In Episode 19 of Not Another PD Podcast, Jazmin is joined by her best friend Kim, a youth worker, former residential care worker, mum, and school wellbeing practitioner.

Episode 18: Why Does “Being Nice” Feel Safer at Work?

Why does “being nice” feel safer at work?

In this solo episode of Not Another PD, I explore people-pleasing through a different lens, not as a personality trait, but as a stress response.

I unpack the fawn response, a lesser-discussed nervous system response alongside fight, flight and freeze, and why it shows up so commonly for helping professionals.

This episode isn’t about naming or shaming.
It’s about understanding context, safety, and the systems many of us work within.

I talk through:

• How the fawn response shows up as over-agreeing, avoidance, blurred boundaries and people-pleasing

• Why helping professionals are particularly vulnerable to this response

• The role of gendered expectations and socialisation in care-based professions

• How unsafe, unpredictable, or unsupportive leadership environments can activate people-pleasing

• A real example from my own career, and how I would respond differently now

• How to recognise the fawn response through body cues, thoughts and behaviours

• Gentle ways to interrupt the pattern through awareness, reflection and support

This conversation applies to both professional and personal contexts, because nervous systems don’t switch off when work ends.

If this resonates, you’re welcome to send me a DM and let me know where you notice people-pleasing or the fawn response showing up for you.

You can also explore my self-paced Boundaries as Practitioners training or learn more about group supervision options for practitioners and leaders.

Boundaries as Practitioners (self-paced training)

Group supervision with me in 2026

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Stillman, M., Sullivan, E. E., Prasad, K., Sinsky, C. A., et al. (2024). Understanding what leaders can do to facilitate healthcare workers’ feeling valued. BMJ Leader.

Jobs and Skills Australia — Social Workers occupational profile

Episode 17: Failure Isn’t the Threat You Think It Is with Bree Coulter

Failure isn’t the threat you think it is.

For many helping professionals, fear of failure quietly sits underneath people-pleasing, overworking, blurred boundaries, and chronic self-doubt, even when insight, experience, and professional knowledge are already there.

In this episode of Not Another PD, Jazmin is joined by Bree Coulter, creator of the SHIFT Method, a neuroscience-informed approach focused on subconscious healing, identity alignment, and safety-based change to explore why awareness alone rarely creates lasting shifts, and how old safety patterns continue to shape how we show up at work, in relationships, and in leadership.

This conversation unpacks why knowing why you do something doesn’t always change it, how the brain prioritises safety over logic, why fear of failure keeps people stuck in repeat cycles, the role of the limbic system in people-pleasing and over-functioning, why many boundary difficulties are safety-based rather than discipline-based, how failure becomes feedback and direction rather than proof you’re “not enough,” and what shifts when professionals begin leading from self-trust instead of self-protection.

Bree also shares her lived experience of being a high performer with no boundaries, how those patterns were rooted in early survival wiring, and how developing the SHIFT Method allowed her to realign who she was internally with how she showed up externally, including the personal boundaries she holds to protect her energy and family time.

This episode will resonate particularly with helping professionals who have done extensive therapy, supervision, and professional development, want to understand some of their patterns intellectually, still feel exhausted, reactive, or stuck, and are looking for change that actually lasts, not just more insight.

How to Work with Bree:

Bree offers 1:1 coaching using the SHIFT Method (Subconscious Healing and Identity Fracture Transformation).

Website
LinkedIn

Bree also offers a free, non-sales clarity call for those wanting to explore what’s showing up and whether working together is the right fit.

Free Resource for Not Another PD Listeners:
A reflective journaling resource designed to help listeners understand where emotions are coming from, what the brain and body are communicating, and what may need addressing.
FREE MINI COURSE

Make sure to use DISCOUNT CODE: DECODE100 so it is FREE just for you, lovely.

How to Work with Jazmin:

Boundaries as Practitioners — Self-Paced Training ($59)
A practical, evidence-informed professional learning program supporting helping professionals to recognise boundary moments early, reduce mental load, and practise with greater clarity and consistency. ACA OPD Approved Training.

1:1 Coaching & Supervision
Individualised support for helping professionals wanting tailored guidance to apply boundaries and theoretical frameworks confidently and sustainably in complex work environments.

Episode 16: The Myth of the Good Practitioner: Letting Go of Perfection in the Helping Professions

In this solo episode of Not Another PD, Jazmin explores one of the most deeply ingrained beliefs in the helping professions: the myth of the “good practitioner.”

Where does this idea come from? Why do so many of us equate being “good” with being endlessly available, endlessly capable, endlessly calm? And what’s the cost of upholding that standard on our wellbeing, our families, and our identity at work?

Drawing on her own experience working as a primary school social worker, Jazmin reflects on how striving to be the perfect practitioner can quietly become part of who we think we’re allowed to be, and how to begin unravelling that pressure.

You’ll hear:

- What a “myth” actually is, and why the “good practitioner” ideal is one

- How universities, placements, and workplaces quietly reward overgiving

- The pressure to constantly prove your worth as a practitioner (especially early career)

- How perfectionism and blurred boundaries chip away at work-life balance

- A simple, visual reflection activity you can try today to start releasing those internalised “shoulds”

- How to start talking about this safely in supervision and peer spaces

Mentioned in this episode:

- Reflection activity: Write a list of all the traits you think a “good” practitioner must have, read it aloud, then crumple it / erase it. You’re allowed to let those expectations go.

