In this episode, Belynda Smith shares her considerable experience in practicing deep, unhurried and supportive listening with parents, and how this process helps to build safe, healing and reflective environments.

Belynda Smith is a parenting facilitator at Meerilinga Young Children's Foundation in Western Australia, as well as a certified Hand in Hand parenting instructor. Belynda has listened to many thousands of parents in her work at Meerilinga, helping them to provide their children with rich, safe and supported experiences.

Belynda is committed to creating time and space for parents to consider their relationships with their children, their preferences, challenges and stories of success. It is through this reflective process that parents begin to understand more about their relationship with their children, growing their confidence and allowing them to move beyond challenges.

In this episode, we talk with Nikki Taranis, a social worker and therapeutic specialist, about working with children and caregivers to explore children’s relationship with video gaming.

In part two of this two-part series on bullying, we’re joined again by Jessica Staniland, clinical psychologist and Director of Counselling and Psychological Services at Trinity Grammar School, who shares some of the key considerations for supporting the mental health of children who engage in bullying behaviour. She discusses how practitioners can work through children’s protests and support them to engage in conversation. Jessica talks about the importance of recognising children’s preferences and values, and how practitioners can help children to draw these out.

In part one of this two-part series on bullying, we’re joined by Jessica Staniland, clinical psychologist and Director of Counselling and Psychological Services at Trinity Grammar School, who shares some key considerations for supporting the mental health of children who experience bullying behaviour. She discusses how practitioners can open up conversations with children to explore their experiences of bullying sensitively. Jessica talks about the importance of moving away from self-blame and how practitioners can support children to do this.

The period from pregnancy to the infant’s first birthday brings major life changes for parents, as they navigate the emotional and practical tasks of parenting. In this episode, Emerging Minds Child and Family Partners, Sarah and Claudius share an honest account of navigating the first year of parenting. They discuss the parenting joys and hopes they discovered and the challenges they faced in the first twelve months of parenting their son.

In this episode, we speak with two social work students, Rachael and Megan about their career aspirations and discoveries about infant mental health. Rachael and Megan (who have since graduated) reflect on their placement experiences and how peer learning has increased their knowledge and confidence in working with infants and families.

For the past five years, Emerging Minds has worked in partnership with Flinders University’s Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) to develop a range of resources for health and social services workers. This includes a series of practice papers which support child-focused practices where children and families face disadvantage, trauma or adversity.

In episode two of this two-part series, Professor Sarah Wendt and the SWIRLS team describe child-focused approaches to working with children and families affected by family violence and trauma. They describe the specialist knowledge about trauma that all practitioners should hold, so they can help children and families to maintain safety and wellbeing.

For the past five years, Emerging Minds has worked in partnership with Flinders University’s Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) to develop a range of resources for health and social services workers. This includes a series of practice papers which support child-focused practices where children and families face disadvantage, trauma or adversity. In episode one of this two-part series, you will hear from Professor Sarah Wendt, Director of SWIRLS, and her team including Dr Kate Seymour, Kirsty Lowe and Nicola Trenorden. They describe their structural approach to child-focused practice and how they work to support emerging practitioners to engage with families facing complex problems.

In this re-release episode, Dr Priscilla Dunk-West joins the series again to discuss what separation and divorce look like when it goes well for children.

This re-release episode provides an insight into what culturally competent practice with children and families looks like from the perspective of Mthobeli Ncganga, a practitioner who works with families from migrant and refugee communities with experiences of torture and trauma.