January doesn’t need to be a fresh start on the 1st and social work doesn’t get easier when we set ourselves (and families) impossible expectations.

In this episode, I’m sharing my phrase for the year - one thing at a time - and why it matters for attention, overwhelm, and realistic planning (in practice and in life). 

I also share what I’ve been reading lately, how it’s shaping my training, and I introduce an exciting new addition inside the Social Work Collective Academy: the Practice Pause Library: short, guided pauses designed for real social work moments (before home visits, during overwhelm, and after heightened situations).

I’ll also leave you with five small, realistic ways to create space when January feels heavy  including why three minutes can be enough to shift your day.

Timestamps: 

00:00 Welcome back + permission for a slow start to January

01:26 Plans, pressure, and unrealistic expectations (in life + in practice)

04:57 Phrase of the year: One thing at a time (attention + multitasking myth)

12:21 What I’ve been reading (fiction + nonfiction) + why it matters

24:09 What’s influencing my training right now (mind-body, mindset, calm first)

26:21 New inside the Collective Academy: the Practice Pause Library

30:53 Five ways to feel less overwhelmed in January

40:57 What’s coming next (free reset + direct work + guests)

42:57 Closing Practice Pause

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

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Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

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Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

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Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

This episode was unplanned but necessary.

After receiving my Spotify Wrapped for the podcast, I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks: many listeners of Social Work Sorted were also listening to summaries of The Let Them Theory.

In this episode, I unpack why the idea of “just letting them” doesn’t sit comfortably with me as a social worker, an advocate, or a human living in a collective world. While self-help narratives often encourage us to stop people-pleasing and focus inward, I explore how this can quickly slide into passivity, hyper-individualisation, and a quiet acceptance of harm.

We talk about power, privilege, social justice, and why “letting them” is not a neutral act - especially in a profession rooted in advocacy and collective responsibility.

This is not about attacking individuals or books. It’s about being clear on our values.

Sometimes, the most radical thing we can do is not let them.

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

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Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

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Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

In this episode, I’m talking honestly about Christmas – both as a person and as a social worker. I share my own complicated relationship with the festive season, from hypervigilant childhood Decembers to slowly reclaiming pockets of joy with my own children (yes, including my very extra homemade advent calendar).

Then we look at Christmas in practice: how to protect your own energy in December, set realistic non-negotiables, and gently let go of the traditions and expectations that are stressing you out. I’ll also walk you through some practical reflections for the children and families you work with – from contact/family time and foster carer support, to poverty, gifts, domestic abuse and safety planning that actually means something.

If Christmas feels heavy, complicated or lonely this year, this episode is here to remind you that you’re not alone, and that joy and risk can co-exist – in your life and in your practice.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Finding my Christmas footing (and my intro)
Rusty with podcasting, updates on The Social Work Collective Academy, and the Ofsted masterclass invite.

10:00 – Christmas + you as a social worker
Complicated feelings about Christmas, reparenting, boundaries, non-negotiables, and letting go of festive pressure.

40:00 – Christmas for children and families in practice
Contact/family time, poverty and presents, domestic abuse, safety planning, and holding both risk and joy in social work.

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

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Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

Facebook.com/socialworksorted

Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

 In this episode, I’m talking directly to Designated Safeguarding Leads about supervision – what it is, what it isn’t, and why you absolutely need it in your role.
 I share three key things every DSL needs to know about supervision, including the difference between emotional containment and therapy, why you don’t need someone to “tell you what to do”, and why supervision won’t always feel comfortable (in the best possible way).

 If you’re a DSL with no supervision, or you’re not sure your current support is right for you, this episode will give you clarity – and language to start the conversation in your school. 

Enquire about Independent Supervision and wraparound Safeguarding Support 

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

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Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing a story that unfolded in my local park — one of those moments where instinct, practice experience, and humanity collided.

After intervening in what appeared to be a domestically abusive situation, I walked away thinking about the one message every child, every adult, and every social worker needs to hear more often:
“It’s not your fault.”

