This Complex Life

Vittorio and I share stories of why we got into social work, sharing some of our challenges, struggles and memorable moments. Vittorio has been a social worker for over 40 years, with experience in health care, teaching and private practice. He is the host of a podcast called ‘just another do-gooder’. He shares some of the things that drew him to social work as a career and why he got into podcasting.

We discuss the importance of supervision to promote professional development and reduce the risk of burnout.

We discussed how we got into podcasts and share some of our journey and social work careers. We share some stories that have shaped how we work.

Vittorio's tips for social workers when applying for a job

• Prepare well for an interview
• • Do your homework, who is the client group, learn about the organisation
  • Call them and ask some questions - get a feel for the place do you want to work there
  
  
• Understand the transferability of other roles and jobs
• • Your skills and knowledge can be transferable
  
  
• Understanding the importance of reflective practice - you’re never able to know everything. Be prepared to answer questions about this.

Books and resources

Vittorio’s website http://vittoriocintio.com/

The New Psychology of Health : Unlocking the Social Cure. By (author)  Catherine Haslam , By (author)  Jolanda Jetten , By (author)  Tegan Cruwys , By (author)  Genevieve Dingle , By (author)  S. Alexander Haslam

Being Mortal : Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End By (author)  Atul Gawande

Who moved my cheese. By (author)  Spencer Johnson

Don’t forget to sign up to the Inside Social Work mailing list to get your free social work career guide and get notified of new episodes and resources.

https://insidesocialwork.com/

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In this interview with Verity and Josette, co-directors of focus counselling service, we talk about how to work with children who are experiencing family breakdown or conflict. Verity and Josette's share some of their tops for telling children parents are separating and what to look out for in the behaviour, that may indicate the need some additional support.

Josette Gardiner BAppSocSci(Couns), Member ACA, ACA-Recognised Supervisor

Josette provides counselling to adults, children and adolescents. Josette works with children using a variety of modalities and has a special interest in trauma and its effects on the brain and behaviour. Because of this, she provides effective and nurturing therapy to children where family violence has been part of their story. She has also worked extensively with a range of other issues such as self-harm, grief and loss, parental conflict and trauma recovery. Josette uses a range of tools, games and activities to help children untangle their inner world in a way that helps them make sense of it. She helps them master the skills they need to manage their emotions in an often-complicated world. All this is done with a sense of hope for the future, and a belief that the child is capable of any change they hope to achieve and the ability to heal from past hurts. In all her work, Josette uses a trauma-informed approach. Josette also holds a Certificate in Supervision and is an ACA recognised supervisor.

Verity Best BAppSocSci(Couns), Grad Dip Family Dispute Resolution, Member ACA.

Verity provides counselling and mediation services to adults. She has had a range of experience in the mental health sector, such as family violence counselling, crisis and trauma counselling, and counselling for addictions, in particular gambling, alcohol and drugs. In addition to this, Verity is accredited by the Attorney-General’s Department to provide mediation services to separated parents in relation to children’s matters. As a mediator, Verity provides a safe platform for separated parents to discuss their children’s needs and develop a mutually agreeable parenting plan. In this service, as in her counselling practice, Verity provides a non-judgemental approach and a belief that her clients have the ability to change their lives in a positive way. In both counselling and mediation, Verity aims above all to empower her clients, and support them to find ways to make meaningful change. Verity also holds a Certificate in Supervision and provides bimonthly group supervision to Applicant Practitioners (IVO’s) in the Victorian Magistrates Court.

How do you tell your children that you’re separating?

1. Non-blaming of the other parent
2. Keeping it developmentally focused
3. Don’t need to tell them the reasons why
4. Tell the children it’s not their fault it

Things not to say

• Playing blame
• mum/dads had an affair

When talking to children about family separation or divorce.

Advocating for the child and being child focused is a priority for Verity and Josette

Children may have different ideas to why parents separated and may blame themselves

It’s important to tell the children it's not their fault – even if they haven’t verbalised it. You may need to say this a few times.

They may not mention it because it’s a shameful feeling – so they will keep it very well hidden

Some may be very well behaved because they don’t want to upset the parents

Parents might think they’re doing really well,  They’re trying to protect each parent and internalise the pain

Question:

So what are some of the tips you have for parents or practitioners on how to guide that conversation , not to blame, and not tell them things they don’t need to know, but to find that balance on how to give them enough information so they don’t fill in the blanks with feeling that it’s their fault?

