lot of dysregulated behaviour. This made me realise that I struggled to set boundaries and be consistent with them. However, as the group continued, I observed how more experienced members of staff delt with this. I was able to reflect on my own challenges and improve on this, which meant I felt more secure when dealing with these behaviours.
Furthermore, I had the opportunity to attend lots of training, including domestic abuse awareness, informed trauma practice and male domestic abuse survivors training. This resulted in me having a wider knowledge base than I did previously, which helped me when working with our service users.
Overall, this placement has created such a passion in me for working with vulnerable women and children, solidifying my degree choice and helping me make choices for my future.
I would like to recognise how welcome and supported I felt by the BB4K team. I knew I could always ask questions and was never scared to voice my opinion. I believe this was the result of the kindness I was shown from everyone and the belief they had in me from the beginning. Panda, my manager, checked in with me and ensured I was doing okay. I found this especially important as we discussed and heard some emotional stories which can be quite hard to listen to. Never did I feel like I had to deal with any tricky emotions alone and I knew I could talk to anyone in the team.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to the whole of the BB4K team for the support and advice they have provided me throughout the year. Working with BB4K has been one of the most valuable experiences of my life and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to gain experience working with children and has a passion for helping others. I have learned so much and I know I will value this knowledge for a long time to come. Thank you!
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