In our final episode of 2024, Christine, Founder & Executive Director of Awful Grace, and Simren, Impact Evaluation and Research Lead at the charity, delve into the innovative work of The Journey, a programme designed to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. They share their experiences in both implementing and evaluating how pottery-making helps participants address challenging issues such as forgiveness, harm and reconciliation, while fostering essential pro-social life skills.

This conversation explores the intersection of restorative justice and creative expression, highlighting how Awful Grace uses pottery as a tool for personal reflection, accountability and healing. Christine and Simren also discuss the lessons learned from this person-centered approach, as well as the opportunities for collaboration among different stakeholders in the social sector to better support offenders and their families.

Ideal for social workers interested in restorative practices and innovative approaches to community rehabilitation, this episode offers valuable insights into integrating creative methods into social work practice.

To learn more about Awful Grace and their impactful work, visit awfulgrace.org or follow them on Instagram @awfulgracesg.

In our final installment of our three-part series on systemic practice, we are joined by Jie Hui. Collectively, we share our journeys with systemic thinking and its impact on our work. From understanding therapeutic intent and client response cycles to exploring Bowen's Family System's therapy, we discuss how systemic approaches have transformed our practice and understanding of family dynamics. Through practical examples and personal experiences, we demonstrate how viewing problems as embedded within relationships offers new insights and interventions. The conversation concludes with reflections on building supportive professional communities and encouraging other social service practitioners to explore systemic approaches in their own practice.

In the second instalment of our three-part series on systemic practice, we dive into the journey of Yishun Family Services @ Children’s Society and how they embraced Systemic Thinking across the entire centre. Their passionate team reveals why this approach became the backbone of their work, helping them tackle the complex, evolving challenges families face today. From navigating diverse cases to working with multiple stakeholders, Systemic Thinking has empowered them to deliver holistic, compassionate care. Part of the journey has also involved the creation of a practice guide to embed this approach throughout the centre!

In this first installment of our three-part series on systemic practice, we dive deep into the core concepts with Tony from Counselling and Care Centre (CCC). Discover the three C's of systemic thinking: Connection, Context, and Compassion. Learn what these principles mean, how they are applied in professional practice and your personal relationships. We hope this offers a fresh perspective! As always, you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

Helpful Links:

Counselling and Care Centre: https://counsel.org.sg

In this episode, we're diving into the takeaways from the Empowered Families Initiative episode! We'll chat about how having aspiration-led conversations can shift our client interactions, imagine what scaling up EFI could look like, and touch on how we can develop new initiatives in our social service ecosystem. Don't miss out—tune in for a short, and hopefully inspiring discussion! As always, you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

In this episode, we delve into the innovative approach of The Empowered Families Initiative (EFI). EFI is a developmental program that aims to invest in the plans of Singapore’s lower-income families to improve their life circumstances and their socio-economic position. We invite you to listen in! As always, you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

Links:

https://www.empoweredfamiliesinitiative.com/

https://www.instagram.com/empoweredfamilies.sg/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/empowered-families-initiative/

https://www.facebook.com/empoweredfamiliesinitiative/

In this episode, we explore the use of AI in by role-playing a first session with OpenAI's ChatGPT as both client and social worker. We share our experiences with using the technology and offer our thoughts into its potential benefits and limitations. Join us as we dive into this fascinating topic! As always, you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

Shownotes:

Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dqd0QiaMZw30tWHkR7EDonthFLqknVTT/view?usp=share_link

In this episode, we look back at our journey in Social Work thus far and share about what we would say to our younger selves. We talk about how the definition and expectation of Social Work is fluid, how we might show up better for the families we’re journeying with, and the hopes in discovering a niche. Also, we’re exploring shorter-form conversations! As always, you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

In this episode, we are joined by Kwan Jin Yao (https://socialservice.sg/podcast/). We dive into his journey into Singapore’s Civic Society and the ongoing role he sees himself playing in it. We then expand on the practitioner-researcher relationship in the sector, explore how research skill-sets might be developed and what else can be done to translate research into practice. As always you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

Majurity Trusts’ The Messy Truths Podcast ft. Jin Yao: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1n3GFO8xfh7jpr8dgXDQyp?si=24a8a35cd267413f

In this episode, we converse with a community member about how poverty is understood and experienced by those living in poverty. We’re joined by Ruth and Ayu from South Central Community Family Service Centre,  to explore how professionals can best come in to support, and our hopes around poverty eradication. As always you can find us on Instagram @swmadeaccessible.

Note: Community members refer to those receiving services, otherwise also known as clients, service users, or beneficiaries. Ayu is a pseudo name, used to protect her identity.