The Secure Start® Podcast
In the same way that a secure base is the springboard for the growth of the child, knowledge of past endeavours and lessons learnt are the springboard for growth in current and future endeavours.
If we do not revisit the lessons of the past we are doomed to relearning them over and over again, with the result that we may never really achieve a greater potential.
In keeping with the idea we are encouraged to be the person we wished we knew when we were starting out, it is my vision for the podcast that it is a place where those who work in child protection and out-of-home care can access what is/was already known, spring-boarding them to even greater insights.
Episodes
33 episodes
#32 It Takes A Network, Not A Superhero - with Robbie Gilligan
What if lasting change for young people in care comes not from a single attachment, but from a web of “many good adults” who open doors to the wider world? We sit down with Emeritus Professor Robbie Gilligan to trace how schools, mentors, hobbi...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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1:06:38
#31 Truth First: Caring Beyond The System, with Louise Allen
Some conversations burn slowly and then glow for days. Sitting down with Louise Allen, we trace a line from a childhood rewritten by others to a life spent restoring names, dignity, and futures. Louise grew up in care, became a long‑term foster...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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1:14:59
#30 - John Turberville: How The Mulberry Bush Helps Children Relearn Trust Through Relationships
In this in-depth conversation with John Turberville, CEO of The Mulberry Bush, we explore how therapeutic residential care transforms the lives of children who have experienced trauma, relational ruptures, and multiple placement breakdow...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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1:21:45
#29 From Trauma To Hope, with Dr Hayley Lugassy
What does it really take to heal after trauma—and how do we help children do the same without causing more harm? I sit down with Dr Haley Lugassy, a senior educational psychologist whose lived journey from teenage trauma and isolation in Spain ...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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1:05:41
#28 What If Child Protection Started Before Harm Happened, with Professor Julie Taylor
Imagine a world where we don’t just pull kids out of the river but walk upstream to stop them falling in. That’s the shift we make with Professor Julie Taylor, a leading nurse scientist whose work bridges health, social care, and the lived real...
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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57:36
#27 Why Clear Primary Tasks And Brave Authority Transform Children’s Homes, with Tom Ellison
The work gets easier when the purpose gets clearer. I sit down with social care consultant and leadership trainer Tom Ellison to unpack how a simple, jargon-free primary task can reshape children’s residential care. Tom traces his path from fro...
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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1:18:31
#26 How a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships, with Adriana Dias
Some projects change direction without losing their purpose—and that’s where real growth happens. I sit down with Portuguese clinical psychologist Adriana Dias to explore Ravira Volta, a pilot that helped girls in residential care and their bir...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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1:05:02
#25 How supporting adults creates the safety children need to learn, belong, and heal, with Megan Corcoran
What if the most powerful lever for child healing sits with the adults who show up every day? I sat down with trauma-informed educator and Wagtail Institute founder Megan Corcoran to unpack how belonging transforms classrooms—and why staff well...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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1:03:08
#24 Holding the Helpers, with Richard Cross
What if the most transformative thing we can do for children is to care for the carers first? That’s the provocative starting point for a wide-ranging conversation with psychotherapist and clinical leader Richard Cross, whose work brings attach...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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1:15:10
#23 Thirty-Five Placements and Counting: Why Some Kids Need a Different Option, with Bruce Henderson
What if we've been looking at residential care all wrong? Professor Bruce Henderson, author of "Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Residential Care for Children and Youth," presents a compelling case for rethinking our approach to caring...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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1:06:26
#22 Reimagining Children's Homes: From Last Resort to Purposeful Healing, with Kevin Gallagher
What does it really mean to provide therapeutic residential care to traumatised young people? Dr Kevin Gallagher draws from three decades of experience to challenge our assumptions about children's homes and how we use them.Kevin's jour...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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1:07:33
#20 Challenging Last Resort Thinking: Why Some Children Thrive in Residential Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
What if everything we think we know about residential childcare is wrong? What if, for some children, it's not the dreaded last resort but actually the best option for healing and growth?Dr. Laura Steckley, who leads the MSc in Advanced...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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1:15:37
#21 The Science of Prevention: How We Can End Child Maltreatment, with Benjamin Perks
What if child maltreatment wasn't an inevitable social problem, but something we could dramatically reduce within a generation? Benjamin Perks, Head of Campaigns and Advocacy at UNICEF, believes this is not only possible but within our grasp.