In this episode, I talk about:
 • Why this message matters more than we realise
 • How systems, culture and upbringing shape our silence
 • The tension between speaking up vs staying quiet
 • The role social work skills play when things unfold in real time
 • How we help children (and ourselves) disconnect shame from experience
 • The importance of naming abuse with clarity, confidence and compassion

Inside the Social Work Collective Academy, we’re exploring confidence, regulation and reflective practice through our 12-week Confidence in Practice Journey — and this episode connects deeply to that work.

If you want weekly guidance, bitesize practice support, domestic abuse training, court skills, child protection process refreshers and access to our December Masterclass on OFSTED, you can join the Academy anytime here. 

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

Facebook.com/socialworksorted

Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

Why are we still doing things for Ofsted?

 Why do we hear, “Make sure your case notes are up to date — for Ofsted”?

In this episode, I explore how inspection culture shapes the way we work and how it can create fear instead of reflection. With grounded takeaways for directors, managers, and practitioners, this episode looks at how we can rebuild calm, confidence, and purpose within our organisations.

Join me for the live Managing Ofsted, Regulation & Change masterclass  free for members of The Social Work Collective Academy.

 🗓️ Tuesday 9th December, 7:30–9:00pm (UK)

TICKETS FOR DECEMBER: 

www.socialworksorted.com/liveevents

Join The Social Work Collective Academy 

www.socialworksorted.com/collectiveonline

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

Facebook.com/socialworksorted

Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

I recently attending 2 conferences that didn't feel like conferences at all. The Contextual Safeguarding Conference in Durham and the Trauma Informed Consultancy Services Conference in Manchester (mini celebration for events that take place outside of London!).

I wanted to share all my reflections with you, messy, unedited, reading from my notes and very clearly still on a high from being with likeminded people, learning and very much seeing hope in action. 

If you wanted to go to the conferences and couldn't, listen to hear the highlights, and if you are feeling dejected or disillusioned, listen and borrow some hope from me. 

I talk about this book: 

Doing Real-Life Change in Children’s Social Care: Embedded Research in Practice

Lloyd, J., & Owens, R. (2025). Doing Real-Life Change in Children’s Social Care: Embedded Research in Practice. Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447372400

I referenced Dr Ron Dodzo: 

https://www.instagram.com/theaccessiblepsychologist/?hl=en

Contextual Safeguarding:

https://www.contextualsafeguarding.org.uk/

Ciara McCelland: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciara-mcclelland-0a211b250/?originalSubdomain=uk

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

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Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

This might be the most important episode I’ve ever shared.

It’s about a cupboard — but really, it’s about care, action, and what it means to truly learn as a social worker.

I tell the story of a messy cupboard in my first job, how clearing it shaped the way I’ve approached learning ever since, and why I believe training isn’t something you can just “do” to people.

If you’ve ever wondered what makes good social work training work, or why I care so deeply about The Social Work Collective Academy, this episode explains everything.

👉 Join The Collective Academy for reflective, bite-sized, high-quality training for newly qualified social workers: https://www.socialworksorted.com/subscriptions

👉 For organisations seeking in-person or bespoke safeguarding training, visit https://www.socialworksorted.com/thecollective

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

Facebook.com/socialworksorted

Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

In this episode, I sit down with the Social Work Academy team at Lancashire County Council to talk about how they support newly qualified social workers during their ASYE year. We explore the induction process, the challenges new practitioners face, and the role of ongoing learning and reflective practice. I also share insights from my own contribution to their ASYE Induction Programme, where I deliver a dedicated session on communication skills — a cornerstone of effective social work practice.

Whether you’re a new social worker, an academy lead, or a team manager, this conversation gives a behind-the-scenes look at how one local authority is building confident, resilient practitioners from day one.

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

Facebook.com/socialworksorted

Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.

 Joining a new social work team can be exciting — and daunting. In this episode, I share practical tips for starting strong: how to remember you bring valuable life and learning experience, how to observe and learn from your team’s culture, and how to protect the work habits and boundaries that will help you thrive for years to come. 

Lets connect!

To book in a free 15 minute chat with me, to talk about training, development, courses or membership email [email protected]

Sign up to my free newsletter

Join The Collective


Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Vicki Shevlin

Instagram.com/@vickishevlin_

Youtube.com/@socialworksorted

Facebook.com/socialworksorted

Disclaimer

Thank you so much for listening.

Please rate, review and share with one other person - it makes such a difference and I really appreciate your support.