Not Another PD

Episode 49: When the Caring Doesn’t Stop at the End of the Workday with Renee Firth.

As helping professionals and leaders, many of us spend our working lives supporting other people. But what happens when you finish work and the caring doesn’t stop there?

In this episode of Not Another PD, I’m joined by Renee Firth, mental wellbeing coach, founder of ASD Mum Club and mum to a non-speaking autistic child with ADHD.

Renee and I talk about the experience of being both a helping professional and a carer, and the additional load that can come with balancing caring responsibilities at work and at home.

Drawing on her previous work in residential rehabilitation, Renee shares why she was intentional about not asking people to unnecessarily retell traumatic experiences, and how that work shaped the way she supports people today.

We also talk about professional boundaries when you share lived experience with the people you support, moving beyond spaces that only allow us to vent, and why wellbeing needs to be something we consider throughout our everyday lives rather than waiting until we are already depleted.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Working in a helping profession while also having caring responsibilities outside of work
• What Renee learned from supporting people experiencing crisis in residential rehabilitation
• Why we don’t always need people to retell their trauma to another professional
• How lived experience can inform the way we support others
• Maintaining professional boundaries when you share experiences with the people you support
• Why support spaces need to offer more than an opportunity to vent
• Looking after your wellbeing before you reach the point of burnout
• Moving beyond occasional massages, days off and other one-off approaches to wellbeing
• Finding small opportunities to reset throughout the working day
• Why helping professionals and leaders need their own support too
• Building a circle of support around yourself
• What it means to be the leader of your own life.

One of the things that really stood out to me from our conversation was Renee’s reminder that we are not meant to be doing this life alone.

When you spend so much of your professional and personal life caring for other people, who is in your circle supporting you?

About Renee:

Renee Firth is a mental wellbeing coach for mums raising autistic children and the founder of ASD Mum Club.

After working in crisis care within a residential rehabilitation service, Renee experienced burnout herself while balancing work and caring for her non-speaking autistic child with ADHD. Her own experience of rebuilding her wellbeing led her to develop the CALM Life Framework, which focuses on practical ways to support wellbeing within the life you already have.

Through ASD Mum Club, Renee has created a private community for mums raising autistic children to access support, connection and practical resources.

Connect with Renee:

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Work with Jazmin:

Leadership Focus Groups:
Are you an Australian-based leader in the helping professions? I’m currently running online focus groups to help shape new leadership training. Express your interest here

Services

Group Supervision (Starting October 2026)

Boundaries as Practitioners Training

Free Resources

Join Jazmin’s Email Community

Socialise with Jazmin:

Instagram

LinkedIn

Facebook

Website

Thank you so much for listening to Not Another PD. I look forward to welcoming you next week.

Jazmin.

Episode 48: Leading people when the work comes with risk with Josh Corcoran.

What does it actually look like to lead and support people when the work itself comes with risk?

I’m joined by Josh Corcoran, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Growth at Calacare in Ballarat, Victoria, to talk about leadership in high pressure environments, emotional intelligence, psychological safety, professional boundaries and men’s mental health.

We talk about the importance of knowing your people, recognising when someone’s behaviour or performance has changed, creating opportunities for staff to reflect and debrief, and making time to check in when someone may be struggling.

We discuss the importance of leaders having their own support networks and people they can turn to when navigating difficult conversations and leadership challenges.

We also explore professional boundaries, including the sometimes slippery slope between being friendly and becoming a friend, particularly for helping professionals working closely with people in their homes and everyday lives.

Finally, Josh speaks openly about his own experiences with mental health, why men’s mental health advocacy is so important to him, his involvement with Movember, and what leaders can do to better recognise and respond when someone in their team may be struggling.

