The Unsafe Social Worker

"When you're in trouble, get help." But what happens when the person you turn to becomes part of the problem?

In this episode of The Unsafe Social Worker, I share what happened after following familiar advice: "Talk to a lawyer." My criminal lawyer sued me and was ultimately ordered to pay money back to me after his services were found to have fallen below the professional standard expected.

He had read my emails and used the harassment I was experiencing as the basis for his closing submission. Yet I was left questioning why harassment happening in front of him went unaddressed.

He didn't win his lawsuit. But did that outcome bring meaningful accountability or simply leave me carrying the cost of asking for help?

"And you're probably wondering… where was your union?"

In this episode of The Unsafe Social Worker, I turn to the organization that was supposed to represent me. Five different union representatives. Five different lawyers. What should have been a source of support became another question: who was actually going to help?

"Unionized hot potatoes. Nobody wanted to get burned."

I reflect on what it felt like to move between representatives while trying to get meaningful support, and why union membership alone didn't leave me feeling protected.

If you're part of a union, get familiar with the duty of fair representation (DFR) process. When you need your union most, do you know what to do if you believe that representation has fallen short?

What happens when we normalize warning signs?

Offenders are enabled, violence is minimized, and calling women "thin-skulled" reinforces the very culture that allows violence against women to continue.

As this series comes to an end, we leave you with one final question: what happens when we stop calling the warning signs normal?

A podcast that gets real about workplace violence; a warning sign for all helping professionals.

Through candid guest conversations about unsafe work environments in social work, nursing, and emergency care, The Unsafe Social Worker asks what it costs to care for others when your own safety is overlooked. Those conversations set the stage for Jenn's story, told in her own words across a series of deeply personal episodes.

Do we really have a resource issue, or a "way you treat your people" issue?

Sometimes that cost is invisible… until it's not.