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
39 episodes
#37: From Chaos To Calm: Routines, Relationships, And Real Change In Residential Care, Tom Ellison
What if the most powerful “intervention” in residential care isn’t a therapy model at all, but the quiet predictability of daily life held by thoughtful adults? We sit down with social care consultant Tom Ellison to dig into what actually moves...
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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1:31:43
#36: What If Behaviour Is Just Armour For Hurt? Vicki McKeown
What if the behaviour that drives you up the wall is actually armour against shame? We sit down with psychotherapist and author Vicky McKeown to unpack how shame and attachment shape everyday life for children, parents, and the professionals wh...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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1:00:30
#34: Making the conscious unconscious, with Peter Blake
I am very excited to release my conversation with Peter Blake on The Secure Start Podcast.We explore how children communicate through behaviour and play, why containment matters, and how to balance understanding with practical management...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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1:27:07
#35: What If Children's Safeguarding Began With Love? Carla Keyte
What if the most powerful safeguarding tool isn’t another form, but a steady adult who shows up with love? That’s the heart of my conversation with Carla Keyte, founder of Lighthouse and a leading voice in UK residential care, as we unpack how ...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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57:27
Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Care - A Recap of 2025 on The Secure Start Podcast
This is a recap of the first 33 episodes of The Secure Start Podcast, all released in 2025. It has been an incredible honour to host them and I am looking forward to 2026!If you take something inspirational from the video, please ...
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13:50
#33 Care Leavers To Care Leaders - with Surja (Udayan Care Alumni)
What happens when belief meets opportunity and doesn’t let go? We sit down with Surja—care‑experienced leader, LIFT alum, and global advocate—to trace a path from a village in Uttar Pradesh to a seat at international tables, and to unpack what ...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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1:04:41
#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, & multiple placement breakd...
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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