About Josh Corcoran

Josh Corcoran is a people centred leader with experience spanning construction, correctional services and disability support. After more than a decade with the Department of Justice and Community Safety, including six years leading custodial teams, Josh now works as Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Growth at Calacare in Ballarat, Victoria. He is passionate about psychological safety, staff wellbeing, leadership development and men’s mental health.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Leadership in corrections and other high pressure environments
• Supporting staff when there are risks of physical and psychological harm
• Psychological safety and recognising when staff may be struggling
• Emotional intelligence, communication and vulnerability in leadership
• Having difficult conversations and balancing support with accountability
• Why leaders need their own support, mentors and professional networks
• Professional boundaries for helping professionals and the role of leaders in supporting them
• Men’s mental health, help seeking and recognising signs that someone may not be coping
• Leadership and supporting staff wellbeing across demanding frontline roles.

Connect with Josh:

LinkedIn

Email:
[email protected]

Find out more about Calacare:

⁠Calacare's website⁠

Calacare on Instagram

Support Movember:

Josh is a passionate supporter of Movember and shares some of his own experience advocating for men’s mental health in this episode. You can learn more about Movember’s work, get involved in fundraising or make a donation here

Leadership Focus Groups:

At Jazmin Pursell Consulting we are currently taking EOIs from leaders to help inform training around areas including reflective practice, professional boundaries, leader wellbeing and psychosocial safety.

If you’re currently in a leadership role within the helping professions and would like to contribute, I would love to hear from you. Leadership Focus Groups EOI

Work with Jazmin:

Group supervision for practitioners and leaders (new groups beginning in October 2026)

Boundaries as Practitioners online training

Free Resources

Website

Socialise with Jazmin:

Instagram

Facebook: Jazmin Pursell Consulting

LinkedIn

Thank you again to Josh for such an open and thoughtful conversation, and particularly for sharing so generously from both his professional and personal experiences.

If you have enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend of colleague!

See you next week,

Jazmin.

Episode 47: You Don't Have to Have It All Together to Help Other People

There can be an unspoken expectation in the helping professions that because we support other people through difficult situations, we should somehow have our own lives completely figured out.

But helping professionals and leaders are human too.

We have relationships, families, parenting challenges, health issues, grief and loss, conflict, our own mental health journeys and our own histories. Some experiences may be well behind us, while others may be things we're navigating right now.

In this solo episode of Not Another PD, I unpack why lived and living experience doesn't automatically make us less capable, ethical or effective professionals. In fact, our experiences can sometimes strengthen our empathy, insight and understanding of the people and systems we work with.

I also share a personal story from my early twenties, long before I became a social worker, about turning up to work after a really difficult situation in my personal life. Looking back now, I can see how much I lacked the self-awareness to ask myself a very important question: Am I actually okay to do my job today?

In this episode, I talk about:

• The myth that helping professionals and leaders should have everything figured out.
• How our personal lives can sometimes affect our professional capacity.
• Lived and living experience, and the value these experiences can bring to our work.
• Why shared experience with a client group doesn't automatically mean we should, or shouldn't, work in that field.
• Recognising our triggers, limitations and potential for over-identification.
• Why it's okay to acknowledge that a particular field of practice isn't right for you.
• The role of reflective supervision, self-reflection, boundaries and professional support.
• The Involvement Continuum, including under-involvement, the ideal range of involvement and over-involvement.
• How practitioners and leaders can use the Involvement Continuum to reflect on their relationships with clients and teams.

One of the biggest messages I want you to take away from this episode is that being incredibly good at supporting other people doesn't mean you won't sometimes need support yourself.

Resource mentioned:

Involvement Continuum, Foundation House:
Access the Involvement Continuum

Work with me:

I provide professional supervision, group supervision, professional consultation, training and support for helping professionals, leaders and organisations.

Group supervision for practitioners and leaders

Boundaries as Practitioners online training (AU$59)

Free resources for helping professionals and leaders

Professional supervision, consultation, training and other services

Are you a leader in the helping professions?

I'm currently developing new leadership training specifically for leaders working across the helping professions, and I want leaders themselves involved in shaping it.

I'm inviting leaders to take part in upcoming online Leadership Focus Groups to share their perspectives on what leaders actually need when it comes to leadership development, reflective practice, boundaries, wellbeing and psychologically safer workplaces.

