The Social Work Stories Podcast

Join Mim and Lis as we explore a harrowing story from a hospital social worker who was on the front lines of Covid-19 work, supporting families in a dedicated Covid ward. Listen as she shares her experience throughout wave-after-wave of variants, and the way this shaped the work she carried out. Remember to breathe as you listen - it could be easy to hold your breath as this practice story unfolds, feeling the deep emotion of the loss of life, the weight of the journey, and the way a team of hospital professionals pull together to bring meaning and care in the last hours of their patient's life.  After the story, Mim and Lis unpack things further, exploring the impact of burnout over a long pandemic, the poignant moments throughout, and even a few interesting concepts discovered, such as 'reverse memory-making'. 

As mentioned in the episode, have a listen to Episode 46, "Professional Grief and the Wilderness of the Soul" to hear a story with similarly deep, practice-rich themes.

Have any burning thoughts after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Dr. Mim Fox

Producers - Justin Stech & Ben Joseph

Social Media Coordinator - Maddison Stratten

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 28 June 2022)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page and LinkedIn, or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

Share some time with Mim & Lis as we listen to a piece by Julaine Allan together. Julaine talks about her work in the Drug and Alcohol space, focusing on the power of Narrative Therapy, the importance of language, and the value of holding other perspectives in social work practice.  Julaine shares wisdom and stories from her practice in an approachable and compelling segment. Mim and Lis discuss their thoughts and reflections, drawing on their own practice-backgrounds to explore the themes Julaine laid out for us. 

As mentioned in the episode, you can read more about Julaine's work here.

Have any burning thoughts after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Dr. Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 21 May 2022)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page and LinkedIn, or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

Death and dying... how do you prepare for the end of life? 

Join Mim & Lis as we listen to a long-view story of death in a hospital. We explore what the social worker does over the course of two admissions, firstly helping to facilitate conversations with the elderly patient and his family members about what a good death looks like; and secondly exploring the actual end-of-life journey. This is a fantastic and compelling story told by a very experienced social worker - there are many practice lessons to be learned no matter what area of social work you happen to be in. 

After the story, Mim and Lis break down some of the bigger picture ideas and thoughts from their own experience. We discuss the role of a hospital social worker in the death space, and how we can take steps in our personal life to help us prepare to walk alongside families as they say goodbye to their loved ones. 

As mentioned in the episode, you can read more about the work of Dr Alan Wolfelt here.

You can also explore the End of Life planning kits on the NSW Health website. 

Have any burning thoughts after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Editing - Dave Scilly

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 26 April 2022)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

Have you ever thought about going into private practice social work? Are you already working in this space? Have you never even considered it?

Join Mim & Lis as they have a conversation with Dr. Josie McSkimming, a clinical social worker and author, exploring her experience of engaging in therapeutic relationships in the midst of a pandemic. Josie shares the way she sustains herself in her practice, how she builds boundaries to support herself and her clients, and her gained wisdom for those wanting to enter the private practice space. We also discuss the emotional balance of in-the-room vs over-Zoom, the challenges of poor WiFi connections, and how a pandemic changes the whole dynamic of therapy.

Whether you're in the private practice space, aspiring to work in this space in the future, or not thinking of this area of social work practice at all, we think most everyone will find helpful reflection and useful pieces of this episode to take with them.

You can connect with Dr. Josie McSkimming on Twitter. 

*Your producer would also like to note a small correction to something mentioned in the episode: Lis claims her parents are the "Number 1 Fans", while empirical evidence shows that this title actually belongs to Judith K. We apologise for any misunderstandings and welcome all Number 1 Fans to the podcast.

Have any burning thoughts after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 29 March 2022)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

A heart-wrenching story shared by your anonymous social worker. A four year old girl dies in the Emergency Department and you are the social worker supporting the family. What do you say? What do you do?

Listen along with Mim & Lis as we bear witness and honour the life lost, the family's grief, and the support of this social worker in the worst of scenarios.