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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59:13
#19 From Winnicott's Piano to Adolescent Minds: Peter Wilson's Journey
A series of serendipities and the opportunity to play Winnicott's piano marked Peter Wilson's remarkable journey into child psychotherapy. In this captivating conversation, Peter reveals how a degree in industrial economics led unexpectedly to ...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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1:15:06
#18 Relentless Kindness: The Foundation of Therapeutic Care, with Adela Holmes
What if everything we thought we knew about helping traumatised children was backwards? In this profound conversation, Adela Holmes reveals the revolutionary approach that transformed lives at Hurstbridge Farm Therapeutic Residential Care Pilot...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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1:18:52
#17 The Hidden Strengths of Residential Care: Challenging the Status Quo with Dr Jenna Bollinger
Dr. Jenna Bollinger takes us on a revealing journey into the heart of what makes residential care truly effective for vulnerable children and young people. Drawing from her doctoral research on stability in out-of-home care, she challenges conv...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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1:00:23
#16 Building Hope: Lighthouse Foundation's Legacy of Love
What happens when one person loves a child unconditionally? According to Susan Barton AM, founder of Lighthouse Foundation, "they'll usually make it through." This profound belief forms the backbone of an extraordinary organisation that has tra...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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1:16:31
#15 Unlocking Potential Through Love and Acceptance, with Patricia Sheridan
Patricia Sheridan's remarkable journey from critical observer to pioneering founder reveals how one person's vision can transform an entire field. When she established Moore House School in 1988, Mrs Sheridan was swimming against the tide of co...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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1:08:16
#14 Learning to Live with Yourself and Others: Insights from Therapeutic Residential Care, with Richard Rollinson
Richard Rowlandson draws from over five decades of experience at the Mulberry Bush School to share profound insights about therapeutic residential care for traumatised children. His journey from New York City to the English countryside led to a...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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1:14:18
#13 Breaking the Cycle: How Investing in Children's Services Changes Lives, with Andrew Isaac
Andrew Isaac brings decades of leadership experience in children's social care to this eye-opening discussion about the state of foster care in the UK. As Chair of BSN Social Care and the Children's Services Development Group, Andrew offers rar...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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1:04:57
#12 From Orphanage to Therapeutic Community: Portugal's Residential Care Revolution
Colby Pearce connects with the core technical team of Livramento, a residential care home in Portugal with a remarkable 200-year history of supporting girls and young women from ages 6 to 25.• Tracing Livramento's journey from a closed ...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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1:55:05
#11 Breaking Cycles: Healing Across Generations with Dr. Lisa Cherry
What happens when someone with lived experience of the care system becomes a leading voice in trauma-informed practice? Dr. Lisa Cherry's journey from writing complaints to the director of social services as a child in care to becoming an inter...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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51:44
Exploring Attachment, Self-Worth, and Shame, with Colby Pearce
What makes attachment so crucial for foster children, and how can carers build connection with young people who seem determined to push them away? In this illuminating conversation, clinical psychologist Colby reveals the profound impact of att...
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52:18
#10 Transforming Lives: Dr. Kiran Modi's Journey with Vulnerable Children in India
A childhood moment of terror when separated from her parents for mere minutes sparked Dr. Kiran Modi's lifelong mission to transform care for vulnerable children across India. With remarkable clarity and compassion, Dr. Modi shares how this for...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:01:51
#9 Leadership Alignment: The Backbone of Therapeutic Practice, with Simon Benjamin
What makes therapeutic care truly effective? Simon Benjamin takes us on a journey through his remarkable career—from cleaning houses as a support worker to leading the Lighthouse Foundation as CEO—to reveal the essential ingredients of healing ...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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58:24
