Relational Practice: a social work podcast
Psychology & Relationships
About
Social Workers and practitioners, ever feel like you're alone in your struggles? Join us for a podcast that feels like a conversation with friends. We combine storytelling, humour, empathy, and a healthy dose of education to share practical advice. Dr Jodie Park and Rose Mackey, two private social work practitioners with 45 years of experience between them, are your co-hosts for this podcast. They'll be bringing all that experience to the practice conversations.
Episodes
- Relationship First: The Key to Safe DV Disclosure
Professor Joanne Spangaro joins the podcast to discuss her research on intimate partner violence (IPV) and the complexities of survivor disclosure. The conversation highlights the importance of relationship-building and cultural safety in…
- Permission to be Human: Moving from Blame to Systems Thinking
This episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast features Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey discussing professional fallibility and the importance of systems thinking over blame. They explore cognitive biases in high-pressure social…
- The Mirror and the Rearview: Navigating Reflection and Reflexivity in Social Work
This episode of Relational Practice distinguishes between reflection and reflexivity in social work, using the "Rearview Mirror" and "Mirror" analogies. It explains how to apply Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory to enhance professional i…
- The Silent Dialogue: Why What Isn't Said Matters Most
This episode of Relational Practice features hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey with guest Ross Judd, discussing the importance of recognizing unspoken communication in social work. They introduce the R.E.O.S.T.A.R. process and the Integ…
- The High Price of Being "Good": Appeasement as a Survival Strategy
This episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, featuring Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey, examines appeasement as a survival strategy, not just kindness. It connects Attachment Theory, the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM), and…
- Interrupting the Timeline: A Social Work Briefing on Lethality
This episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast examines the patterns leading to intimate partner homicide, using criminologist Jane Monckton Smith’s 8-stage homicide timeline. It also addresses filicide, the economic impact of…
- High Pressure, High Stakes: Peeling Back the Curtain on Birth Family Contact
This episode of Relational Practice explores supervised birth family contact, detailing the clinical skills needed for child protection during visits. Hosts discuss the Supervisor's Toolkit, risk management for subtle abuse, and the import…
- Parenting in a Glass House: The difference between Public and Private Parenting
This episode of Relational Practice discusses "Public Parenting" in foster care, examining the challenges and hybrid identities required of foster carers. It covers the surveillance paradox, systemic transparency, shared authority, and the…
- The Wound of Connection: Navigating Relational and Complex Trauma
This episode of Relational Practice podcast discusses Complex Trauma (C-PTSD), differentiating it from PTSD and detailing symptoms such as disturbances in self-organization. It explores neurodevelopmental impacts and survival responses, in…
- Coercive Control: A Social Work Deep Dive
This episode defines coercive control, discussing its intensification during holidays and its role in intimate partner homicides. It details the psychological toll, including CPTSD, and outlines trauma-informed interventions for social wor…
- The body really does keep score: Trauma, Regulation and the Nervous System
This episode of Relational Practice discusses applying a trauma lens to emotional and behavioral regulation, drawing parallels to the Polyvagal Theory. It emphasizes the importance of co-regulation through reparative relationships for heal…
- Trauma-Informed or Trauma-Ignoring? Bridging Policy and Practice for Child Safety in Family Violence Cases
This episode critically examines the disparity between family law policies prioritizing child safety and judicial practices that often default to contact with abusive parents. It analyzes the Australian Family Law Amendment Act 2023 and di…
- SURVIVAL MODE: Unpacking the DMM to Crack the Code of Trauma Strategies
This episode unpacks the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM), explaining how trauma leads to adaptive survival strategies. Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey differentiate between Type A (cognitive inhibition) and Type C (affective exaggeration)…
- Unpacking Social Work: Your Q&A with Dr. Jodie Park & Rose Mackey
Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey address audience questions regarding social work misconceptions, ensuring meaningful participation for children, the connection between trauma, child protection, and Out-of-Home Care, the biggest systemic hur…
- Why Our Bodies Talk: A Social Worker's Guide to Polyvagal Theory
