Care Visions Talks
Care Visions Talks
Care Visions Talks is a podcast series that brings together voices from across care, education, health and community support to explore what it really means to care — and to be cared for.
The series includes two strands:
Care Visions Family Talk has two hosts: Dr Linda de Caestecker and Lucy Johnston.
Dr Linda de Caestecker, former Director of Public Health and experienced paediatrician, leads warm, accessible conversations designed for parents, carers and families. Her episodes cover topics such as childhood trauma, fostering, resilience, separation and mental health, with expert guests offering practical guidance and compassionate insight.
Lucy Johnston is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster with a long-standing commitment to social affairs, health, and children’s welfare. In her episodes, she shares powerful stories about young people in care and explores the systems that shape their lives. With a background in investigative reporting, Lucy began her career at The Big Issue before moving to The Observer and later The Sunday Express, where she is Health and Social Affairs Editor. Her work has exposed neglect in care homes, failures in mental health services, and injustices faced by vulnerable children and families.
Care Visions Professional Talk is hosted by Humphrey Hawksley, award-winning author, broadcaster and former BBC foreign correspondent. These in-depth episodes are created for those working in or studying social care, health, education and related fields. Guests include thought leaders, researchers and practitioners discussing the emotional realities, challenges and evolving practices in work with children, young people and families.
Whether you're a parent, a professional, or someone passionate about care and community, Care Visions Talks offers space to listen, reflect and learn.
Episodes
48 episodes
Is Depression Really a Chemical Imbalance? | Prof Joanna Moncrieff | Care Visions Family Talk
For decades, depression has often been explained as a chemical imbalance in the brain. Professor Joanna Moncrieff argues that the evidence simply doesn’t support that explanation.In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speak...
What Children in Care Really Need - Mirela Zoltan on Trauma, Trust & Belonging | Care Visions Professional Talk
Mirela Zoltan spent the first three years of her life in an orphanage in Romania before being adopted and taken to the United States.What followed was a childhood marked by disrupted relationships and repeated moves through adopti...
Could We One Day Help Identify ADHD by Looking at the Brain? | Dr Monica Berntsen | Care Visions Family Talk
Could we one day help identify ADHD by looking at the brain?That is the question at the beginning of this episode of Care Visions Family Talk, in which Lucy speaks with Dr Monica Berntsen, introduced as a practising neurops...
Family Finding & Kinship Care: Why Relationships Matter | Kevin Campbell | Care Visions Professional Talk
What happens when a child or young person in care is described as having “nobody”?For Kevin Campbell, that question became the starting point for research that would ultimately challenge some deeply established assumptions within child w...
Are We Medicalising Childhood? | Dave Clements on Special Educational Needs | Care Visions Family Talk
Why are so many children struggling?One in five children is now identified as having a special educational need — a significant increase over the past decade. Are children who were previously overlooked finally being recognised, or are o...
Family Finding and the Power of Connection | Elizabeth Wendel | Care Visions Professional Talk
What happens when a child is moved away from danger but, in the process, also loses the network of relationships connecting them to their family, community, history and identity?In this episode of Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley spe...
Behaviour Is Communication | Sarah Naish on Therapeutic Parenting | Care Visions Family Talk
What is a child really trying to say through difficult behaviour?In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speaks with Sarah Naish about therapeutic parenting, childhood trauma, boundaries, emotional regulation and why behaviour is ofte...
What Happens If Children Stop Believing They Belong? | Steve Chalke | Care Visions Professional Talk
For more than four decades, Steve Chalke has been working to improve the lives of vulnerable children, young people and families across the UK.As founder of Oasis, Steve has helped establish schools, housing projects, youth services and ...
How Love Literally Shapes a Child's Brain | Dr Anna Machin | Family Talk
How love literally shapes a child's brain.What if the most powerful influence on a child's future isn't education, money, technology or even genetics, but the quality of the relationships they experience?In this episode of ...
Family Courts, Domestic Abuse & Protecting Children | Julia Margo
What happens when a parent trying to protect their children enters a family court system that doesn’t always recognise abuse?In this episode of Care Visions Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley speaks with Julia Margo, co-founder of Fair...
Scottish Education, Schools Today & Standards | Keir Bloomer | Family Talk
Are standards in Scottish education falling — and what’s really behind it?In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speaks with Keir Bloomer, former Director of Education and one of the architects of Curriculum for Excellence.Dr...
