Category: Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start Podcast
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Residential Care Should Be A Thoughtful First Choice For Some Kids, with Martha Holden
“Residential care is the last resort” sounds like a policy line, but it lands as a verdict on children and on the people who care for them. In this podcast conversation, Co-Director of the Residential Child Care Project at Cornell University, Martha Holden, and I push back on that idea and explore what happens when…
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Small Moments Build Safety And Hope, with Mary-anne Hodd
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in Care Leavers & Aftercare | The Secure Start Podcast, Care-Experienced Voices | The Secure Start Podcast, Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastA child can walk into a house with a full fridge and a clean bed and still feel terrified. That’s the gap we’re trying to close, and it’s why this conversation matters. I’m joined by Mary-anne Hodd, founder of Journeys That Care, a CPD accredited training and consultancy that blends lived experience with psychology, teaching,…
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Making The Unbearable Bearable In Trauma-Informed Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
When people are overwhelmed, they don’t need a lecture. They need someone who can help them think again. That’s the heart of our conversation with Dr Laura Steckley, a leading researcher in therapeutic residential childcare, as we tackle one of the most misunderstood ideas in trauma-informed practice: containment. We start by naming the problem. “Containment”…
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I am seen, so I am*
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in Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Psychotherapy, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Social Care Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastIf A Child Breaks A Window What Are They Saying? Trauma-informed care starts with a shift in how we interpret behaviour. Instead of treating aggression, withdrawal, stealing, or rule-breaking as problems to stamp out, we can see them as communication and as an urgent attempt to secure a missing relational experience. In therapeutic communities like…
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How Barbara Docker-Drysdale Built Therapeutic Skill In Care Teams – John Whitwell
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in Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Social Care Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Management | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastThe Consultant Who Changed A Community Barbara Docker-Drysdale, often called Mrs D or Pip, shaped modern therapeutic communities by focusing less on “fixing” children directly and more on building therapeutic skill in the adults around them. At the Cotswold Community she was brought in as a consultant psychotherapist to work primarily with staff teams, meeting…
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Healing from Trauma – A podcast interview with Dr Hayley Lugassy
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in Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Human Capital & Workforce | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Schools | The Secure Start PodcastFrom Trauma to Hope I really enjoyed recording this podcast with Dr Hayley Lugassy. Here are some thoughts related to our discussion. Recovery after trauma is not a straight line; it is a careful blend of honest reflection, steady support, and practical boundaries that make change feel safe. This conversation traces a lived journey from…
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Building Trauma Informed Leadership – A podcast interview with Tom Ellison
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in Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastWhy Clear Primary Tasks And Brave Authority Transform Children’s Homes Clear leadership in children’s residential care starts with one deceptively simple question: what are we here for? Defining the primary task sounds easy, yet many leaders default to jargon or vague mission lines that can’t guide daily choices. When the work is complex and emotional,…
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Building Healthy Birth Family Connection – A podcast interview with Adriana Dias
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in Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Family Preservation & Reunification | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Supervision in Social Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start PodcastHow a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships Child protection is often described with neat outcomes and rigid timelines, but the lived work rarely fits those lines. This episode explores a project in Portugal, Revira Volta, that set out to build healthier relationships between girls in residential care and their birth families by…
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Building Trauma Informed Schools – A podcast interview with Megan Corcoran
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in Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Leadership in Children’s Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Reflective Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Schools | The Secure Start PodcastHow supporting adults creates the safety children need to learn, belong, and heal Belonging sits at the heart of healing, and this conversation explores how schools can become places where children recover, learn, and feel seen—without asking teachers to be therapists. The core idea is simple: when adults in education and youth services feel supported,…
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Building Trauma-Responsive Care – A podcast interview with Richard Cross
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in Child Protection Services | The Secure Start Podcast, Developmental Trauma | The Secure Start Podcast, Foster Care & OOHC | The Secure Start Podcast, Reactive Attachment Disorder | The Secure Start Podcast, Residential Child Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Care | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma Informed Practice | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Parenting | The Secure Start Podcast, Trauma-Informed Schools | The Secure Start PodcastWhat if “care for the carers” is the real key to healing children? Richard Cross unpacks attachment, containment, and why residential care isn’t always a last resort.