Lisa was studying for a Diploma in Counselling in 2011 when several life struggles took place, including the loss of three close people in her life.

This resulted in depression and put her potential career in counselling on hold. Lisa’s mental health condition resulted in very low self-esteem and felt that she had lost everything. In Lisa’s own words: “I felt like I’d been put on the scrap heap”.

Lisa was referred to Good Work by her mental health practitioner when Lisa felt that she would like to look at returning to work and getting support to achieve that goal. Lisa started working with Bobbie, her Work Coach in February 2020. As part of returning to work, Lisa and Bobbie worked on building her confidence and self-esteem and dealing with her anxiety to build herself back up again after feeling like she’d lost everything.

Even at such a low point in her life, Lisa remembers something she learnt on her counselling course, which was “feel the fear and do it anyway”. Lisa says…

“this really hit home and is something I think about a lot – it motivates me and gives me courage.”


Bobbie and Lisa worked on identifying Lisa’s transferable skills and aligning those to potential jobs. Lisa said:

“Meeting Bobbie helped me to bring back my ambition. He says that I don’t give myself enough credit and I think that’s probably true. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I might be able to do more than what I think I can do.”

Lisa is taking part in a vocational course at Flourish Enterprises, where she is gaining practical experience and working with an occupational therapist.

Lisa has been very grateful for the continued support from Good Work and Flourish during the pandemic and says that without this support her anxiety would have been heightened. She has also been building her confidence by getting involved in South Yorkshire Housing Association’s Together with Tenants, the Good Work Steering Group and providing feedback on our Peer Ambassador programme. Lisa says that it has made her feel valued, increased her confidence and enjoyed being part of a team.