If you're a leader in the helping professions and would like to contribute, I'd love to hear from you.

Express your interest in the Leadership Focus Groups

Socialise with me:

I'd love to keep the conversation going outside the podcast too.

Instagram

LinkedIn

And stay tuned, because this is my last solo episode for a little while. I have some fantastic guest conversations coming up on Not Another PD, and I can't wait to share them with you.

I appreciate you being here.

Jazmin.

Episode 46: When Workplace Wellbeing Becomes Tokenistic

A wellbeing workshop, an R U OK? Day activity or a once-a-year team wellbeing initiative can be valuable. But what happens when staff return to their everyday work environment?

In this solo episode, Jazmin explores the difference between offering workplace wellbeing initiatives and actually creating a workplace culture that supports wellbeing.

Drawing on the social work concept of person in environment, Jazmin discusses why helping professionals and leaders can't be separated from the environments they work within.

While emotionally demanding client work can absolutely impact our wellbeing, so can excessive workloads, workplace culture, leadership, psychological safety, access to supervision, expectations around breaks and boundaries, and whether people genuinely feel safe to be themselves at work.

Jazmin also explores the value of ongoing reflective practice and quality supervision as part of a broader supportive workplace environment, including why leaders themselves need opportunities for supervision, reflection and support.

In this episode:

• When workplace wellbeing initiatives can start to become tokenistic
• Applying a person-in-environment lens to ourselves as helping professionals and leaders
• Why wellbeing isn't solely the responsibility of the individual worker
• How our workplace environment can impact us beyond the demands of client work
• The difference between what an organisation says about wellbeing and what staff actually experience
• Why ongoing reflective practice can be more meaningful than a once-a-year initiative
• The importance of quality, regular supervision
• Psychological safety, neuro-affirming workplaces and feeling safe to be yourself at work
• Why leaders need supervision, reflective practice and support too
• Looking beyond R U OK? Day and asking: What does staff wellbeing look like on an ordinary Tuesday?

A reflection for you

Think about your own workplace environment.

What within your workplace supports your wellbeing, and what within your environment makes your wellbeing harder to maintain?

Workplace wellbeing shouldn't only be something we talk about on designated wellbeing days. It needs to be supported through the culture, leadership, systems and everyday experiences of the people doing the work.

Work directly with Jazmin:

Looking for professional support, reflective practice, training or group supervision?

Explore Jazmin Pursell Consulting

Group Supervision for Practitioners and Leaders

Boundaries as Practitioners online training

Free resources for helping professionals and leaders

Access Jazmin's free practical resources designed to support helping professionals and leaders in their everyday work.

Socialise with Jazmin:

Instagram

Website

Thank you so much for joining me on the Not Another PD podcast and I can't wait to see you here next week.

Episode 45: Friendly vs Friends: What’s the Difference for Leaders?

Can you be warm, approachable and genuinely care about your team without becoming friends with them?

Absolutely.

In this episode of Not Another PD, I’m talking about the difference between being friendly with your team and actually being friends with your team, and why that distinction becomes particularly important when you’re responsible for supervising and leading others.

Because you can have a laugh with your team, know what’s important to them, celebrate milestones, check in when things are difficult and genuinely enjoy working together, while still maintaining clear professional boundaries.

We unpack together in our chat:

• What friendly vs friends can actually look like in the workplace
• Why the power imbalance between a leader and their team matters
• What can happen when you suddenly find yourself supervising former peers
• Socialising with team members and actual or perceived favouritism
• Appropriate self-disclosure versus oversharing
• Why blurred boundaries can make feedback and performance conversations much harder
• How professional boundaries support fairness, trust, role clarity and psychological safety
• Why leaders and supervisors need their own supervision, reflective practice and support
• My Boundaries Pyramid framework (and your free resource!)

I also share a real workplace example of what can happen when the line between supervisor and friend becomes blurry, as well as some of my own very clear boundaries around socialising with colleagues.

And actually, this isn’t about becoming cold, detached or inaccessible as a leader. Especially in the helping professions, human connection matters.

