Social Work Spotlight

In this episode I speak with Dr Josie McSkimming, who has practised in a wide range of settings for over 40 years, including hospital social work, inter-country adoption, post-adoption services, drug and alcohol treatment, individual and couples therapy and adult mental health. In addition to her private practice providing therapy and clinical supervision, Josie is an adjunct lecturer at the University of NSW and the author of two books, ‘Leaving Christian Fundamentalism and the Reconstruction of Identity’ and ‘Gutsy Girls’, a memoir to be released early 2025.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Writings by Michael White, courtesy of the Dulwich Centre - https://dulwichcentre.com.au/writings-by-michael-white/

• Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work - https://dulwichcentre.com.au/training-in-narrative-therapy/masters-program-in-narrative-therapy-and-community-work/

• Josie’s memoir “Gutsy Girls” - https://www.uqp.com.au/books/gutsy-girls

• Josie’s book “Leaving Christian Fundamentalism and the Reconstruction of Identity” - https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315591926/leaving-christian-fundamentalism-reconstruction-identity-josie-mcskimming

• Master of Counselling Social Work at UNSW - https://www.unsw.edu.au/study/postgraduate/master-of-counselling-social-work

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZSihUMKK6udoa8BmmbkkuozNhdjESYkUFxb16tz4xDo/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Jordan, an accredited social worker and clinical supervisor. Jordan has worked in a variety of fields such as service coordination, aged care, mental health, drug and alcohol, and currently works within schools. Jordan is passionate about connecting with others and hearing their stories.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• NAPCAN’s Love Bites program - https://www.napcan.org.au/Programs/love-bites/

• Lifeline’s DV Alert workshops - https://dvalert.org.au/

• Emerging Minds mental health and wellbeing training - https://emergingminds.com.au/

• Orygen youth mental health training - https://orygen.org.au/training

• Precious movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929632/

• The Edge of Seventeen movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1878870/?lang=en

• Detention Exit Community Outreach (DECO) program - https://www.wellways.org/our-services/detention-exit-community-outreach/

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jPkeM-lMn08IsU3xHhybIt3HfbMibF4506iaC8LL8_o/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Amanda, a Social Worker who has spent most of her career working with older people. Recently, her passion for research and search for clarity in her career lead her to enrol in her PhD, researching Access for People with Dementia to Voluntary Assisted Dying. She balances part time work, part time studying and full-time parenting to two young boys. Amanda gains value out of supporting people to maintain their empowerment and self-determination, against what society tells them should happen.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Social Work Stories podcast episode ‘Social Work and Voluntary Assisted Dying’ - https://socialworkstories.com/episodes/ep-85-social-work-and-voluntary-assisted-dying-we-have-all-the-tools-we-need

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wlzLg4LM2xtdGrvVJrbk6kFEDuCmTR7bhr3gR0GC5Pg/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Lisa, an accredited mental health social worker, psychotherapist, and author of Finding My Invisible Sun: Overcoming Trauma. Lisa has lived experience of trauma, mental illness and institutionalised discrimination and has practised therapy for a combined 15 years within a domestic and family violence prevention service and then as an accredited mental health social worker.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Lisa’s Points of Resistance Theory webinar on eiseEducation - https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1209211

• Janina Fisher (and her book The Fragmented Self) - https://janinafisher.com/

• Pat Ogden - https://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/therapist-directory/pat-ogden-phd/

• Learning Emotion-Focused Therapy - https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4317035

• Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps The Score - https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score

• EMDR Association of Australia - https://emdraa.org/

• Lisa’s book Finding My Invisible Sun - https://australianselfpublishinggroup.com/finding-my-invisible-sun/

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tDX4X9nDpOkKhOf8gVPdcU5rPElTM1p36wnp7IR3iDk/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Rey, an emerging social worker from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, dedicated to supporting families, children, and young people. She currently specialises in assisting families impacted by the criminal justice system and also serves as a casual university social work supervisor. 

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Their Futures Matter (NSW Audit Office) - https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/their-futures-matter

• Transforming Justice Australia - https://www.transformingjustice.org.au/

• GambleAware - https://www.gambleaware.org/

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RTEirXjQIgNYsZLNSJS7nvp9XOzgGacbwJk0GaFGNx0/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Dr Jean Carruthers, a lecturer at the University of Newcastle who received her PhD in 2020 for her work on performance as a critical social work pedagogy. She has built on this to explore a range of creative methods in social work education and practice, with her current work focused on mental health and whether transformative wellbeing practices can be used to address gaps in the sector. 

