In conversation with Lisa Cherry today is Colby Pearce who is a Clinical Psychologist who lives and works on Kaurna (pronounced “Garna”), Nurungga (pronounced as it reads), and Nukunu (pronounced “nookunoo”) country in the land known as Australia. Across the last twenty-eight years Colby has worked continuously with children and young people recovering from a tough start to life, and adults who interact with them in care and professional roles. He maintains three busy psychotherapy clinics, but also finds time to write and deliver programs intended to enhance awareness of the experience, needs, and therapeutic care of young people who have experienced complex childhood trauma, including in Ireland. Colby also works with teams that support kinship carers of Australian Aboriginal Children, the stabilisation of kinship care arrangements, and family reunification. Colby is looking to expand his work with individuals and teams working in the child welfare space, and write more!

The Bio: "Smash Life was formed by Matt and Andy Smith who spent their childhood in the care system. The brothers were unfortunately abused in care but have spent a combined 40+ years working in various roles in social care to ensure their past pains have been used as a purpose to be a listening ear, voice and advocacy for many children navigating through their own care journey now. Both are “being who they needed when they were younger” Smash Life is an award winning company that leads from the heart and provides mentoring, experiences, events, group work, inspirational talks and training."W: http://smashlifeuk.com/And the promised music by Matt: https://www.sonnetsmith.com/sonnetsmith-music/

Lisa Cherry is in conversation with Emm Irving,  Senior Programme Manager for Improving Population Health, NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board who leads on the Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Programme. The ambition is for the whole of West Yorkshire to become Trauma Informed by 2030. Lisa and Emm discuss the challenges, dealing with overwhelm and facing our own traumas alongside why we need to start with the workforce! 

Join Lisa Cherry and Karen Treisman in a live webinar conversation about changing organisational systems, services and cultures.  

Join Lisa Cherry in conversation on a live webinar with Peter Blundell and Danica Darley on boundaries and relational practice. Professional boundaries are there for the safety and security of service users and professionals. However, there are factors that can increase professionals' use of boundaries that can lead to defensive and distance-based practice rather than relational and effective practice.The best professional social care practice is relational, yet boundaries (if used ineffectively) can interfere rather than foster those relationships.We are advocating for relationship-based professional boundaries practice, rather than a practice that is distance-based (i.e., creates barriers to relationships and change). We openly advocate for system change.We support safe, reflective and professional practice and are not supportive of practitioners working against systems unsupported, or in ways that could cause them or service users harm.

In this episode, Lisa Cherry is in conversation with Alex Kemp exploring professional kindness, culture and leadership. Alexander Kemp has been working with children and families for over 20 years. He holds a degree in social work and a masters of public administration.  He lives in Brighton with his husband who is a doctor working in intensive care.  Alex is care experienced. Alex has worked in senior roles within large organisations specialising in the provision of services to children and families who need help and protection and with children in care and care leavers.  Alex worked at Cafcass, the largest employer of social workers in the UK, as an assistant director for a large geographical area of England.  In this role, he worked in partnership with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in supporting the British Overseas Territories to develop and improve services for children and families.  He trained and coached senior leaders abroad to support their development.   Alex’s last role was in the UK as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of children’s social care; he is the first known care experienced person to have held this position.  He inspected local authorities and other organisations including fostering agencies and children’s homes. Alex is one of only a handful of care experienced people in the UK who have progressed into such senior roles in large organisations responsible for providing help and support to children and families. He believes strongly that expertise by experience is undervalued.  He has recently established an organisation which aims to support organisations and practitioners across the helping professions explore how and kindness and reflection influence the way in which professionals work.  Alex also hopes to spend some time speaking, training and writing. Twitter - Alex - @AlexanderKempyLisa - @_lisacherry

Luke Billingham, part-time researcher, part-time youth worker, talks all things about shifting the lens on how we view youth violence, the significance of mattering and how we need to step away from 'boundaries receptacles for blame'.Here's a link to the "Terrifying abyss of insignificance" paper: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1185/1395Worth mentioning that the title of that paper is a quote from a brilliant book by Tony Ellis: https://www.routledge.com/Men-Masculinities-and-Violence-An-ethnographic-study/Ellis/p/book/9781138040274)Here's a link to Against Youth Violence (available for pre-order; out in October): https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/against-youth-violenceHere's a link to Hackney Quest's site, where Luke works part-time: https://www.hackneyquest.org.uk/Here's a link to the research project Luke is working on with the OU: https://changingviolence.org/Twitter: @lbilli91Twitter: @_lisacherry

What happens when youth work, the decimation of preventative services and a community that feels left behind collide? In this collaborative book, Cut Short; Why we’re failing our youth – and how to fix it, Ciaran charts life during the most challenging years of the last decade. The emergence of the VRU in London is recorded as are the real lives of those living in their community as violence escalates against the backdrop or even in response to, the ideology of austerity and a changing political landscape.I absolutely loved this book and as far as I'm concerned, it is a must read inviting a very real and ongoing call to action.Twitter: @ciaranthaparPaperback out on 30th June

Dr Amanda Taylor-Beswick’s main research interest is in the area of digitalization and professional education, in particular, how social work education socializes and equips students for practice in an emergent and complex digital social world. Research projects include: an examination of the contribution of social work education to the preparedness of students for practice in the connected age; navigating digital contact for children in out of home care; the design and development of a wearable device to help to reduced drug deaths in high risk populations in Northern Ireland; a youth-co-research project designed to test out activism as a mental health intervention for young people; academic advisor to a project investigating ‘The Digital Capabilities of Social Workers in England’ in order to improve practices in this area. She is also currently working with the NISCC, HSCB and the 5 NI Health and Social Care Trust to progress digital understandings in and for social work education and practice.Buy the 3rd Ed of The Brightness of Stars HERE@AMLTaylor66@_lisacherry

Steven Russell, is the founder of Elements SEMH Support. As a child, he lived with 9 foster families, was placed into two children’s homes and attended 5 schools. With this in mind, he decided to turn his “Pain to Purpose” by creating Elements.As a child, growing up in the care system, and an adult working in the care system. Steven has become an effective communicator with children living in care.His authentic style enables him to build rapport with children and young people with ease.Combining the elements of his professional and personal experiences to create “Elements SEMH Support”. Steven has been able to inspire hundreds of children to become more optimistic about their lives despite their adverse experiences