This episode of Relational Practice explains Polyvagal Theory for social workers, covering the Autonomic Ladder (Ventral Vagal, Sympathetic, Dorsal Vagal), neuroception, and co-regulation. It guides practitioners on helping clients move fr…
- Holding Space for Grief: A Relational Approach
Hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey explore social work approaches to grief and loss, covering theories like the Five Stages, Dual Process, Continuing Bonds, and Disenfranchised Grief, while emphasizing cultural competence and a person-in…
- When Loss Isn't Final: Ambiguous Loss in Social Work
This episode of Relational Practice features Dr. Kenny Kor discussing ambiguous loss, a grief type often faced by social workers. The discussion covers the definition of ambiguous loss, its relevance in social work particularly within chil…
- The Emotional Demands: A Frank Discussion on Social Work Resilience
This episode of Relational Practice discusses practitioner resilience in social work, defining it as a developable skill influenced by coping mechanisms and support systems. It covers stressors like burnout and vicarious trauma, and offers…
- Beyond the Glossy Brochure: A Frank Discussion on Critical Reflection
This episode of Relational Practice discusses critical reflection in social work, explaining its importance beyond academic jargon. It covers practical tools for self-reflection and evaluating daily information to foster ethical and effect…
- Nature Meets Nurture: Temperament and the Power of Socialization
This episode discusses temperament, including Thomas and Chess's nine traits and three types (Easy, Difficult, Slow-to-Warm-Up), and socialization processes like family, education, and media. It explains how understanding these concepts he…
- Kinship Care: Public Parenting in a Private Family
This podcast episode examines kinship care in Australia, where relatives raise children unable to live with their biological parents. It covers the Child Placement Principle, types of kinship carers, assessment processes, common challenges…
- More Than Just a Home: The Demands of Foster Care & Assessment
Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey discuss foster care assessments in NSW, Australia, differentiating them from parenting assessments. The episode covers carer motivations, background checks, household dynamics, and the impact of carer shortag…
- From Theory to Practice: Demystifying Formal Parenting Capacity Assessments
Rose Mackey and Jodie Park discuss formal parenting capacity assessments, explaining their purpose in child protection, court cases, adoption, and fostering. The episode details the assessment process, required skills, and theoretical know…
- Beyond the Checklist: Unpacking Informal Parenting Capacity Assessments
In "Beyond the Checklist: Unpacking Informal Parenting Capacity Assessments," hosts Jodie Park and Rose Mackey explore the significance of informal observations in assessing parenting capacity. They highlight crucial skills like observing…
- More Than Just Parenting: Essential Assessment Skills for All Fields
This episode of Relational Practice explores essential assessment skills for evaluating parenting capacity. It covers practical tools for observation and interviewing, theoretical frameworks like trauma and child development, and crucial a…
- Risky Business: a deep dive into professional judgement
This episode of Relational Practice: a social work podcast dives into the crucial topic of professional judgment in social work. It features a thought-provoking and insightful conversation on the subject.
- Connected Practice: Supervision and Colleagues
This episode of Relational Practice discusses various forms of supervision, from informal chats to formal sessions, and highlights the importance of collegial relationships. It unpacks how supervision directly influences a practitioner's w…
- Beyond the Surface: Attachment and your practice (Part 2)
This episode, the second part of a series on attachment, offers practical strategies for social workers to understand how clients' past relationships impact their current behavior. It includes real-world examples to enhance client care.
- Beyond the Surface: Attachment and your practice (Part 1)
This episode delves into attachment theory, explaining internal working models and various attachment styles. It highlights how using an attachment perspective can deepen understanding of clients in social work practice.
- Whose Power is it Anyway? Role Clarity and the Social Workers Dilemma
This episode of Relational Practice discusses the complexities of power dynamics in social work, questioning how practitioners can truly empower others and balance strengths-based methods with advocacy.
- Why would anyone want to listen to an episode about social work professionalism?
This episode of Relational Practice examines social work professionalism, focusing on how clients perceive it and how practitioners can recognize their own professional conduct. It encourages listeners to consider the client's perspective…
- Hey, welcome to our podcast
This episode introduces the Relational Practice podcast, which focuses on discussing real social work practice from the ground up. The hosts aim to challenge conventional approaches to promote learning, skill-building, and the development…