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
50 episodes
#48: Making The Unbearable Bearable In Trauma-Informed Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
When people are overwhelmed, they don’t need a lecture. They need someone who can help them think again. That’s the heart of our conversation with Dr Laura Steckley, a leading researcher in therapeutic residential childcare, as we tackle one of...
#47: What Children In Care Say Matters Most - Lisa Holmes
We love neat metrics in children’s social care because they fit on dashboards: placement stability, school attainment, cost per child. But when you sit down with people who’ve actually lived the care system, the story gets messier and far more ...
#46: Attachment In Supervision, with Dr Alex Rowell
Supervision can look calm on the outside while a whole attachment system is firing underneath. When a supervisee is worried about risk, second-guessing an intervention, or feeling judged, the supervision room stops being a “case review” and bec...
#45: What If “Bad Behaviour” Is A Disability We Refuse To See, with William "Liam" Curran
Kids don’t “choose” impulsivity, shutdowns, school blow-ups or constant conflict at home, yet child protection and education systems still treat many of these behaviours like attitude problems. We sit down with William “Liam” Curran, a clinical...
#44: I am seen, so I am*, with Paul van Heeswijk
A child breaks a window and the adults don’t rush to punishment. They sit with him, gather as a team, and ask a harder question: what have we been missing in his communication? That single moment opens up a deeper way to understand trauma, beha...
#43: Whose Truth Becomes A Child’s Story? Therapeutic Life Story Work, With Professor Richard Rose
Kids in care don’t just wonder where they lived. They wonder why it happened and far too often they land on the most painful answer: it must have been my fault. I’m joined by Professor Richard Rose, founder of Therapeutic Life Story Work Intern...
#42: How Barbara Docker-Drysdale Built Therapeutic Skill In Care Teams - John Whitwell
A child’s acting out can look like defiance, chaos, or “bad behaviour” until you treat it as communication and ask what the adults are missing. That single shift changes everything, and it sits at the heart of my conversation with John Whitwell...
#41: From Bambi To Boundaries: What Objects Reveal About Mind, Body, And Meaning, with Richard Rollinson
A toy fawn, a wordless picture book, a skull on a desk—what can these objects teach us about caring for children who’ve known chaos, loss, and confusion? We welcome back Richard Rawlinson, former director of the Mulberry Bush and long-time cons...
#40: Rethinking Harmful Sexual Behaviour In Kids, with Alan Jenkins
What if the biggest driver of harmful sexual behaviour in children isn’t deviance in the child, but disconnection in the systems around them? We sit down with Alan Jenkins—veteran practitioner, author of Becoming Ethical, and pioneer of “multi ...
#39: Sri Lanka’s Care System: Progress, Gaps, And Hope - Nimali Kumari
What if turning 18 didn’t mean turning off support? We sit down with Nimmu, a powerhouse care leaver advocate from Sri Lanka, to map what’s changing, what still hurts, and how to build a system that puts children where they thrive—whether that’...
#38: Why Emotional Reactions Are Data And How Organisations Can Turn Them Into Care, with Emma Higgs
What if the feelings that make this work so hard are the very clues that make it effective? We sit down with Emma Higgs, a child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapist and organisational therapist, to unpack how psychodynamic thinking tu...
#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...
#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...
#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...
#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 ...
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 ...
#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 ...
#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...
#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...
#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...
#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 ...
#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...
#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...
#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...
#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...
