Shows / The Secure Start® Podcast
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…
Episodes
The Secure Start® Podcast#61: Why groups matter to healing childhood trauma, with Dr Kevin Gallagher
Send us Fan Mail Children’s homes are getting smaller, placement by placement, policy by policy, until “care” can start to look like isolation. I sit down with…
The Secure Start® Podcast#60: Therapeutic Love In Residential Child Care, with Kate Brown
Send us Fan Mail The word “love” can feel risky in child protection, but we keep coming back to it because the best care is never just a checklist. I'm joined…
The Secure Start® Podcast#59: Healthy Teams Deliver Healing, with Simon Benjamin
Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever watched a care team get dragged into chaos and wondered why “good practice” disappears under pressure, this conversation gives…
The Secure Start® Podcast#58: Therapeutic Residential Child Care That Works, with Douglas Faircloth
Send us Fan Mail A young person once told our guest, “You’re the first adult I’ve ever had a conversation with.” That single line sets the tone for a deep…
The Secure Start® Podcast#57: The Work You Cannot Leave At The Door, with Marie Clutton
Send us Fan Mail If you think you can do therapeutic residential care and leave it all at the door, Marie Clutton has a gentle challenge for you. Young people…
The Secure Start® Podcast#56: Reclaimed Belonging, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail A child disappears into the underside of a foam settee, furious when the adults cannot find her. Another child “loses” Super Ted again and…
The Secure Start® Podcast#55: Caring Means Holding Grief Without Turning Punitive, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail Care gets framed as gentle and cosy, but that story falls apart the moment you work closely with children who have lived through fear, loss…
The Secure Start® Podcast#54: A Big Heart And Spare Room Is Not A Care Plan, with Gareth K Thomas
Send us Fan Mail “All you need is a big heart and a spare room” might be the most damaging sentence in foster care. I'm joined by Gareth K. Thomas, former…
The Secure Start® Podcast#53: Residential Care Should Be A Thoughtful First Choice For Some Kids, with Martha Holden
Send us Fan Mail “Residential care is the last resort” sounds like a policy line, but it lands as a verdict on children and on the people who care for them. In…
The Secure Start® Podcast#52: Small Moments Build Safety And Hope, with Mary-anne Hodd
Send us Fan Mail A child can walk into a house with a full fridge and a clean bed and still feel terrified. That’s the gap we’re trying to close, and it’s why…
The Secure Start® Podcast#51: Leaving Care In Germany And Why Support Drops Away, with Tanja Abou
Send us Fan Mail Turning 16 should not feel like a countdown to being on your own. Turning 18 should not require a letter proving you deserve a roof over your…
The Secure Start® PodcastGood Residential Child Care Starts With Understanding Pain, with Professor James Anglin
Send us Fan Mail “Problem behaviour” is a label that can make adults defensive, punitive and quick to control. We wanted to slow that down and ask a different…
The Secure Start® Podcast#49: Who Counts As A Trauma Survivor When No One Sees You, with Ruth Clare
Send us Fan Mail Some children live through severe developmental trauma in plain sight, then grow up to find they are missing from the research, the services…
The Secure Start® Podcast#48: Making The Unbearable Bearable In Trauma-Informed Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#47: What Children In Care Say Matters Most - Lisa Holmes
Send us Fan Mail We love neat metrics in children’s social care because they fit on dashboards: placement stability, school attainment, cost per child. But…
The Secure Start® Podcast#46: Attachment In Supervision, with Dr Alex Rowell
Send us Fan Mail Supervision can look calm on the outside while a whole attachment system is firing underneath. When a supervisee is worried about risk…
The Secure Start® Podcast#45: What If “Bad Behaviour” Is A Disability We Refuse To See, with William "Liam" Curran
Send us Fan Mail Kids don’t “choose” impulsivity, shutdowns, school blow-ups or constant conflict at home, yet child protection and education systems still…
The Secure Start® Podcast#44: I am seen, so I am*, with Paul van Heeswijk
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#43: Whose Truth Becomes A Child’s Story? Therapeutic Life Story Work, With Professor Richard Rose
