Social Work Radio

In this episode of Social Work Radio, Vince and Cara take on a question that quietly sits in the background of the profession: do you need trauma to be a good social worker? They explore why lived experience is often seen as a badge of credibility, the real role empathy plays in practice, and the risks that come when personal pain becomes an unspoken qualification for the job.

From the value of emotional literacy and supervision to the burnout risks of over-identification, the conversation unpacks what truly shapes effective practice - and why the profession needs a healthy mix of perspectives, not a competition over who has suffered the most.

Created by social workers, for social workers.

Join the conversation every Friday morning.

This week, Vince and Cara unpack the idea of duration neglect - the psychological blind spot that helps explain why social workers can see years of cumulative harm in a chronology while families experience life crisis-by-crisis and believe they are coping. This episode explores the gap between professional “montage” thinking and lived real-time experience, the way chronic low-level harm becomes normalised, and why neglect and long-term adversity are so often minimised in both practice and systems

From practical implications for assessments and chronologies to a shift in tone from confrontation to curiosity, this is a thoughtful, reflective conversation about what it really means to ask: how can you not see this?

Created by social workers, for social workers. Join the conversation every Friday morning.

In this episode of Social Work Radio, Vince and Cara unpack why Jeffrey Epstein isn’t the whole story. Moving beyond the fixation on famous names, they explore the wider networks of abuse, power and institutional failure that social workers recognise all too well. From the way harm is framed differently in wealthy circles and deprived communities, to how systems weigh risk when influence is involved, this conversation challenges listeners to look past spectacle and ask harder questions about safeguarding, accountabilit,y and whose voices get centred.

Created by social workers, for social workers. Join the conversation every Friday morning.

Does it really take a village to raise a child, or is that a phrase we repeat without ever taking seriously?

In this episode of Social Work Radio, Vince and Cara explore what the evidence says about how place, neighbourhood, and environment shape children’s lives, often as powerfully as parenting itself. Drawing on research and frontline experience, they reflect on how social work assessments can narrow responsibility onto parents, while wider factors like poverty, housing, and unsafe communities fade into the background.

The conversation asks what it would mean to genuinely take environment seriously in practice, and how social workers can show greater empathy for families parenting in conditions most of us would not accept for our own children.

Created by social workers, for social workers. Join the conversation every Friday morning.

In this episode, Vince and Cara turn their attention to a question many social workers quietly wrestle with: is it lonely at the top? Drawing on lived experience from both sides of the desk, they explore how poor management harms staff, the emotional weight and isolation that can come with leadership roles, and why moving into management is not - and should not be - the default marker of success in social work. The conversation ranges from micromanagement and burnout to power, safety, and what social workers can reasonably demand from those leading them, offering a thoughtful and honest look at a part of the profession that is often misunderstood.

Created by social workers, for social workers. Join the conversation every Friday morning.