The Social Work Café

It is not uncommon for some people to be deemed too “complex” or “difficult” to treat in the mental health system. In this episode of the Social Work Cafe, we meet a passionate social work therapist and advocate who is determined to address those outdated ideas. Alex Wilson is an experienced practitioner with her own private practice, Mindful Recovery. Alex shares her social work perspective on working in the mental health space, e...

Episode summary

Dr Will Dobud is back in the café to explore the wild side of social work! He survived chatting with me about feedback-informed treatment in season 1. This time he is going to speak with us his number one passion of wilderness therapy. Will is going to clarify some terminology in this field, as well as explain the theory and practice methods that are common to this field. Be sure to stick around for this advice on h...

Welcome to the launch of season 2 of the Social Work Café podcast. I’m your host, Bernadette Moorhead, aka Dr B. In this brief trailer, I reveal what’s in store for season 2, including the question that each guest will answer.  Whether you are a social work student or practitioner in any part of the world, this podcast is for you. So go brew your favourite drink and join me in the Social Work Café.  

How you can get involved

Become...

For our last episode for 2023, I’m joined in the Social Work Café by Kasey Henshaw, a dedicated listener who is about to graduate! We’re going to talk about what she has gained from listening to season 1 of the podcast and how she would answer that all-important question: What is social work? Dr. B will chime in with her very own answer as well.

How you can get involved

Become a friend of the podcast by tapping the subscribe b...

Welcome back to the Social Work Café. As a profession largely consisting of women, it is no surprise that many social workers embrace a feminist worldview. We are passionate about liberation, class struggle, and addressing gendered injustices, which are exemplified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. With this in mind, does contemporary social work adequately centre feminist theory and practice? To examine this question, Jac M...

Episode summary

The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) plays a key role in promoting our profession at a global level, especially through the international definition of social work. But what is it that makes social work a global profession? In this episode, I speak with Dr. Sebastian Cordoba, an Australian social work educator at RMIT and member of the IFSW Asia-Pacific Regional Representatives of the United Nations...

Welcome back to The Social Work Café. Within the vast field of health, is the equally vast field of mental health. Social workers have a lot to offer the mental health space, but we have some work to do when it comes to promoting a social work perspective of mental health. I have the perfect guest to speak on this topic, my fabulous colleague, Dr. Fredrik Velander, who is an experienced social work practitioner, educator and resear...

I often come across social work students who baulk at the idea of working with older adults, which is a shame because it is a group that desperately needs us. Joining me in the Social Work Café is the fabulous Dr. Belinda Cash, whose passion for working with older adults is utterly infectious. In this episode, Belinda explains the many ways that social workers can make vital social justice and human rights contributions to the live...

Welcome to this very special bonus episode of the Social Work Café, where the usual format has been thrown out the window for now. I’m joined by the amazing Jac McNamara, a field education coordinator at Central Queensland University. I have the great pleasure of co-supervising Jac for her PhD, and even more exciting is that we both attended and presented at the International Federation of Social Work Europe Conference in May, held...

Welcome back to The Social Work Café. From time to time, students and newly qualified practitioners ask me how they can go about becoming an accredited mental health social worker in Australia and whether it is worth undertaking at all. I have not been through the process myself, so it is shrouded in mystery for me. Fortunately, Ashton Hayes has her own podcast on this very topic! Ashton is an experienced social work practitioner, ...

Episode summary

Welcome back to the Social Work Café dear listeners. Have you heard? We are all trauma-informed these days! In this episode, joining me in the café is experienced practitioner, researcher and academic, Dr. Andreia Schineanu. We chat about trauma-informed social work at the practice and organisational level to get a better idea of how these ideas can be of benefit to social work, rather than becoming another fad that...

Episode summary

Welcome back to the Social Work Café. Have you ever been sitting in another pointless meeting that could have been an email? Perhaps this has prompted you to flirt with the idea of becoming your own boss? In this episode, I have the perfect guest to talk about the journey of becoming a private practitioner. Cass Fletcher is an experienced social worker, therapist, and early-career researcher. We talk about how she m...

Episode summary

Welcome back to the Social Work Café. In this episode, Vicki Shevlin joins me for an exciting conversation about newly qualified social work. Vicki started her own podcast to give practical advice and support to newly qualified social workers in the UK. She shares those insights with us, which I am sure will be helpful to social work students, new graduates and even experienced practitioners who might have their own...

Episode summary

While I love a steaming hot bath and a chill session on my couch, self-care in social work is so much more than what you do as an individual outside of work. Today I am chatting with an amazing and experienced social worker, Mikaela Higgins, who works in the child welfare sector. Mikaela gives us important insights into workplace self-care and how necessary it is for organisations to embed self-care into workplace s...

Episode summary

Can you be a social worker in any job, even if you work outside of the human services industry? I have the perfect guest joining me in the café to explore this question. Karise McNamee has enjoyed a fascinating social work career across government, non-government, and private practice, including outside of the human services world. Karise shares insights from her captivating career, including how her social work ide...

Welcome back, café dwellers. Joining us in the Social Work Café is my adventurous colleague Will Dobud, aka Docbud (or even Dodobud). In this episode, we examine how social workers can get FIT, without putting on spandex. Evaluation is an important part of social work practice, but are we doing it in a meaningful way that invites genuine feedback we can use to improve? Docbud explores this question and shares his passion for feedba...

There has been a green explosion of social work literature on environmental social work. To help us make sense of what this all means for social work practice, the wonderful Associate Professor Heather Boetto and social worker, Laura Fletcher are joining us in the café. Heather and Laura have been researching, teaching, and doing community projects in this exciting area for a number of years. Together, they offer a lot of inspirati...

Social workers are being increasingly employed by public libraries. I am incredibly excited to learn more about this burgeoning field of practice. Joining me in the café is the first library social worker in Texas, Patrick Lloyd. He has been writing and presenting on library social work for a number of years and has a lot of wisdom to share. You will learn how library social work is taking form and how you can get involved.

Le...

What does a social work practice framework look like? In this episode, we have the perfect guest to explore this question. Sue Wilkins is an experienced practitioner, academic, and early-career researcher. Like me, she has an enduring passion for social work developing and promoting our collective identity. In our conversation, Sue inspires us to think about the components of a social work practice framework that could help us to b...