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#42: How Barbara Docker-Drysdale Built Therapeutic Skill In Care Teams - John Whitwell
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#41: From Bambi To Boundaries: What Objects Reveal About Mind, Body, And Meaning, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#40: Rethinking Harmful Sexual Behaviour In Kids, with Alan Jenkins
Send us Fan Mail What if the biggest driver of harmful sexual behaviour in children isn’t deviance in the child, but disconnection in the systems around them?…
The Secure Start® Podcast#39: Sri Lanka’s Care System: Progress, Gaps, And Hope - Nimali Kumari
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#38: Why Emotional Reactions Are Data And How Organisations Can Turn Them Into Care, with Emma Higgs
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#37: From Chaos To Calm: Routines, Relationships, And Real Change In Residential Care, Tom Ellison
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#36: What If Behaviour Is Just Armour For Hurt? Vicki McKeown
Send us Fan Mail What if the behaviour that drives you up the wall is actually armour against shame? We sit down with psychotherapist and author Vicky McKeown…
The Secure Start® Podcast#34: Making the conscious unconscious, with Peter Blake
Send us Fan Mail I am very excited to release my conversation with Peter Blake on The Secure Start Podcast. We explore how children communicate through…
The Secure Start® Podcast#35: What If Children's Safeguarding Began With Love? Carla Keyte
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® PodcastOrdinary Life, Extraordinary Care - A Recap of 2025 on The Secure Start Podcast
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#33 Care Leavers To Care Leaders - with Surja (Udayan Care Alumni)
Send us Fan Mail What happens when belief meets opportunity and doesn’t let go? We sit down with Surja—care‑experienced leader, LIFT alum, and global…
The Secure Start® Podcast#32 It Takes A Network, Not A Superhero - with Robbie Gilligan
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#31 Truth First: Caring Beyond The System, with Louise Allen
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#30 - John Turberville: How The Mulberry Bush Helps Children Relearn Trust Through Relationships
Send us Fan Mail In this in-depth conversation with John Turberville, CEO of The Mulberry Bush, we explore how therapeutic residential care transforms the…
The Secure Start® Podcast#29 From Trauma To Hope, with Dr Hayley Lugassy
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#28 What If Child Protection Started Before Harm Happened, with Professor Julie Taylor
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#27 Why Clear Primary Tasks And Brave Authority Transform Children’s Homes, with Tom Ellison
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#26 How a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships, with Adriana Dias
Send us Fan Mail Some projects change direction without losing their purpose—and that’s where real growth happens. I sit down with Portuguese clinical…
The Secure Start® Podcast#25 How supporting adults creates the safety children need to learn, belong, and heal, with Megan Corcoran
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#24 Holding the Helpers, with Richard Cross
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#23 Thirty-Five Placements and Counting: Why Some Kids Need a Different Option, with Bruce Henderson
Send us Fan Mail What if we've been looking at residential care all wrong? Professor Bruce Henderson, author of "Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About…
The Secure Start® Podcast#22 Reimagining Children's Homes: From Last Resort to Purposeful Healing, with Kevin Gallagher
Send us Fan Mail What does it really mean to provide therapeutic residential care to traumatised young people? Dr Kevin Gallagher draws from three decades of…
The Secure Start® Podcast#20 Challenging Last Resort Thinking: Why Some Children Thrive in Residential Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
Send us Fan Mail 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…
The Secure Start® Podcast#21 The Science of Prevention: How We Can End Child Maltreatment, with Benjamin Perks
Send us Fan Mail What if child maltreatment wasn't an inevitable social problem, but something we could dramatically reduce within a generation? Benjamin…