3 points that are essential for telling children about parents separating

1. Keeping the language unified – mummy and daddy both still love you
2. Telling them that even though mummy and daddy may not love each other any more , we can never stop loving you
3. It's not your fault

Say these as often as you need.

If they come to you with questions, you can say simple things like ‘ mummy and daddy are working on it’  take the pressure and responsibility off them.

If they come to you to say something happened at the other parents house you can empathise with the child without blaming the other parent

That sounds like you’re feeling XYZ

That sounds very confusing ….. do you want to talk about it

Children can find it difficult to name their feelings – so giving them that open-ended question so they are invited to talk about it

As parents it’s ok to say we’re finding it very confusing too but we’re working on it

Question:

What are your tips for working with families who live in a high conflict home.

Josette

• they may be very compliant
• they could go the other way and be compliant at school and behave differently at school or vice versa
• depends on the family and the extent of the conflict
• your first thought doesn't have to be the only one
• you can have different strategies

Watching for when children are acting out, sometimes the children can act out with one parent, it may be the parent / house that they feel safest and most comfortable at

‘’the dysfunction of the home is often played out in the children's behaviour’’

Sometimes a family comes to counselling with the family labelling the problem as being one particular ‘child’.

Josette's tips,

Do a genogram and look at intergenerational patterns of behaviour, gently pointing out relationships that may be strained or that may be indirectly promoting that strain in their child.

Working with a family strengths and promoting what they’re doing well.

Parenting a child who may be struggling

Referring to other services as a clinician?

• refer the parent on for some counselling - acknowledge the need for self care the parents are probably scared and anxious in a space they may never have imagined themselves in
• family violence service if needed
• family therapy
  • if there's high conflict this may not be appropriate needs a thorough assessments
  
  

Clinician self-care tips

• supervision
• be aware of your own family of origin and any triggers
• peer supervision
• debriefing

Take-home tips

Look after yourself

it's hard to look after others if we don't look after ourselves

Josette's enjoys reading to escape the clinical work, fantasy books

Recommended resources

The whole brainchild

Dan Siegel

Brainstorm

Dan Siege

Why do I do that? Psychological defense mechanism and the Hidden Ways They Shape Our Lives

Joseph Burgo Ph D 

Dan Siegal’s flipping your lid.

• The flipping your lid model is about regulating your emotions and understanding how your brain works when it's triggered by something

Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 -

Crisis Support and Suicide Prevention

Kids Helpline

Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800

https://mensline.org.au/  Call 1300 78 99 78

MensLine Australia is a telephone and online counselling service for men with family and relationship concerns.

https://www.panda.org.au/  Call 1300 726 306

PANDA - Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia supports women, men and families across Australia affected by anxiety and depression during pregnancy and in the first year of parenthood.

For referrals, supervision or secondary consulting

Contact Focus Counselling

Web: Focuscounselling.co

Facebook:  Focus counselling service

Join the focus counselling mailing list to get your free guide on ‘talking to children about separation.’

Don’t forget to sign up to the Inside Social Works mailing list to get your free social work career guide and get notified of new episodes and resources.

Listen to the podcast

Subscribe on Android

Player.fm

apple iTunes

Spotify

With Associate Professor Ronnie Egan, we explore the need for quality student placements, what stops people from taking on a student and the unexpected learnings and rewards. We discuss some of the support and training options available to those interested in having a student.  As well as, how to get in touch with the university about offering student placements.

Dr Ronnie Egan is Associate Professor of Field Education in Social Work at RMIT University. She has specialised in research about supervision and practice for social workers and students, published widely in these areas and has extensive and active networks in  the human service sector. Her relationships with the field span her career as a practitioner and academic and this has enabled the development of innovative ways of understanding and facilitating the nexus between universities and the community. She chairs the National Field Education Network.

Ronnies tips

As a student when you go for an interview be sure to ask about the supervision options and policies that organisation has in place.

WHile it can be tough she talks about the importance of being assertive enough in a job interview to ask about the organisation's policies and offerings for supervision.

Making sure you are setting up the expectations from the start when it comes to supervision.

• What is the purpose of supervision within this organisation and what will you discuss?

• When & How often

• Work plan - Does supervision help you develop new skills and look at career progression?

• Job specifications - What’s needed for specific roles and industries and how can you use supervision to transfer skills  

If you’re not getting what you need , time to think about how am I going to get it , you may need to think about getting external supervision.