It’s about being warm and friendly while still being really clear about your role.

A few questions to think about after listening:

Where do you draw the line between being friendly and being friends with your team?

Are you making decisions because they’re the right decisions, or because you want to be liked?

And who supports you while you’re supporting everyone else?

As Brené Brown says, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”

Free resource:

Want to reflect on your own professional boundaries?

Download my free Boundaries Checklist.

Work directly with Jazmin:

Want to strengthen your professional boundaries?

My Boundaries as Practitioners training is an online self-paced course designed for helping professionals who want practical strategies to build and maintain clearer boundaries

Looking for professional supervision, leadership supervision and consultation, team reflective practice or training?

Coming soon: Leadership Training

I’m currently developing new Leadership Training specifically for leaders working across the helping professions, including practical support around boundaries, self-leadership, difficult conversations, emotional regulation and leading sustainable teams.

Want to be one of the first to know when it’s released?

Express your interest here

Socialise with Jazmin:

Come and say hello, I’d love to connect with you!

LinkedIn
Instagram
Website

And if this episode got you thinking about your own boundaries as a leader, I’d love to know what came up for you after listening, so please do let me know!

Episode 44: Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fawn? What Helping Professionals and Leaders Need to Know

Have you ever walked away from a difficult interaction at work and wondered...

"Why did I react like that?"

Maybe you became defensive.

Maybe your mind went completely blank.

Maybe you wanted to leave the situation as quickly as possible.

Or perhaps you found yourself saying yes when you really wanted to say no.

In this vulnerable episode of Not Another PD, I explore the fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses through the lens of helping professionals and leaders.

Rather than talking about these stress responses in theory, I share honest examples from my own career as a social worker and reflect on how these automatic responses showed up when I felt psychologically under threat at work.

Together, we chat about:

• What the fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses can actually look like in helping professionals.
• Why psychologically threatening situations at work can trigger automatic survival responses.
• Real examples from my own career in public housing and child protection.
• How people-pleasing can develop as a stress response.
• What leaders can do to better recognise and respond to these patterns within their teams.
• Why supervision, reflective practice and debriefing play such an important role in supporting practitioners and leaders.

One of the biggest messages I wanted to leave you with is this:

We're not robots.

Whether you're a practitioner, a supervisor or a leader, you're still human. We all have nervous systems, and we all respond differently when we feel under threat. The more we understand our own stress responses, the more compassion we can have for ourselves and for the people around us.

I'd love to know what came up for you after listening, so please do let me know!

Work directly with Jazmin:

Leadership Supervision & Consultation

Supporting leaders in the helping professions to navigate difficult conversations, professional boundaries, team wellbeing and the realities of leadership.

Professional Supervision

Reflective, evidence-informed supervision for social workers, community services professionals and leaders across Australia.

Professional Boundaries Training

A self-paced online course designed to help helping professionals build ethical, sustainable professional boundaries with confidence.

Free resources to enhance your practice.

Socialise with Jazmin:

Join Jazmin's Email Community

Receive practical insights, podcast updates, evidence-informed resources and be the first to hear about upcoming leadership training, supervision opportunities and new programs.

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook: Jazmin Pursell Consulting

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd really appreciate it if you could follow the podcast and leave a rating or review. It helps more helping professionals and leaders discover these conversations.

Thank you for joining me.

See you next time,

Jazmin

Episode 43: When Did Unpaid Work Become Normal?

When did unpaid work become so normal in the helping professions?

Working through lunch.

Replying to emails on your day off.

Taking documentation home.

Making phone calls outside paid hours.

Using annual leave to catch up on work.

Many helping professionals do these things without even questioning them anymore. But should they?

In this episode of Not Another PD, I explore why unpaid work has become so normalised across the helping professions and why I don't believe it's simply an individual boundary issue.

