Relational Practice: a social work podcast

What actually happens in our brains and bodies when stress crosses the line into psychological harm? In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey take a deep dive into the hidden mechanics of trauma, unpacking how chronic stress reshapes the mind, body, and daily relationships. Jodie and Rose blend neurobiology, developmental insights, and clinical wisdom to help practitioners move past surface symptoms. In this episode, we unpack:The Neurobiology of Threat: How an overactive amygdala, downregulated prefrontal cortex, and shrinking hippocampus keep the nervous system stuck in "survival mode".Age & Presentation: Why trauma looks like "high-functioning burnout" or physical pain in adults, but shows up as regression, self-blame, or behavioural disruptions in children.The Multi-System Ripple Effect: Using Dan Siegel's Window of Tolerance to understand emotional dysregulation, the shame loop, betrayal trauma, and why hyper-independence is often a trauma response in disguise.Practical & Safe Interventions: Why proactive screening matters, why single-session psychological debriefing can cause harm, and how first-line therapies like TF-CBT and EMDR foster genuine recovery. Whether you are a social worker, allied health professional, educator, or student, this episode offers a grounding, trauma-informed perspective on supporting survivors without burning out yourself.

In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey welcome back Dr. Adam McCormick, Professor of Social Work at St. Edward’s University, trauma expert, and author, for an in-depth conversation on reframing how practitioners connect with boys. Traditional direct-questioning methods often fall short when supporting boys carrying trauma, navigating the foster care system, or struggling under societal expectations of masculinity. Dr. McCormick breaks down how traditional masculine norms cause boys to disconnect from their internal emotional landscapes, frequently masking vulnerability, fear, or sadness behind anger and defiance. Key Takeaways:· Understanding "Shoulder-to-Shoulder" Connection: Why shifting away from face-to-face, analytical questioning toward low-stakes, relational spaces allows boys to open up safely.· The Role of Shame & Adaptation: How a boy’s behaviour, including emotional shutdown or anger, acts as an adaptive, protective response to shame and trauma.· Pacing & Tone: Practical guidance on dropping seeds of conversation, sitting with silence, and using relational language instead of confrontational prompts.· Holding Space in High-Tension Moments: Techniques for staying present during big emotional responses (defiance or shutdown) without escalating or pulling away. Whether you work in child protection, out-of-home care (OOHC), school counselling, or clinical therapy, this episode provides actionable insights to help you build safety, trust, and genuine connection with the boys in your practice. Episode Resources & Guest Info· Guest Website & Work: Learn more about Dr. Adam McCormick’s research and books, including Healing the Helping Professional: The Unfinished Business of Childhood and LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care.· Podcast Website: Visit relationalpracticeasocialworkpodcast.com.au for show notes, printables, and extra resources.· Get in Touch: Send your practice stories, feedback, or questions to [email protected] or find us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.· Edited by Angus Pinkstone· Music by Hannah Park

Ever wondered why a supervisor’s quick "got a second?" sends one co-worker into a full-blown existential crisis, while another completely ignores the email? It turns out our early attachment templates follow us straight through the office doors and sit right at our desks! In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey take a look at how adult attachment theory plays out in the wild world of social work and human services. We are diving into the quirky, relatable ways our internal working models of anxiety and avoidance show up when we're on the clock, shining a spotlight on everything from workplace dynamics to supervision style. Whether you're navigating high-stress casework, managing a team, or just trying to survive your next group project, understanding your workplace attachment style is the ultimate cheat code for protecting your peace and preventing burnout. In this episode, we explore:· Attachment in the workplace: How secure, anxious, avoidant, and fearful-avoidant styles actually look during a typical workday.· Boss Energy and Supervision: Why some leaders build a "secure base" while others slide into micromanagement or total ghosting.· Decoding Client Dynamics: How spotting a client's attachment style helps you realize that "hostility" or "disengagement" isn't personal, it's just a self-protective strategy.· Burnout, Boundaries, and You: How over-identifying with cases or putting up emotional walls impacts your energy levels.· Building Psychological Safety: Simple, practical ways to use reflective supervision to build real trust and genuine connection at work. Podcast Website: Visit relationalpracticeasocialworkpodcast.com.au for show notes, printables, and extra resources. Get in Touch: Send your practice stories, feedback, or questions to [email protected] or find us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Edited by Angus PinkstoneMusic by Hannah Park

Ever wonder why a delayed text message or a slight shift in tone can send an adult's nervous system into absolute freefall? It's because the body never forgets the quiet relational ruptures of childhood. In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey take a deep dive into one of the most pervasive, misunderstood issues in clinical practice: abandonment trauma. While we often picture dramatic life events or overt caregiving ruptures, this conversation shines a light on the "quieter" wounds, the subtle, unsaid experience of ambiguous abandonment where a caregiver is physically present, yet emotionally unreachable. Grounded in attachment theory and Pauline Boss’s concept of ambiguous loss, Jodie and Rose unpack how these early relational micro-experiences shape our internal working models. They explore how growing up with physically present but emotionally absent parents trains a child's developing nervous system to anticipate rejection, building implicit templates of unworthiness that persist into adult relationships and workforce patterns. In this episode, we explore:· The Spectrum of Abandonment: Moving beyond obvious abandonment to recognize emotional withdrawal, parentification, and conditional love.· Ambiguous Loss in Childhood: Navigating the painful reality of ambiguous abandonment and the unique ache of growing up with emotionally absent parents.· How It Shows Up in Therapy: Recognizing both ends of the spectrum—from panic, hypervigilance, and fear of rejection to rigid self-sufficiency, chronic emptiness, and emotional shutdown.· Rethinking Clinical Assessment: Moving past generic checklists to ask the key questions that reveal a client's underlying attachment template.· Practical Treatment Interventions: Step-by-step approaches for nervous system stabilization, somatic safe havens, parts-based dialogue, and repairing relational ruptures. Show editing by Angus PinkstoneTitle music by Hannah Park

In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey sit down for a deeply honest conversation with Dr. Adam McCormick, Professor of Social Work at St. Edward's University and author of Healing the Helping Professional: The Unfinished Business of Childhood Trauma. Drawing on his background as an educator, researcher, and former child welfare practitioner, Adam shares how both his academic work and personal lived experience led him to explore the unspoken links between childhood adversity and caregiving careers. Together, they explore why so many professionals in social work and human services end up exhausted, overextended, and struggling with profound guilt whenever they try to establish standard boundaries. The conversation dives into how early childhood roles, like the family "peacemaker" or "hero” steer individuals into caregiving professions, and why high-stress, chaotic work environments can feel surprisingly familiar to an over-activated nervous system. Adam breaks down why standard "self-care" advice often misses the mark, how the urge to "fix" others can inadvertently undermine client autonomy, and what it really takes to drop the "invulnerable expert" persona to build authentic, supportive connections with peers. Connect with Adam & Explore His Work:· Book: Healing the Helping Professional (NASW Press)· Free Resources: Adam's Newsletter & Downloads· LinkedIn: You can find and connect with Adam on LinkedIn Show editing by Angus PinkstoneTitle music by Hannah Park