The Secure Start® Podcast
Episodes
#43: Whose Truth Becomes A Child’s Story? Therapeutic Life Story Work, With Professor Richard Rose
21 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us Fan MailKids 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:...
#42: How Barbara Docker-Drysdale Built Therapeutic Skill In Care Teams - John Whitwell
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textA child’s acting out can look like defiance, chaos, or “bad behaviour” until you treat it as communication and ask what the adults ar...
#41: From Bambi To Boundaries: What Objects Reveal About Mind, Body, And Meaning, with Richard Rollinson
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textA 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, lo...
#40: Rethinking Harmful Sexual Behaviour In Kids, with Alan Jenkins
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat if the biggest driver of harmful sexual behaviour in children isn’t deviance in the child, but disconnection in the systems around t...
#39: Sri Lanka’s Care System: Progress, Gaps, And Hope - Nimali Kumari
14 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat 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...
#38: Why Emotional Reactions Are Data And How Organisations Can Turn Them Into Care, with Emma Higgs
07 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat 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 ado...
#37: From Chaos To Calm: Routines, Relationships, And Real Change In Residential Care, Tom Ellison
31 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if the most powerful “intervention” in residential care isn’t a therapy model at all, but the quiet predictability of daily l...
#36: What If Behaviour Is Just Armour For Hurt? Vicki McKeown
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if the behaviour that drives you up the wall is actually armour against shame? We sit down with psychotherapist and author Vicky Mc...
#34: Making the conscious unconscious, with Peter Blake
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI am very excited to release my conversation with Peter Blake on The Secure Start Podcast.We explore how children communicate through be...
#35: What If Children's Safeguarding Began With Love? Carla Keyte
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat 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 co...
Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Care - A Recap of 2025 on The Secure Start Podcast
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis 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 t...
#33 Care Leavers To Care Leaders - with Surja (Udayan Care Alumni)
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat happens when belief meets opportunity and doesn’t let go? We sit down with Surja—care‑experienced leader, LIFT alum, and glob...
#32 It Takes A Network, Not A Superhero - with Robbie Gilligan
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if lasting change for young people in care comes not from a single attachment, but from a web of “many good adults” who open do...
#31 Truth First: Caring Beyond The System, with Louise Allen
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSome conversations burn slowly and then glow for days. Sitting down with Louise Allen, we trace a line from a childhood rewritten by oth...
#30 - John Turberville: How The Mulberry Bush Helps Children Relearn Trust Through Relationships
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this in-depth conversation with John Turberville, CEO of The Mulberry Bush, we explore how therapeutic residential care transforms th...
#29 From Trauma To Hope, with Dr Hayley Lugassy
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat 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 Ha...
#28 What If Child Protection Started Before Harm Happened, with Professor Julie Taylor
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textImagine 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 w...
#27 Why Clear Primary Tasks And Brave Authority Transform Children’s Homes, with Tom Ellison
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe work gets easier when the purpose gets clearer. I sit down with social care consultant and leadership trainer Tom Ellison to unpack ...
#26 How a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships, with Adriana Dias
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSome projects change direction without losing their purpose—and that’s where real growth happens. I sit down with Portuguese clinica...
#25 How supporting adults creates the safety children need to learn, belong, and heal, with Megan Corcoran
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if the most powerful lever for child healing sits with the adults who show up every day? I sat down with trauma-informed educator a...
#24 Holding the Helpers, with Richard Cross
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if the most transformative thing we can do for children is to care for the carers first? That’s the provocative starting point fo...
#23 Thirty-Five Placements and Counting: Why Some Kids Need a Different Option, with Bruce Henderson
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if we've been looking at residential care all wrong? Professor Bruce Henderson, author of "Challenging the Conventional W...
#22 Reimagining Children's Homes: From Last Resort to Purposeful Healing, with Kevin Gallagher
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat does it really mean to provide therapeutic residential care to traumatised young people? Dr Kevin Gallagher draws from three decade...
#20 Challenging Last Resort Thinking: Why Some Children Thrive in Residential Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if everything we think we know about residential childcare is wrong? What if, for some children, it's not the dreaded last res...
