Social Work Radio

In this week’s episode of Social Work Radio, Vince and Cara unpack the growing fallout after a justice minister said parental alienation has no scientific basis, asking what that means for family courts, social work practice, and the parents and children caught in the middle. From the long shadow of the 2020 Harm Panel to the role of unregulated experts and the damage caused when safeguarding concerns are reframed as manipulation, the episode explores how a concept with no recognised diagnostic standing became so influential, and whether this moment could finally shift the system back towards child safety.

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

In the latest episode of Social Work Radio, Vince and Cara take on one of the biggest issues facing the profession right now: the growing role of AI in social work. From algorithmic risk scores and embedded decision-support tools to bias, transparency, consent, and the future of professional judgement, this episode explores what happens when technology starts shaping practice faster than many practitioners realise.

It is a sharp, timely conversation about safeguarding the relational core of social work in an increasingly automated world, and why Social Work Week 2026 should be a moment for the profession to lead the debate rather than simply react to it.

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

In this episode of Social Work Radio, Vince and Cara take on some of the most persistent myths about social workers, from the damaging child-snatcher stereotype to the idea that social work is just a matter of having a kind heart. Together, they unpack the skill, scrutiny, and emotional weight the profession really involves, explore why so much of social work remains invisible to the public, and reflect on the quiet expertise needed to balance empathy with professional curiosity.
Created by social workers, for social workers. Join the conversation every Friday morning.

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.