Trigger alert- there is a small amount of swearing in this episode. It is an emotive topic for us!

A Critical, Timely Deep Dive for Professionals and the Community

We understand it’s the Christmas period, and this is a heavy topic. But we also know that for many people navigating high-conflict relationships, the holidays can be the most dangerous and suffocating time of the year. This episode is dedicated to providing timely validation and understanding.

Join Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey as they move beyond isolated incidents of physical violence to examine the overarching, strategic pattern of coercive control.

Why This Episode is Essential Listening Right Now:

The festive season often acts as a catalyst for coercive control. External pressures like financial strain and forced family proximity are frequently weaponized to intensify patterns of domination. For practitioners, this is a critical window for intervention. By framing these holiday stressors as strategic tactics of entrapment, rather than isolated incidents of "stress", we provide a psychological lifeline for clients. Understanding these dynamics is essential for trauma-informed validation and navigating the heightened risks survivors face this time of year.

What You Will Learn in This Deep Dive:

• Defining the Core Harm: We discuss the foundational research of Evan Stark, who defines domestic violence not by the use of force, but by the systematic deprivation of liberty and autonomy.

• The Blueprint of Domination: Understand the sophisticated, chronic pattern of behaviours, including isolation, micromanagement, economic abuse, and surveillance—tactics that create chronic fear and entrapment.

• The Psychological Toll: We explore the link between chronic abuse and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), and why survivors often feel trapped, using the Hostage Syndrome analogy to explain the impact of learned helplessness.

• Lethal Risk & Assessment: Coercive control is consistently identified as a precursor in approximately 97% of intimate partner homicides. We detail why the control, not just the physical punch, is the core lethal risk factor.

This episode details trauma-informed interventions for social workers, emphasising the need to re-establish a client's autonomy and safely document the pattern of control.

🚨 Need Support?

If this episode has raised any issues for you, please reach out to the following services in Australia:

• Emergency: Always call Triple Zero (000).
• Lifeline 13 11 14
• 1800RESPECT: Confidential counselling and support. Phone: 1800 737 732 (24/7).
• Men's Referral Service: For men concerned about their own use of violence. Phone: 1300 766 491.
• 13 Yarn 13 92 76

For our international listeners, please contact your local domestic violence or crisis support services.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and our new YouTube page for more content! Send any practice stories, episode suggestions, or anything social work related to relationalpractice01@gmail.com.

If you like our podcast, please take a minute to rate, review, and subscribe. This helps others find us and helps us continue to create valuable content.

Music by Hannah Park

Editing by Angus Pinkstone

"Stop asking, 'What is wrong with you?' Start asking, 'What happened to you?'

In our new episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey dive deep into applying a Trauma Lens to Emotional and Behavioural Regulation. Think about an Iceberg: the behaviour you see is just the tip. Beneath the surface are protective, biological responses rooted in trauma.

Key takeaways for practitioners:

✅ Definition: The shift from being 'trauma-informed' to 'trauma-responsive' (SAMHSA).

✅ Neurobiology: Understanding the Polyvagal Theory (Ventral Vagal, Sympathetic, Dorsal Vagal) and why a body gets 'stuck on alert.'

✅ Strategy: Why we must prioritize co-regulation (Regulate-Relate-Reason) to promote individual healing. We advocate for a focus that promotes using a reparative relationship in an intentional way.

Whether you work with children, families, individuals or groups, this discussion will fundamentally change how you view 'challenging' behaviour.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and our new YouTube page for more content!

Send any practice stories, episode suggestions, or anything social work related to relationalpractice01@gmail.com.

If you like our podcast, please take a minute to rate, review, and subscribe. This helps others find us and helps us continue to create valuable content.

Music by Hannah Park

Editing by Angus Pinkstone

In this critical episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, we centre the social work imperative: closing the harmful gap between progressive legal policy and inconsistent judicial practice in family violence matters.

We tackle the tension where the legislative shift toward safety meets the judicial default of contact, often at the expense of protective mothers and their children. We have intentionally taken a gendered position on this topic.

The Policy Promise: Shifting the Paradigm - We analyse the critical implications of the Australian Family Law Amendment Act 2023 and proposed UK changes, which explicitly mandate child safety as paramount and remove presumptions for equal time. This systemic change reflects an overdue recognition of risk. We review sobering ANROWS research that underscores intimate partner violence as a major risk factor for filicide, demanding a trauma-informed response from all systems.

The Practice Problem: The 'Contact at All Costs'- Default across both the public (Child Protection) and private (Family Law) dispute systems, we examine the persistent challenge where judicial officers frequently default to ordering contact (even supervised) with the violent parent, regardless of the documented history of harm. We question the social work ethics and rationale behind this pervasive 'contact at all costs' culture—a practice that often re-traumatizes children and severely undermines the efforts of protective mothers and social workers advocating for safety.

The Roadmap to Intervention: Reframing "Best Interests"- Referencing international trends, we argue that the judicial "best interests of the child" principle must be reframed through a trauma-informed lens to mean "safety at all costs" when violence is a factor.

We discuss the urgent need for:

• Systemic Cultural Change: Moving from risk management to genuine protection.
• Enhanced Tools: Better risk assessment frameworks for judicial decision-makers.
• Trauma-Informed Training: Essential skill-building for all judicial and legal professionals to understand the dynamics of violence and the experiences of children and protective women.

Join us as we advocate for the judicial and systemic reform necessary to ensure that the law’s promise of protection becomes a consistent, trauma-informed reality for children and their families

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and send your comments to relationalpractice01@gmail.com.

If you like our podcast, please take a minute to rate, review, and subscribe. This helps others find us and helps us continue to create valuable content.

Music by Hannah Park

Editing by Angus Pinkstone