The latest series of the Northern Ireland Social care Council’s (the Social Care Council’s) podcast ‘Care to chat’ launches today with a special episode focused on what it means to be a trauma-informed organisation.
New episodes will be released over the coming months, helping support social workers and social care practitioners in their practice and career development, whilst addressing topics that matter to them and the people they support.
This series will give listeners insights into areas such as violence against women and girls, homecare services, children’s social care, men in social work, career development in social care and palliative care, among others, with guests each bringing their unique blend of experiences and perspectives.
Tracy Reid, Chief Executive, Social Care Council, believes the conversations on this ‘Care to chat’ series will help show how important the professions of social work and social care are for our communities.
“As the regulator of one of the largest workforces in Northern Ireland, working across the health and social care, justice, education and community and voluntary sectors, we encourage conversations about the things that matter to social workers and social care practitioners. ‘Care to chat’ helps us do that – and we are so grateful for all those who are participating this year.”
The first episode of the new series features our returning host Dr Wendy Austin MBE in conversation with Orla Connolly, Trauma Informed Practice Implementation Manager, Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI), Gloria McKenna, Probation Officer, Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) and Shauna Morrow, Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care (NIFITC) Implementation Lead, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust.
What is a trauma-informed organisation?
For those new to the term, it may sound jargonistic or too aspirational for the realities of daily practice but the opposite is true, it is an approach that seeks in an intentional way to understand, recognise and respond to the impact of trauma, to create safe and enabling environments for those we work with. There are lots of small steps that can be taken to work in a trauma informed way, this episode of Care to Chat will break it all down for you.
We hear from those who have had different trauma-informed journeys, some with a lifetime of experience to share, others involved in supporting this key change across Northern Ireland and from social workers who are bringing a trauma-informed approach to life within their own organisations.
Orla Connolly from the SBNI explains how a trauma-informed approach is a whole system organisational change framework which has universal benefit.
“A trauma-informed approach is when we realise the widespread impact of trauma across society. We know that the costs of trauma are hidden across our justice, community and voluntary, health and education sectors.”
She added, “At an individual level, trauma is something that is held in the body, it shows up in our relationships, in our responses, and in how we react… And it’s really important when we are thinking about trauma, that we understand our stress response system and what supports recovery.”
The new season’s first episode airs today, followed by a new episode being released every two weeks up to the Autumn.
Listen to and follow ‘Care to chat’ wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple, Spotify, or on our website at: niscc.info/care-to-chat-podcast, where you can find all the new episodes and episodes from our previous series.
Episode 1: Why becoming a trauma informed organisation matters (35 minutes)
For more information:
As the Care to chat podcasts are designed with the social care and social work workforce in mind, we would like to invite suggestions of topics that our listeners would be interested to hear covered. If you have questions, suggestions or feedback about the podcast, email: comms@niscc.hscni.net.