Allison’s Journey – Rebuilding a Life with Support from ScotsCare
When Allison first contacted ScotsCare in 2020, she was facing one of the most difficult periods of her life. She was on the brink of eviction, trapped in an abusive relationship, and battling addiction to heroin and crack cocaine. Drug dealers had begun cuckooing (moving in without permission) her home. “I had lost everything and was starting to build my life from scratch,” she says. Reaching out for help was daunting—she felt overwhelmed with shame—but those first conversations with ScotsCare marked a turning point. “I remember those first calls and feeling very supported and not judged.”
Allison had originally hoped for advocacy support, one of ScotsCare’s services, to help with the eviction, but ScotsCare stepped in with further help. The charity arranged practical support, including a clothing grant for her son, and when she was eventually rehoused, they helped furnish her new home with essentials such as a sofa and wardrobe. These simple but vital items eased the financial pressure, and gave Alison and her son a sense of stability at a time when life felt chaotic.
During the Covid lockdowns, Allison underwent detox and successfully got clean. She briefly volunteered with ScotsCare, supported by Louise, the ScotsCare Volunteer Coordinator, whose kindness helped rebuild her confidence, even though Allison later recognised she wasn’t quite ready at the time. ScotsCare also funded tutoring for her son, improving his GCSE grades significantly. “It made a huge difference,” she says.
At the same time, Allison enrolled on a short course, Psychology for Change, which sparked an unexpected interest in counselling. ScotsCare offered her a year of psychotherapy with Tricia, a therapist who became instrumental in Allison’s healing. “I had had counselling before but this was the first time I was able to actually connect and build a relationship with the therapist. Tricia helped me to grieve, feel seen, understood, and express parts of myself I never had before.” Counselling was challenging and uncomfortable at times—especially confronting the guilt around how her addiction had affected her son—but it was transformative. “It was the first time I was able to really feel it, and I needed to do that to move on.”
Wanting to take her interest in counselling further, Allison progressed onto Level 4 counselling training, whilst ScotsCare supported her again by funding the therapy required as part of her studies—help she says she could not have continued without. Through counselling, she began to understand the roots of her addiction, working through shame, past trauma, and deeply buried emotional pain. This process not only supported her own recovery but also shaped her future. As she neared qualification, she began to believe she could genuinely work as a counsellor.
Today, Allison’s life is “unrecognisable” from where she started. She has been clean for almost six years, is financially more secure, and whilst still on benefits, she works both as a counsellor and as a Service Delivery Manager for the addiction charity Rehabit. She has rebuilt healthy relationships with family and friends, and her son is doing well, supported in part by the tutoring ScotsCare provided.
Reflecting on her journey, Allison’s message to others considering counselling support from ScotsCare is simple: “Go for it. It can be challenging at times, but it is life changing.”
ScotsCare’s combination of financial, practical and emotional support, helped Allison reclaim her life from a low ebb —and build a future she once thought out of reach.