More Children, Fewer Homes | Professor Claudia Bernard | Care Visions Professional Talk
What happens when more children need care — but there are fewer homes to support them?In this episode of Care Visions Professional Talk, Professor Claudia Bernard (Goldsmiths, University of London) joins Humphrey Hawksley to exp...
CHILDHOOD IN CRISIS | Dr Gabor Maté | Care Visions Family Talk: Spotlight
CHILDHOOD IN CRISISWhy are so many children struggling today – and why does no one seem to have a clear answer?In this Care Visions Family Talk: Spotlight episode, host Lucy Johnston speaks to world-renowned trauma expert and be...
Are Smartphones Harming Children? The Truth About Screen Time | Mary Glasgow - Care Visions Family Talk
Children are growing up on screens earlier than ever — but what is it doing to their development, wellbeing and safety?In this episode of Care Visions Family Talk, host Lucy Johnston speaks with Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children...
From Care to Confidence: Mental Health, Trauma & Resilience | Tina Copp | Care Visions Professional Talk
What does it take to rebuild your life after a difficult childhood?In this episode of Care Visions Talks – Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley speaks with Tina Copp, who shares her experience of growing up in the care system and how those ...
Children’s Rights, Child Poverty and Online Safety with Bruce Adamson | Care Visions Family Talk
In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speaks with Bruce Adamson, human rights lawyer and former Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland.Bruce shares insights from his international work advising governments and orga...
Male Identity in a Changing World | Dr Andrew G. Thomas | Care Visions Professional Talk
In this episode of Care Visions Talks: Professional Talk, host Humphrey Hawksley is joined by Dr Andrew G. Thomas, PhD for a thoughtful conversation exploring male identity in a rapidly changing social world.Together, they examine how mascu...
Fostering Reform in the UK with Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister | Care Visions Family Talk
In this episode of Care Visions Talks: Family Talk, host Lucy Johnston is joined by Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister OBE MP for a timely and in-depth conversation on fostering reform in the UK.Drawing on his leadership o...
What Are We Really Trying to Fix in Care? | Social Pedagogy with Claire Cameron
In this episode of Care Visions Talks: Professional Talk, host Humphrey Hawksley is joined by Professor Claire Cameron, the UK’s first Professor of Social Pedagogy, for a reflective and practice-focused conversation about care, relationships an...
Care Visions Familly Talk: Your Brain On Porn with Mary Sharpe
In this episode of Care Visions Family Talk, host Lucy Johnston is joined by Mary Sharpe, Chief Executive of The Reward Foundation, for an open and informative conversation about the impact of online pornography on young pe...
Helping Young People Navigate Pornography, Misogyny & the Manosphere with Gael Cochrane | Care Visions Family Talk
In this episode of Family Talk, Linda de Caestecker speaks with Gael Cochrane, Learning, Development and Innovation Lead at Community Justice Scotland, about how pornography and the online manosphere are shaping young people’s attitudes, relati...
Poverty, Phones and the Future of Childhood | Mary Glasgow | Care Visions Family Talk
Family Talk is part of Care Visions Talks, a UK podcast exploring the real issues affecting children, young people and families.In this episode, host Lucy Johnston speaks with Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children 1st, about the urgent ...
Care Visions Professional Talk - Nurturing Belonging to Enable Becoming: The Value of Social Pedagogy in Residential Child Care with Associate Professor Yvalia Febrer
Host: Humphrey HawksleyGuests:Associate Professor Yvalia Febrer, Associate Professor of Social Work, Kingston University LondonDanny Henderson, Service Manager, Care VisionsEp...
Lost Boys: Why The Manosphere Is Seducing A Generation with Mark Brooks OBE
Why are so many boys feeling angry, numb, lonely or adrift — and who’s rushing in to offer them answers?In this conversation, Lucy Johnston speaks with Mark Brooks OBE, chair of the Mankind Initiative and a leading voice on men’s wellbei...
Why Kids Are Struggling: A Wake-Up Call for Modern Childhood with Sue Palmer
Modern childhood is facing an unprecedented crisis — rising screen time, falling literacy, and overstimulated young minds. In this Family Talk Live event, Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood and Upstart, joined ...
