In This Together: Reconnecting With Parenting and Building Strong Relationships at Odyssey’s Family Centre
Talitha and her three children now live in an Odyssey transition house and are looking for housing in the community. She is hoping to regain custody of her other children when she finds accommodation in the wider community.
Talitha had been using drugs since she was 15, and had already tried multiple times to get clean when five of her children were removed from her care by Oranga Tamariki.
The agency recommended rehabilitation through Odyssey, but Talitha had reservations: “I thought I could do this on my own.” Her partner was resistant to the idea too. But after another relapse and facing the possibility of not being reunited with her children, Talitha joined the adult residential programme. “I knew I needed to do this, to get my kids back.” Within a few months she had progressed so well that two of her younger children joined her to live at Odyssey’s Family Centre. “I was ecstatic,” she says.
The Family Centre supported her during pregnancy, the care of her new daughter, and her ongoing participation at Odyssey. Her three other children, cared for by family members, were also able to visit regularly.
Having her children join her at the Family Centre was crucial to Talitha. It was a personal joy and also motivated her to get the most out of the programmes and support Odyssey offers. She was able to develop parenting skills alongside other parents at the Family Centre. She highlights the “Incredible Years” programme as being particularly valuable, teaching the importance of providing positive praise to children. She also learned how to get her children used to a routine, including a regular bedtime. She says she wishes she had been taught such parenting skills earlier.
Through the Family Centre, Talitha has developed mutually supportive relationships with other mums. Her children have been able to play with other kids in the Centre and have been supported to attend the local kindergarten. They have had, she says, more activities like trips to the zoo, than they have ever had in their young lives.
Odyssey’s Relapse Prevention Programme has taught Talitha how to recognise the triggers for a potential relapse and how to reach out for support when she needs to.
“If I’m struggling or if I’m upset, I can check in with staff and friends, who know how to pick you up, but without alcohol or drugs,” says Talitha. “It’s like I’ve retrained my brain, knowing that the false high you think you might get from a drug is usually followed by anxiety and depression. It doesn’t compare with how you feel once you’ve got clean, and have so much to look forward to, and the high of having my children back with me.”