The Social Work Café

Welcome back to The Social Work Café. Within the vast field of health, is the equally vast field of mental health. Social workers have a lot to offer the mental health space, but we have some work to do when it comes to promoting a social work perspective of mental health. I have the perfect guest to speak on this topic, my fabulous colleague, Dr. Fredrik Velander, who is an experienced social work practitioner, educator and researcher in the mental health space. He has wonderful experience and wisdom to share, including how we can promote ourselves in this important space.

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Click here to check out Fredrik’s research.

Click here for a book recommendation from Fredrik that great content on nutrition and mental health.

Click here for a book recommendation from Fredrik that has great content on ecological loss, climate change and mental health.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast with other social workers.

You can connect with me via the details below. 

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

I often come across social work students who baulk at the idea of working with older adults, which is a shame because it is a group that desperately needs us. Joining me in the Social Work Café is the fabulous Dr. Belinda Cash, whose passion for working with older adults is utterly infectious. In this episode, Belinda explains the many ways that social workers can make vital social justice and human rights contributions to the lives of older adults and their families.

Learn more

Click here to learn more about Dr. Belinda Cash.

Click here to learn more about Belinda’s doctoral research.

Click here to learn more about the Australian Association of

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe

You can connect with me via the details below. 

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Welcome to this very special bonus episode of the Social Work Café, where the usual format has been thrown out the window for now. I’m joined by the amazing Jac McNamara, a field education coordinator at Central Queensland University. I have the great pleasure of co-supervising Jac for her PhD, and even more exciting is that we

Learn more

Click here for information on Michael Rasell’s keynote.

Click here for details about IFSW Global President, Joachim Mumba

Click here to download a free IFSW book on Ubuntu philosophy.

Click here for information on Valentin Inzko’s keynote.

Click here for information on Richard de Brabander’s keynote.

Click here to learn about Jac’s presentation.

Click here to learn about Bernadette’s presentation.

Click here to learn about Sharon Razon’s presentation.

Click here to watch Malcolm Payne’s keynote presentation on YouTube.

Click here to learn about the forthcoming 2024 Joint Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development (#SWSD2024) in Panama.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe

You can connect with me via the details below.

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Welcome back to The Social Work Café. From time to time, students and newly qualified practitioners ask me how they can go about becoming an accredited mental health social worker in Australia and whether it is worth undertaking at all. I have not been through the process myself, so it is shrouded in mystery for me. Fortunately, Ashton Hayes has her own podcast on this very topic! Ashton is an experienced social work practitioner, supervisor, and trainer, and in her work, she pulls back the curtain on the whole accreditation process and why the

Learn More

Click here to learn more about Ashton.

Click here to check out Ashton’s podcast.

Click here for Ashton’s Instagram handle.

Click here for more information about mental health accreditation through the Australian Association of Social Work.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast

You can connect with me via the details below. 

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Episode summary

Welcome back to the Social Work Café dear listeners. Have you heard? We are all trauma-informed these days! In this episode, joining me in the café is experienced practitioner, researcher and academic, Dr. Andreia Schineanu. We chat about trauma-informed social work at the practice and organisational level to get a better idea of how these ideas can be of benefit to social work, rather than becoming another fad that loses its focus and intent.

Learn more

Watch this 4 min clip featuring Andreia talking about childhood trauma (you will also spot some other familiar Charles Sturt University faces in the video).

After our chat, Andreia shared with me these great recommendations for our listeners to follow up:

· Click here to learn more about feminist psychologist Dr. Jessica Taylor, and click here to visit her website for resources

· Click here to check out a book recommendation, Rhythms of Recovery: Trauma, Nature, and the Body, by Leslie Korn

·Click here to learn more about the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM)

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast

You can connect with me via the details below. 

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Episode summary

Welcome back to the Social Work Café. Have you ever been sitting in another pointless meeting that could have been an email? Perhaps this has prompted you to flirt with the idea of becoming your own boss? In this episode, I have the perfect guest to talk about the journey of becoming a private practitioner. Cass Fletcher is an experienced social worker, therapist, and early-career researcher. We talk about how she made the brave leap into private practice, some of the benefits and challenges she has experienced, as well as any bits of advice she would give to others contemplating this career move.

Learn more

Click here for useful information about self-employment written by the AASW.

Click here for details about an article I mentioned during the interview.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast

You can connect with me via the details below. 

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Episode summary

Welcome back to the Social Work Café. In this episode, Vicki Shevlin joins me for an exciting conversation about newly qualified social work. Vicki started her own podcast to give practical advice and support to newly qualified social workers in the UK. She shares those insights with us, which I am sure will be helpful to social work students, new graduates and even experienced practitioners who might have their own advice to impart, no matter where they are in the world.

Learn more

Click here to learn more about Vicki.

Click here to check out the Social Work Sorted podcast.

Click here to listen to Vicki interview me for her podcast.

Click here to follow Social Work Sorted on Instagram.

Click here to check out The Social Worker & The Mentor Podcast that Vicki mentions.

Click here to check out the Surviving Safeguarding blog Vicki mentions.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast with other social workers. You can connect with me via the details below.

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Episode summary

While I love a steaming hot bath and a chill session on my couch, self-care in social work is so much more than what you do as an individual outside of work. Today I am chatting with an amazing and experienced social worker, Mikaela Higgins, who works in the child welfare sector. Mikaela gives us important insights into workplace self-care and how necessary it is for organisations to embed self-care into workplace structures and roles.

Learn more

Click here for a video on Zone of Fabulousness, recommended by Mikaela.

Click here for a Brené Brown video on empathy, recommended by Mikaela

Click here for details of a study on predictors of secondary trauma.

Click here for details of a model for self-care based on ecological systems theory.

Click here to read about why social workers in Wales are more likely to be happy.

Click here to read more about a self-care movement for social workers

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Episode summary

Can you be a social worker in any job, even if you work outside of the human services industry? I have the perfect guest joining me in the café to explore this question. Karise McNamee has enjoyed a fascinating social work career across government, non-government, and private practice, including outside of the human services world. Karise shares insights from her captivating career, including how her social work identity has been carried across her various roles. In short, you will learn that no matter where you go in life, social work can be there.

Learn more

Click here to learn more about Karise and her private practice.

Click here to listen to Karise be interviewed about her work on the dark web

Click here for the Social Work & Therapy Memes Group

Click here for the Psychotherapy Memes page

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Welcome back, café dwellers. Joining us in the Social Work Café is my adventurous colleague Will Dobud, aka Docbud (or even Dodobud). In this episode, we examine how social workers can get FIT, without putting on spandex. Evaluation is an important part of social work practice, but are we doing it in a meaningful way that invites genuine feedback we can use to improve? Docbud explores this question and shares his passion for feedback-informed treatment (FIT). He explains how social workers can create a trusting space for receiving constructive feedback from clients that can help us continually improve our practice.

Learn more

Click here to learn more about Feedback Informed Treatment on Scott Miller’s site.

Click here to listen to Will interview Dr. Scott Miller on his own podcast (get ready for some reality checks).

Click here to find out more about Will’s research.

Click here to read about Will’s journey into social work.

Click here to check out a recent publication that Will mentions in the interview.

Click here to find out more about Will’s favourite book recommendation – Heart and Soul of Change.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe button on your podcast app, leaving a positive review, and sharing the podcast with other social workers. You can connect with me via the details below. 

Click here to connect with me on Instagram.

Click here to read the blog post for this episode.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.