- Supervision: Bring this conversation to your supervisor, external supervisor, or trusted peer and ask, “What expectations am I carrying that are actually costing me?”

Connect with Jazmin:

Website

Instagram

Boundaries as Practitioners Online Self-Paced Training ($59)

Subscribe to Not Another PD for weekly episodes on wellbeing, boundaries, and identity for helping professionals.

Episode 15: The Stories We Inherit: How Family Patterns Shape Us as Helping Professionals with Sarah Voronov

Episode 14: The Excuses Leaders Use to Avoid Supervision (And Why They Don’t Stack Up)

This is the second instalment of my Bold Boundaries for Leaders mini-series, and today we’re talking about one of the most overlooked but essential leadership strategies: supervision.

Here’s the irony I see all the time: as leaders, we expect our staff to engage in supervision, yet so many of us don’t prioritise it for ourselves. And that comes with risks: to our wellbeing, our organisations, and the people we lead.

In this episode, I’ll cover:

• The three excuses leaders use to avoid supervision:

  1. The Firefighter - “I’m too busy putting out fires.”

  2. The Lone Wolf - “I can manage on my own.”

  3. The Banker - “There’s no budget, my organisation won’t fund it.”

• And why these excuses don’t stack up

• -Five key reasons you can use to self-advocate with your organisation about the importance of investing in supervision for leaders:

  1. Risk management

  2. Role-modelling

  3. Retention

  4. Professional standards

  5. Fairness and justice

Supervision isn’t optional, it’s your “regular service” as a leader. It helps keep you effective, grounded, and sustainable, and it strengthens your staff and organisation too.

Tune in and reflect on how you can stop hiding behind the excuses and start taking action on your own supervision.

Let’s connect: Visit www.jazminpursell.com.au, follow me on Instagram @jazminpursell

Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know which of the three excuses has popped up for you in the past, and what your next step towards prioritising supervision might be.

Episode 13: Should the Next Generation of Leaders Have No Boundaries Just Because We Don’t?

As leaders, supervisors, and mentors, our boundaries don’t just affect us, they quietly ripple out to the people we guide.
This solo episode is part of my Bold Boundaries for Leaders mini-series on Not Another PD.

And today, I’m asking a confronting but necessary question:

“Should the next generation of leaders have no boundaries… simply because we don’t?”

I’m also unpacking three leadership traps I see helping-professional leaders fall into again and again:

1. The Fixer
2. The Always On
3. The Over-Committer

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How inconsistent boundaries quietly shape team culture and wellbeing

• Why your staff and clients take their cues from how you lead

• The cost of neglecting your own limits in leadership

• Practical reflections to help you lead with clarity, balance, and integrity

If you’re a helping professional in a leadership role, whether manager, supervisor, team lead, coordinator, or coach, this episode is especially for you.
Tune in to reflect on your own boundaries and the impact you want to have as a leader.

If this episode resonates and you’d like personalised support, I offer 1:1 leadership supervision for helping professionals.
I have appointments available both this month and in the new year, and I’d love to support you.

Book a 1:1 supervision session here:
https://jazminpursellconsulting.as.me/

Let’s connect:
www.jazminpursell.com.au
Instagram: @jazminpursell

Send me a DM and let me know which leadership trap resonated with you most.

Episode 12: Beyond the Tick-Box: What Real Supervision Looks Like with Jess Marsh

What does real supervision look like, the kind that actually helps you stay well in the work instead of just ticking a box?

In this episode, I’m joined again by Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Jess Marsh, to talk about supervision as a genuine burnout prevention and recovery tool. Jess shares her own experience of burnout and how reflective supervision helped her find her way back to sustainable practice.

We also explore:

What makes supervision truly supportive (and what doesn’t)

Why “tick-box” supervision misses the point

The difference between counselling and reflective supervision

How tools like the Supervision Menu and ProQOL can help practitioners stay grounded

And I have to admit, this episode came about because I was totally fan-girling over Jess’s Supervision Menu after buying myself a copy and using it in my own sessions. Maybe I’m the only supervision nerd here… haha!

Tune in to hear how supervision, done well, can become one of your biggest protective factors against burnout.

Connect with Jess Marsh:

Instagram

Facebook

Grab a copy of Jess’ amazing Supervision Menu and Therapeutic Practice Menu.

Other Resources Mentioned:

The Professional Quality of Life Scale – 5 (ProQOL)

Connect with Jazmin Pursell:

If you’re ready for supervision that supports your boundaries, wellbeing, and sustainable practice, you can:

Book supervision or Coaching with me

Explore my wellbeing membership, Beyond the Caseload here

Send me a DM on Instagram if this episode has helped you shift your thinking around your own supervision, I would love to hear from you.

New episodes of Not Another PD are released every Friday before work.

Subscribe so you don’t miss the next conversation for helping professionals who care so much about the work that they do, but don’t want to burn out while doing it.