The Secure Start® Podcast#19 From Winnicott's Piano to Adolescent Minds: Peter Wilson's Journey
Send us Fan Mail A series of serendipities and the opportunity to play Winnicott's piano marked Peter Wilson's remarkable journey into child psychotherapy. In…
The Secure Start® Podcast#18 Relentless Kindness: The Foundation of Therapeutic Care, with Adela Holmes
Send us Fan Mail What if everything we thought we knew about helping traumatised children was backwards? In this profound conversation, Adela Holmes reveals…
The Secure Start® Podcast#17 The Hidden Strengths of Residential Care: Challenging the Status Quo with Dr Jenna Bollinger
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Jenna Bollinger takes us on a revealing journey into the heart of what makes residential care truly effective for vulnerable children and…
The Secure Start® Podcast#16 Building Hope: Lighthouse Foundation's Legacy of Love
Send us Fan Mail What happens when one person loves a child unconditionally? According to Susan Barton AM, founder of Lighthouse Foundation, "they'll usually…
The Secure Start® Podcast#15 Unlocking Potential Through Love and Acceptance, with Patricia Sheridan
Send us Fan Mail Patricia Sheridan's remarkable journey from critical observer to pioneering founder reveals how one person's vision can transform an entire…
The Secure Start® Podcast#14 Learning to Live with Yourself and Others: Insights from Therapeutic Residential Care, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail Richard Rowlandson draws from over five decades of experience at the Mulberry Bush School to share profound insights about therapeutic…
The Secure Start® Podcast#13 Breaking the Cycle: How Investing in Children's Services Changes Lives, with Andrew Isaac
Send us Fan Mail Andrew Isaac brings decades of leadership experience in children's social care to this eye-opening discussion about the state of foster care…
The Secure Start® Podcast#12 From Orphanage to Therapeutic Community: Portugal's Residential Care Revolution
Send us Fan Mail Colby Pearce connects with the core technical team of Livramento, a residential care home in Portugal with a remarkable 200-year history of…
The Secure Start® Podcast#11 Breaking Cycles: Healing Across Generations with Dr. Lisa Cherry
Send us Fan Mail What happens when someone with lived experience of the care system becomes a leading voice in trauma-informed practice? Dr. Lisa Cherry's…
The Secure Start® PodcastExploring Attachment, Self-Worth, and Shame, with Colby Pearce
Send us Fan Mail What makes attachment so crucial for foster children, and how can carers build connection with young people who seem determined to push them…
The Secure Start® Podcast#10 Transforming Lives: Dr. Kiran Modi's Journey with Vulnerable Children in India
Send us Fan Mail A childhood moment of terror when separated from her parents for mere minutes sparked Dr. Kiran Modi's lifelong mission to transform care for…
The Secure Start® Podcast#9 Leadership Alignment: The Backbone of Therapeutic Practice, with Simon Benjamin
Send us Fan Mail What makes therapeutic care truly effective? Simon Benjamin takes us on a journey through his remarkable career—from cleaning houses as a…
The Secure Start® Podcast#8 Beyond Management: Why Culture Flows Downhill, with Lynne Peyton
Send us Fan Mail What happens when leadership falters in high-stakes environments? Children and families suffer. After managing social services during Northern…
The Secure Start® Podcast#7 From Cotswold Community to Global Health: Healing Systems, with Graeme Kerridge
Send us Fan Mail When Graeme Kerridge first stepped into the Cotswold Community in 1977, he encountered a revolutionary approach to caring for deeply troubled…
The Secure Start® Podcast#6 Healing Through Relationship: A Lifetime in Therapeutic Care, with Adela Holmes
Send us Fan Mail Adela Holmes brings over five decades of wisdom to this compelling conversation about healing our most vulnerable children. With a career…
The Secure Start® Podcast#5 Shame Containment Theory: A Revolutionary Approach, with Lisa Etherson
Send us Fan Mail Shame isn't just a fleeting emotion—it's a complex process that profoundly shapes our lives from childhood through adulthood. In this…
The Secure Start® Podcast#4 Parental Navigation of the Digital Frontier, with Catherine Knibbs
Send us Fan Mail Join me for a highly engaging and thought provoking conversation with Catherine (Cath) Knibbs, as we discuss the scope of harms children and…