Trauma | Resonance | Resilience
Hosted by Dr Lisa Cherry, this podcast is a multi-agency, inter disciplinary resource for those who work in education, social care, criminal justice or health and to listen to conversations that make a difference. Utilising the wisdom of lived experience, academic research and practice knowledge, we will support you in your work of developing trauma informed, relationally focused practice developing safe, supportive and healing environments. Our collective focus is threefold; preventing harm, not adding to harm, seeking to mitigate harm when it has already happened.
Join us as we explore better ways of working together, sharing emerging research the best practices, all while deep diving into empathy, connection and authenticity.
Trauma | Resonance | Resilience
Season 6, Episode One - Crossing Boundaries: How Liminal Moments Reshape Identity And Belonging
Join Dr Lisa Cherry for Episode One in this 6-Part series on liminality. Lisa is in conversation with Professor Bjørn Thomassen, Professor in Global Political Sociology at Roskilde University, to unpack liminality. They explore the in‑between phase after an old identity collapses and before a new one takes hold and why that space is powerful, precarious and everywhere in modern life. Starting from rites of passage, we look at what happens when there’s no recognised guide to carry us through and how that vacuum can invite both care and manipulation.
Together, we map the difference between chosen and forced transitions, the craft of “ceremony masters” in today’s systems, belonging and home, showing how poorly designed services can trap people in extended liminal states.
Connect with Bjorn on LinkedIn here.
If this conversation gave you language for your work or your life, share it with a colleague, leave a review, and subscribe so you don't miss the next episodes in the Liminality series.
References mentioned:
Horvath, A., & Szakolczai, A. (2019). The political sociology and anthropology of evil: Tricksterology (1st ed.). Routledge.
Szakolczai, A., & Thomassen, B. (2019). From anthropology to social theory: Rethinking the social sciences. Cambridge University Press.
Thomassen, B. (2014). Liminality and the modern: Living through the in‑between. Routledge.
Turner, V. (1969). Liminality and communitas. In The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure (pp. 94–113). Aldine Publishing
Van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage (M. B. Vizedom & G. L. Caffee, Trans.; S. T. Kimball, Intro.). The University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1909)
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