Hiring an external supervisor

Work out why you want external supervisions and what your workplace offers. DO you need someone to help you transition into a new role? Is it for case discussion? Is it to meet a professional development goal or learn a new technique?

If you’re paying for the service of supervision be very clear about what you want.

Do your research when hiring an external supervisors and see that they can meet your needs.

Taking a student on placement

Taking a student on placement can be very rewarding RMIT students placement have a model that involved a lot of professional development opportunities for not only the students but the supervisors too,.

Some of the reasons people take on students include

• Requirement of promotion in some industries
• Can be a first step in a leadership position
• Give back to the profession, sharing a good experience or making up for a bad one they had.
• Having a student can keep you updated on current industry standards and research.

Articles

Who Is Watching Whom? Surveillance in Australian Social Work Supervision

Australian Social Work Supervision Practice in 2007

There are some resources below for those wanting to learn more about supervision.

Don’t forget to sign up to the mailing list to get your free social work career guide

https://insidesocialwork.com/

Recommended resources from todays episode

Best Practice in Professional Supervision A Guide for the Helping Professions

https://www.jkp.com/uk/best-practice-in-professional-supervision-2.html

AASW supervision standards

https://www.aasw.asn.au/practitioner-resources/supervision-standards

A guide to supervision in social work field education

http://socialworksupervision.csu.edu.au/resources/docs/CSU-guide-social-work-field-education.pdf

Online supervision course for supervisors https://www.aasw.asn.au/events/event/online-field-education-supervision-training

In this interview with CEO Grant Holland, we discuss his journey from working with cars to becoming a Social Worker and Family Therapist. We take a look at some of the various roles he’s had and how his career led him to establish the creative and innovative employment training program at the Holland Foundation, which has helped 506 people get jobs in the last 6 years.

The Get Ready for Therapy Journal Here https://thetherapyhub.com.au/the-journal-pdf/

Connect with Marie

https://thetherapyhub.com.au/

https://marievakakis.com.au/

https://www.instagram.com/marievakakis/

Hear about how Slater and Gordon’s free Social Work service exists to support their clients Australia-wide who are facing a wide range of emotional and practical concerns as they move through the process of claiming compensation. We discuss a range of issues relating to social workers and their understanding of the law and the ongoing training and workshops the social work service runs to educate social workers on a range of topics.

About your guest

Olga has been a social worker for more than 30 years and is the National Manager of Social Work Services at Slater and Gordon. Slater and Gordon’s free Social Work service exists to support our clients Australia-wide who are facing a wide range of emotional and practical concerns as they move through the process of claiming compensation. Olga provides short-term telephone counselling, casework and referral to local or specialised services, assisting clients to build their network of support in the community.

Before joining Slater and Gordon in 2009 Olga worked across public and private hospitals in Melbourne for 21 years, counselling and supporting people with traumatic injuries and serious illness. This experience showed her firsthand how devastating injury or illness can be on all aspects of a person’s life. That's why she has focused on growing our Social Work team and developing our service to assist clients to access appropriate care and treatment, build their own support network and move on with their lives.

Key Topics Discussed:

Olga’s Career Journey:

• Transition from psychology to social work.
• Early career in hospitals, focusing on traumatic injuries.

Social Work Services at Slater and Gordon Lawyers:

• Establishing a free social work service.
• Expanding the service nationally.

Common Client Issues:

• Financial distress, housing, homelessness, and mental health.
• Linking clients with appropriate services.

Legal Education for Social Workers:

• Developing a program to help social workers understand clients' entitlements.
• Topics include privacy, capacity, and court documentation.

Professional Development and Support:

• Importance of peer supervision and ongoing learning.
• Olga’s involvement in various social work committees.

Addressing Capacity:

• Understanding capacity as a legal construct.
• Navigating conflicts between legal definitions and clients’ best interests.

Vicarious Trauma and Self-Care:

• Impact of working with traumatic material.
• Importance of self-care and mental health support within legal teams.

Books and Resources Mentioned:

• Social Work in the Shadow of the Law
• Health Law: Frameworks and Context

Get the transcript and full show notes here

connect with Marie

https://thetherapyhub.com.au/

https://marievakakis.com.au/

https://www.instagram.com/marievakakis/

This podcast episode will look a little different to future episodes. Its a chance for you to get to know the host Marie Vakakis  and hear about her motivations for the podcast.

The Inside Social Work podcast is a podcast interview series that aims to entertain and inspire Social workers  illustrating the diverse world of social work through conversations with industry leaders, colleagues, peers, new graduates and mentors.