Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Supporting Someone who is Suicidal' Aaron speaks with us about how we as youth workers can support young people who are suicidal.

In todays episode Aaron speak about the current rates of suicide of young people in Australia and then walks us through the suicide action plan. Asking direct questions, assessing the urgency, keeping young people safe, creating safety plans and getting professional help.

We hope you never have to use the knowledge in todays cast, but we also want you to have the best plan of action if you ever find yourself in the situation of supporting someone who is suicidal.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Is your workplace ChildSafe?' Aaron speaks with Neil Milton about how we as youth workers can support young people by being ChildSafe. Neil Milton is the General Manager of ChildSafe. Neil has worked as a youth worker in schools, churches and Not for Profits across Australia. He has also worked for World Vision and has his own street clothing business helping prevent youth suicide. Neil is passionate about making sure children are protected from abuse and harm and that organisations know their responsibilities in regards to child safety. Neil is a public speaker, motivator and he enjoys exercising and hanging out with his wife and kids.

In todays episode Aaron and Neil speak about the work of ChildSafe Australia and their mission to serve organisations and individuals working with children and vulnerable people, with the goal of improving their well-being and safety. We take our commitment to child safety very seriously at Ultimate Youth Worker and have used many of the resources from ChildSafe to help us in making our commitment tangible.

ChildSafe is "a harm prevention charity for the promotion of the prevention and control of behaviour that is harmful or abusive to children and young people when in the care of an organisation". Children and young people deserve the best endeavours of an organisation towards their safety. This involves more than good intentions, or the assumption that harmful incidents will not happen. Organisations working with children are under increased community scrutiny in relation to screening workers, risk management and the quality of care they offer.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Non-Suicidal Self Injury Part Two' Aaron continues to speaks with Dr. Claire Kelly about how we as youth workers can support young people experiencing Non-Suicidal Self Injury.

Dr Claire Kelly is the Director of Curriculum at MHFA Australia and an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. Claire has been involved with MHFA since 2003, when she first became an instructor while completing her Doctorate at the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University in Canberra, where the program was first developed.

Prior to her current position, Claire was the Youth MHFA Programs Manager for 10 years and also worked on the MHFA Guidelines used to develop Edition 2 of MHFA and YMHFA. Claire's PhD thesis was written on the mental health literacy of Australian adolescents. Her main passion is the mental health of young people and minimising the impacts that mental health problems can have on development, educational outcomes and long-term functioning. Claire has suffered episodes of depression and anxiety since adolescence, which has been a driver for this work.

In todays episode (Part Two of Two) Aaron and Claire speak about the MHFA guidelines for non-Suicidal Self Injury developed by Mental health First Aid Australia after their 'Delphi study' into this area.

Professional youth workers understand that there are many young people who are hurting so bad that they self injure to deal with the turmoil. Unfortunately, not all professional youth workers know how to provide the support these young people need. Todays podcast begins to give us the tools to help the hurt and keep our young people safe.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Non-Suicidal Self Injury Part One' Aaron speaks with Dr. Claire Kelly about her work at Mental Health First Aid Australia and in particular her work in the space of Non-Suicidal Self Injury.

Dr Claire Kelly is the Director of Curriculum at MHFA Australia and an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. Claire has been involved with MHFA since 2003, when she first became an instructor while completing her Doctorate at the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University in Canberra, where the program was first developed. Prior to her current position, Claire was the Youth MHFA Programs Manager for 10 years and also worked on the MHFA Guidelines used to develop Edition 2 of MHFA and YMHFA. Claire's PhD thesis was written on the mental health literacy of Australian adolescents. Her main passion is the mental health of young people and minimising the impacts that mental health problems can have on development, educational outcomes and long-term functioning. Claire has suffered episodes of depression and anxiety since adolescence, which has been a driver for this work.

In todays episode (Part One of Two) Aaron and Claire speak about Non-Suicidal Self Injury and the MHFA guidelines for non-Suicidal Self Injury developed by Mental health First Aid Australia after their 'Delphi study' into this area.

Professional youth workers understand that there are many young people who are hurting so bad that they self injure to deal with the turmoil. Unfortunately, not all professional youth workers know how to provide the support these young people need. Todays podcast begins to give us the tools to help the hurt and keep our young people safe.

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast Aaron and Jessy look at the Mental State Exam and how it can help youth workers in recognising mental health issues in their young people and how it can aid in making referrals.

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast Aaron helps us to think about how we do critical reflection in the moment.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Practising Critical Reflection' Aaron speaks with us about the importance of critical reflection and the model put forward by Jan Fook and Fiona Gardner.

This episode explains the three part process for practising critical reflection. This multi-disciplinary model is used across the human services sector world wide and is one that youth workers should be familiar with.

In todays podcast Aaron spends time with the Ultimate Youth Worker teams newest hire. Jessy Hall is the Community Engagement Coordinator within the Ultimate Youth Worker community. He is our go to guy for all things community engagement, writing blog posts, joining us on the podcast and popping in to our events.

Find out more on todays cast.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Faith and identity' Aaron speaks with Dr. Julie Morsillo about her work focussing on youth identity development and what impact faith has on this.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Youth Work Ethics' Aaron speaks with Professor Howard Sercombe about his over two decade looking at and developing Youth Work Ethics documents.

Howard Sercombe is a leading youth work academic and practitioner. He has been a pioneer internationally in thinking about professional ethics for youth workers, and was involved in drafting codes of ethics for youth workers across Australia and in Scotland, England, South Africa, Zambia and New Zealand. His book, Youth Work Ethics has been widely influential. He has also published widely on the sociology of youth, including the construction of youth in the media and the emerging influence of neuroscience. He and his partner, broadcaster Helen Wolfenden, have just relocated to Sydney after ten years in Glasgow. He currently holds an honorary Professorship in Education with the University of Glasgow, and is doing primary parenting for Oscar, 4 and Timothy, nearly 2.

In todays episode Aaron and Howard speak about the development of the Fairbridge code of ethics used by many youth work associations worldwide. How did the code come in to being? Why do youth workers need to think about ethics? How can youth workers think ethically in their day to day practice?

Professional youth workers must think about the concept of ethical practice every day. Codes of Ethics are a significant way for the young people we serve to know what we can and cannot do. They also give youth workers a great framework for professional supervision and reflective practice.