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Critical Conversations for Social Work Podcast - https://linktr.ee/criticalconversations4sw

• Jean’s PhD (Critical Performance Pedagogy: An approach for developing critical praxis in social work education) - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02615479.2023.2285848

• NNN training (NNN Name, Narrate, Navigate) - https://www.namenarratenavigate.com/

• Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed

• Stephen Brookfield - https://www.stephenbrookfield.com/

• Henry Giroux’s ‘On Critical Pedagogy’ - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/on-critical-pedagogy-9781350144989/

• Patricia Hill Collins ‘Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory’ - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/hypatia/article/intersectionality-as-critical-social-theory-patricia-hill-collins-durham-nc-duke-university-press-2019-isbn-9781478005421/132219F147E569254907767E780ED974

• Bell Hooks - https://www.britannica.com/biography/bell-hooks

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y-Y11XPu3pf4IFrDzhwcPwfvqrQoZF_mKaZkAyTRPVI/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Harveen, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker who has worked as a mental health clinician in both public and private hospital settings with a passion for supporting individuals and groups across a range of mental health journeys and trajectories.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• NEAMI National - https://www.neaminational.org.au/

• St John of God Health Care - https://www.sjog.org.au/about-us

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zh0ug2rkebscBOWPMt5iAuhWp_mqWQQPX0ZSdeQ1-gw/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Yaleela, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Registered Play Therapist and private practice owner in Queensland. She is deeply passionate about Social Work practice because she understands the significant impact of social, economic, and political factors on the health and well-being of our children, families, and communities. Yaleela is dedicated to the profession and actively participates in the Australian Association of Social Workers and the Play Therapy Practitioners Association, as well as building capacity for other First Nations allied health practitioners.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Yaleela’s business - http://yaleelatorrenssocialwork.com.au/

• Bindi Bennett’s publications - https://www.bindibennett.com/copy-of-resources

• Dr Bruce Perry - https://www.bdperry.com/

• Dr Dan Siegel - https://drdansiegel.com/

• Mental Health Academy - https://www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/

• Mindsight Institute - https://mindsightinstitute.com/

• Lisa Sion - https://lisa-dion.com/

• Stan Grant’s IQ2 Debate speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOssW1rw0I&ab_channel=TheEthicsCentre

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pRIC3EYIRcMq5TBhPjhAsLwXnqPTWmZmqMCUeriboGE/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Kit, a descendent of the Wampanoag tribe in Canada and with German, Scottish and Irish ancestry. Kit has worked as a counsellor and trainer for over 20 years specialising in mental health and addictions and is currently a clinical supervisor and the founder and director of Nature Based Therapy in Victoria.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Nature Based Therapy - https://www.naturebasedtherapy.com.au/

• Outdoor Health Australia - https://www.outdoorhealth.org.au

• Children & Nature Network - https://www.childrenandnature.org

• Richard Louv’s ‘Last Child in the Woods’ - https://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/

• Richard Louv’s ‘Vitamin N’ - https://richardlouv.com/books/vitamin-n/

• Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass’ - https://www.penguin.com.au/books/braiding-sweetgrass-9780141991955

• Julie Baird’s ‘Phosphorescence’ - https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460710890/phosphorescence/

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17hNP3_fXvgJ2cnUOuvISOkuqpJY6ufawgGk61m_vkvw/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

In this episode I speak with Sid, who in her early years of social work has discovered a deep passion for engaging with and supporting individuals navigating PTSD and mental health challenges. Her journey into social work was driven by a profound love for aiding others and a genuine interest in listening to their stories, empowering them to feel like the protagonist in their own lives.

Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - https://www.penguin.com.au/books/braiding-sweetgrass-9780141991955

• Elliott Connie - https://elliottconnie.com/

• Dr Martha Beck - https://marthabeck.com

This episode's transcript can be viewed here: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CyT_08sMU-ORZatjHTjma1C5hKnh4Gnqh2RkHGhAxls/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.