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Dr. Mim Fox.

Producers - Ben Joseph & Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 29 October 2019; 22 February 2022)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

Do you have thoughts, want to contribute a story or question for the team, or just say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Join us as we revisit Episode 1 of the Social Work Stories Podcast. It's a special time as we recently crossed three years creating this podcast, and thought we would share our thoughts and reflections on the way we've grown, changed, and also stayed the same as we have build the SWS community. 

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussion of the death of a young child. If this subject is likely to cause you distress, please choose another episode from our podcast feed.

Have any burning thoughts after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy & Mim Fox

Producers - Justin Stech & Ben Joseph

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 27 December 2021)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

As you discovered in parts 1 and 2 of the SEED series, we've been working on something BIG and we're so excited to share the third and final chapter with you! 

Join Mim and Lis as we find out what SEED is, how it was developed, and why it made such a difference for a small community hospital on the South Coast of NSW. Learn what #kindnessworkshere means, hear harrowing first-hand experiences of the Black Summer bushfires, and experience community development in action as the staff of this hospital come together to create something new. 

We think this is a model of recovery and community development that will challenge and inspire, no matter what context you're based in. 

This is episode 3 of 3. Please listen to Parts 1 and 2 before enjoying this episode - make sure you're subscribed in your podcast app of choice so you never miss an episode. in the future 

Have any reflections after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 14 December 2021)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

As you discovered in part 1 of the SEED series, we've been working on something BIG and we're so excited to share the next chapter with you! 

Join Mim and Lis as we find out what SEED is, how it was developed, and why it made such a difference for a small community hospital on the South Coast of NSW. Learn what #kindnessworkshere means, hear harrowing first-hand experiences of the Black Summer bushfires, and experience community development in action as the staff of this hospital come together to create something new. 

We think this is a model of recovery and community development that will challenge and inspire, no matter what context you're based in. 

This is episode 2 of 3. Please listen to Part 1 before enjoying this episode, and keep an eye out for the final chapter, Part 3 which will release in one week - make sure you're subscribed in your podcast app of choice so you never miss an episode. 

Have any reflections after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 07 December 2021)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

We've been working on something BIG and we're so excited to share it with you! Social Work Stories are bringing a special series of episodes exploring the SEED Program, and we're so excited for you to hear all about it. 

Join Mim and Lis as we find out what SEED is, how it was developed, and why it made such a difference for a small community hospital on the South Coast of NSW. Learn what #kindnessworkshere means, hear harrowing first-hand experiences of the Black Summer bushfires, and experience community development in action as the staff of this hospital come together to create something new. 

We think this is a model of recovery and community development that will challenge and inspire, no matter what context you're based in. 

This is episode 1 of 3. Parts 2 and 3 will be released in the coming two weeks - make sure you're subscribed in your podcast app of choice so you never miss an episode. 

Have any reflections after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 30 November 2021)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.

Ubuntu - I Am Because We Are. It was the theme of World Social Work Day in 2021, and we thought we would take some time to unpack what it means and where it comes from. 

Join Mim and Lis as we hear from two social workers who hail from Zimbabwe, who share their own perspectives of Ubuntu and how the concept developed across the continent of Africa - as well as a gripping story from the field.

Hearing from a diverse range of perspectives across the global Social Work community is so important to us, and Ubuntu captures the essence of that value. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

Have any burning thoughts after listening, or just want to say hello? Send us an email on [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Follow our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/SocialWorkStoriesPodcast

Credits:

Hosts - Lis Murphy and Mim Fox

Producer - Justin Stech

Music - 'Mama' by Ben Grace (copyright 2018). Find on Spotify, or at www.bengracemusic.com

Social Work Stories©️ (Copyright 26 October 2021)

Contact us online at www.socialworkstories.com, follow our facebook page or use the handle @SOWKStoriesPod on twitter or instagram.