We unpack together in our chat:

• What unpaid work actually looks like (including some of the more subtle examples)
• Why so many helping professionals give away their time and expertise for free
• How excessive workloads contribute to unpaid work
• How unpaid work should be seen as a psychosocial hazard
• The role leaders play in creating more sustainable workplaces (and caseloads!)
• Practical strategies for both helping professionals and leaders.

This isn't an episode about blaming practitioners for having poor boundaries.

It's about challenging the workplace cultures and systems that have made unpaid work feel like "just part of the job."

Because helping professionals are incredibly generous with their time and expertise.

But your time and your expertise are not endless resources for other people to take from you.

Reflective Questions

I finish this episode with two questions I'd encourage you to reflect on:

• When did unpaid work become so normal and so acceptable? And actually, is it? 
• What can I do to help shift things, for myself, my team, my organisation and even my clients?

I'd love to know what came up for you after listening, so please do let me know!

Work directly with Jazmin:

If this episode resonated with you and you'd like support creating more sustainable ways of working, here are some of the ways we can work together.

Professional Supervision

Reflective supervision for social workers, counsellors and other helping professionals looking to strengthen their practice, navigate ethical dilemmas, build confidence and reduce the risk of burnout. Contact us directly here.

Leadership Supervision & Consultation:

For current and emerging leaders wanting support with difficult conversations, psychosocial hazards, staff wellbeing, sustainable leadership and creating psychologically safe workplaces. Applications Open can be submitted for our upcoming Leadership Circle Group Supervision Program here.

Professional Boundaries Training (Online self-paced course for AUD$59)

If today's episode resonated with you, my Boundaries as Practitioners training explores practical, evidence-informed strategies for maintaining healthy boundaries without compromising compassionate, ethical practice.

Available for both individuals and organisations.

Training & Workshops

Evidence-informed training tailored to organisations across the helping professions and for leaders. 

Socialise with Jazmin:

Website

LinkedIn

Instagram

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd really appreciate it if you shared it with a colleague, your team or another helping professional who might benefit from the conversation. It helps more people discover the podcast and continue these important discussions around sustainable practice and leadership.

See you next time.

Jazmin

Episode 42: Leaders, Meet Your Advice Monster.

Why the best leaders don't always rush in with advice.

As leaders, supervisors and helping professionals, many of us feel responsible for having the answers.

When someone brings us a problem, our instinct is often to jump straight into problem-solving. But what if immediately offering advice is actually preventing our teams from developing confidence, critical thinking and professional judgement?

In this solo episode of Not Another PD, I share how my own leadership has evolved from believing I needed to have all the answers to recognising that asking thoughtful questions is often far more valuable.

Inspired by Michael Bungay Stanier's TEDx Talk on the Advice Monster, we explore why our brains rush to solve problems, when advice is genuinely needed, and how curiosity can help create more confident and capable teams.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why leaders often feel pressure to always have the answers
• The hidden costs of solving every problem for your team
• How advice can unintentionally create dependency
• When leaders absolutely should step in and provide guidance
• Practical reflective questions you can start using immediately
• Why asking one more question can be more powerful than giving one more answer.

This week's leadership challenge

Notice your Advice Monster.

Before jumping in with a solution, pause and ask yourself:

"Is advice actually what's needed right now?"

Then try asking one more question before giving one more answer.

Resources mentioned:

Watch: How to Tame Your Advice Monster – Michael Bungay Stanier (TEDx Talk)

This is the TEDx Talk that inspired today's episode and the concept of the "Advice Monster." It's well worth watching if you'd like to explore this idea further.

Ready to take the next step?

Leadership Training: (Waitlist)

Want practical leadership development designed specifically for leaders in helping professions?

Join the waitlist here

Supervision & Reflective Practice (Groups and Individual):

Whether you're a leader, helping professional or business owner, there are several ways we can work together:

• Individual Supervision & Leadership Consultation
• Group Supervision
• Reflective Practice for your team or organisation
• Leadership Workshops & Training

Learn more here.

Prefer self-paced learning?

Boundaries for Practitioners is my self-paced online course designed to help helping professionals set healthier professional boundaries without guilt.