#21 The Science of Prevention: How We Can End Child Maltreatment, with Benjamin Perks
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if child maltreatment wasn't an inevitable social problem, but something we could dramatically reduce within a generation? Ben...
#19 From Winnicott's Piano to Adolescent Minds: Peter Wilson's Journey
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textA series of serendipities and the opportunity to play Winnicott's piano marked Peter Wilson's remarkable journey into child ps...
#18 Relentless Kindness: The Foundation of Therapeutic Care, with Adela Holmes
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if everything we thought we knew about helping traumatised children was backwards? In this profound conversation, Adela Holmes reve...
#17 The Hidden Strengths of Residential Care: Challenging the Status Quo with Dr Jenna Bollinger
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDr. Jenna Bollinger takes us on a revealing journey into the heart of what makes residential care truly effective for vulnerable childre...
#16 Building Hope: Lighthouse Foundation's Legacy of Love
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat happens when one person loves a child unconditionally? According to Susan Barton AM, founder of Lighthouse Foundation, "they&a...
#15 Unlocking Potential Through Love and Acceptance, with Patricia Sheridan
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textPatricia Sheridan's remarkable journey from critical observer to pioneering founder reveals how one person's vision can transf...
#14 Learning to Live with Yourself and Others: Insights from Therapeutic Residential Care, with Richard Rollinson
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textRichard Rowlandson draws from over five decades of experience at the Mulberry Bush School to share profound insights about therapeutic r...
#13 Breaking the Cycle: How Investing in Children's Services Changes Lives, with Andrew Isaac
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAndrew Isaac brings decades of leadership experience in children's social care to this eye-opening discussion about the state of fo...
#12 From Orphanage to Therapeutic Community: Portugal's Residential Care Revolution
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textColby Pearce connects with the core technical team of Livramento, a residential care home in Portugal with a remarkable 200-year history...
#11 Breaking Cycles: Healing Across Generations with Dr. Lisa Cherry
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat happens when someone with lived experience of the care system becomes a leading voice in trauma-informed practice? Dr. Lisa Cherry&...
Exploring Attachment, Self-Worth, and Shame, with Colby Pearce
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat makes attachment so crucial for foster children, and how can carers build connection with young people who seem determined to push ...
#10 Transforming Lives: Dr. Kiran Modi's Journey with Vulnerable Children in India
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textA childhood moment of terror when separated from her parents for mere minutes sparked Dr. Kiran Modi's lifelong mission to transfor...
#9 Leadership Alignment: The Backbone of Therapeutic Practice, with Simon Benjamin
25 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat makes therapeutic care truly effective? Simon Benjamin takes us on a journey through his remarkable career—from cleaning houses a...
#8 Beyond Management: Why Culture Flows Downhill, with Lynne Peyton
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat happens when leadership falters in high-stakes environments? Children and families suffer. After managing social services during No...
#7 From Cotswold Community to Global Health: Healing Systems, with Graeme Kerridge
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhen Graeme Kerridge first stepped into the Cotswold Community in 1977, he encountered a revolutionary approach to caring for deeply tro...
#6 Healing Through Relationship: A Lifetime in Therapeutic Care, with Adela Holmes
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAdela Holmes brings over five decades of wisdom to this compelling conversation about healing our most vulnerable children. With a caree...
#5 Shame Containment Theory: A Revolutionary Approach, with Lisa Etherson
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textShame isn't just a fleeting emotion—it's a complex process that profoundly shapes our lives from childhood through adulthood...
#4 Parental Navigation of the Digital Frontier, with Catherine Knibbs
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoin me for a highly engaging and thought provoking conversation with Catherine (Cath) Knibbs, as we discuss the scope of harms children...
#3 Navigating Trauma Through Reflective Practice, with Dr Nicola O'Sullivan
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEmotional wellbeing in child protectionWhat drives us toward careers in child protection, and how might our personal histories unconscio...
#2 Building Healing Environments for Traumatized Youth, with John Whitwell
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textCreating Therapeutic Environments for Traumatized Children: Lessons from the Cotswold Community and BeyondWhat does it truly take to cre...
#1 Reunifying 1,200 Children: The Connecting Families Story with Sally Rhodes
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFamily Preservation Through Trauma Informed PracticeWhat does it take to safely reunify over 1,200 children with their families? Sally R...