A positive experience with Twining Enterprise

A workplace incident led Rosetta to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and following a course of therapy with Barnet Talking Therapies, she was referred to Twining Enterprise where she met Peter, her dedicated Employment Specialist.  Peter empathetically worked with Rosetta to get her back into a job she loves.  Here, Rosetta tells us her story in her own words…

My Work Life before Barnet Talking Therapies and Twining Enterprise

I have taught in colleges for almost two decades whilst bringing up my children. This has worked well to create a great work/family life balance as I was not a permanent Lecturer and would be sent in by an agency as and when a college needed me. When my children left home, I realised in addition to teaching I had picked up great skills in the pastoral side of education as in all the assignments I’d had in colleges I would have a small Tutor Group where students would be guided in other aspects of their lives that impacted on their academic performance. I loved this role very much and decided to explore going into the pastoral side of education.

It didn’t take long for me to get assignments to Independent Boarding Schools playing the roles of a Boarding Officer and a Housemistress. This was great as the role entailed being in loco parentis to teenage girls in a boarding school. This did not feel like work, and it took me no time to bond with the girls in my care, ensuring their welfare after classes in the boarding house.

However, this did not last long as the handling of a fire incident in one of the schools and its aftermath made me ill enough to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  I got referred to Barnet Talking Therapies where my therapist worked very professionally and empathetically through our twelve sessions to restore my health.

As one of the objectives agreed upon with this very professional and empathetic therapist I got assigned to, was the restoration of my health so I could go back to work, I got introduced to Twining Enterprise where I met Peter, the Employment Specialist assigned to me.

Twining Enterprise - Peter

At my first meeting, Peter struck me as one with great listening skills. I had gone to meet Peter with an attitude of being in a hurry to get back to work and it is to Peter’s great credit that I slowed down to realise a lot of things about myself that is to help me with moving forward in my job search.

Peter listened in empathetically as I told him about what had led me to sit before him on our first few meetings. He did not make notes whilst we spoke but when he would send a plan of action for my signature and my next moves, I would realise he had captured all that had been said at our meeting!

Peter has much knowledge as an Employment Specialist guiding me to write a new CV even though my initial reaction to his suggestion was that I ‘had taught college students how to write a CV’ (!) During our sessions - still ongoing - Peter comes across as a patient, knowledgeable and empathetic Employment Specialist whose goal is to guide me to get the most suitable employment tailored to my skills, knowledge and, what I did not know about myself before now, my current stage of life.

Once as Peter listened intently to me, he asked me to explain what exactly I loved about my pastoral role in the boarding houses of the Independent schools I’d worked in. I said the mentoring and empowering bit of getting the teenagers under my care manage the issues in their lives so it had less of an impact on their studies and daily activities. That was when Peter suggested I will do excellently with my skills-set as a practitioner in children’s homes. This was a sector I had not thought about working in before. I researched this sector, thought about my current stage of life and realised that actually, I have moved on since all that ‘fire incident’ led to a breakdown in my mental health.

I am eternally grateful to Twining Enterprise who through Peter is not just assisting in getting me back into work, but is listening and tuning in to me to get me to realise that actually, I have a skills set that could best be used elsewhere.

Peter’s Guidance and ‘being there’

With this new insight, Peter suggested vacancies for me to apply to. He guided me in the application process, the interview process and now the On Boarding process.

In all these processes, Peter will listen and offer much-needed guidance. The On Boarding process after I have aced my interviews had been rather winding, but Peter is still listening to me each week. He has agreed on a plan on how to support me further when I eventually get a start date from my prospective employers.

Conclusion

I think of Peter at Twining Enterprise and I’m agreed that the organisation he works for is doing a marvellous job getting people like me who go through a challenging time with their mental health back into work and functioning again.

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