‘Imran’, a 9 year old boy, was referred to the SHINE program due to concerns about the impact of family violence and parental separation. Imran needed support in relation to emotional regulation, low self-esteem, low mood, and behavioural issues both at school and home. Imran was bullied at school and had learning difficulties following a history of trauma and physical violence perpetrated by his father and paternal uncle.
The family had migrated to Australia from Afghanistan and were still settling into a new life in Australia. Imran’s mother was a victim of family violence, and from a young age, Imran was exposed to violence in the home. As a result, Imran struggled with emotional regulation and would become really overwhelmed and emotionally dysregulated.
Imran lived with his mother and two siblings, with his father only having contact with Imran a couple of times after separation, and no longer providing any financial support for the children. During one of the sessions with his SHINE Practitioner, Imran was emotionally distressed due to the separation of the parents, however spoke about feeling some relief that the home environment was no longer an abusive one.
The SHINE Practitioner worked with Imran to increase his ability to manage difficulties and intense emotion, and explored and implemented emotional regulation strategies to better manage behavioural responses when faced with school bullying. In addition to Imran’s mother being provided with strategies to support her son, the family were linked in with relevant support services, including a child psychologist for Imran to explore the impact of trauma, separation, grief and loss.
Imran and his siblings were connected with a local swimming program. His mother was also supported to get her driving licence and to enrol in English language classes. SHINE also communicated with Imran’s school regarding his learning difficulties which resulted in a teacher’s aid being provided to help Imran’s learning.
Our SHINE program was not only able to provide the support that Imran needed, but created increased stability in his environment through working together with his mother and his school.