Learn more

Free resource:

Download my Reflective Practice Topics for Leaders guide.

Connect with Jazmin: 

Website

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with a colleague who always feels they need to have all the answers.

Episode 41: Are You Looking After Everyone Except Yourself?

As helping professionals and leaders, we're often the people everyone else relies on.

We support clients, lead teams, care for our families and encourage others to prioritise their wellbeing. But recently, I found myself asking a different question:

Am I looking after everyone except myself?

In this episode, I reflect on five powerful quotes from The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and explore what they made me think about as a social worker, leader and business owner.

This isn't a book review. It's a conversation about leadership, boundaries, wellbeing and what it means to build a sustainable career in the helping professions.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why the quote "You are the only love of your entire life" challenged the way I think about wellbeing.
• The physical wellbeing wheel I recently created and why these habits have become essential rather than optional.
• What "No one owes you anything, but you owe yourself everything" means for helping professionals and leaders.
• The workplace "table scraps" we sometimes accept without questioning.
• The difference between supporting people and enabling them.
• Practical ways to move forward when you feel stuck.

Reflection Questions:

• What are you currently giving everyone else that you're not giving yourself?
• What have you accepted that you wouldn't want your team accepting?
• If you created your own wellbeing wheel, what would be on it?
• What's one thing you owe yourself this week?

Resources Mentioned in the episode: 

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

Mel Robbins:
https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/

Work With Me:

If you're looking for additional support, I'd love to work with you.

Leadership Supervision Circle (Application Only):

Applications are currently open for leaders working in the helping professions. If you'd like a dedicated space to reflect on your leadership, boundaries and professional challenges alongside other leaders, email [email protected] and I'll send you an application form.

Group Supervision:

I also facilitate closed three-month group supervision programs for:

• Helping Professionals
• Helping Professional Business Owners

You can learn more and book your place (next group starting mid July 2026) here

Boundaries for Practitioners Online Training:

If you're wanting practical strategies to set boundaries with confidence, my self-paced Boundaries for Practitioners training is available online and can be completed at your own pace.

Learn more here

Connect with Me:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Episode 40: Just Because You're Responsible Doesn't Mean You're in Control

Many leaders I work with aren't actually carrying too much work.

They're carrying too much responsibility.

Responsibility for team culture. Responsibility for whether everyone is happy. Responsibility for another leader's behaviour. Responsibility for organisational decisions they didn't make. Responsibility for things that were never actually theirs to control.

In this solo episode, we're exploring one of the simplest but most powerful leadership frameworks I use in leadership supervision: the Circle of Control.

We'll unpack what sits within your control, what you can influence, and what is genuinely outside of your control. Using practical leadership examples, I'll also share why helping professionals often become "fixers", how that mindset can follow us into leadership, and three common leadership traps that can leave us feeling frustrated, emotionally drained and questioning whether we're doing enough.

The goal isn't to care less. It's to direct your time and energy towards the things that will have the greatest impact, rather than carrying the weight of everything happening around you.

In this episode, we chat about

• Why leaders often feel responsible for far more than their role requires
• The difference between control, influence and concern
• Why helping professionals and leaders can easily fall into the role of “fixer”
• What sits within your control as a leader
• Why influence is powerful, even when it doesn't guarantee outcomes
• Three common leadership traps that can quickly drain your energy
• A simple reflection exercise to help you approach your current leadership challenges differently

If this episode resonated with you, I'd genuinely love to hear from you. Connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know what's one thing you've been carrying as a leader that might not actually be yours to carry.

Support for Leaders & Organisations:

I work with leaders and organisations across Australia through leadership supervision, reflective practice, training and workshops.

My work focuses on helping leaders support their teams, navigate complex leadership challenges, and lead in a way that's sustainable for both themselves and the people around them.

You can learn more about my services or get in touch using the links below.

Website

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn

If you enjoyed this episode of Not Another PD, I'd really appreciate it if you followed the podcast and shared this episode with another leader who might need to hear it.

I look forward to seeing you next time!

Jazmin