‘A Cultural Model of Therapeutic Social Work’ with Jannice Luland

“A special moment”. Jannice with the clapsticks at the Singing for Healing program.

Jannice Luland is our guest on episode 26 of Talk the Walk.  Jannice is a proud Aboriginal woman and direct descendant of the Wodiwodi and Walbunja peoples of the far South coast of NSW.   After a career spanning over 30 years in child protection, out of home care, justice health, mental health, domestic and family violence and sexual assault, Jannice finally graduated with her Masters of Social Work in 2015.

Aunty Jeno, as she is known in her community of Nowra in NSW, is passionate about supporting women and young people in the field of domestic violence and sexualised violence, and has a special interest in the impact of intergenerational trauma on the Stolen Generations.

As well as being employed as a Healing Counsellor at Waminda, Jannice currently serves on the Aboriginal Elders committee and cultural committee.  She is a huge advocate of social work practice frameworks which incorporate cultural healing practices.  In our conversation we dive deep into what this looks like and what it means for Jannice to be able to incorporate her culture into a strong values and evidence-based model of therapeutic care.

In this episode, we explore:

  • A brief overview of the services at Waminda, an Aboriginal owned and run health and well-being service
  • How Waminda applied Aboriginal healing principles to address issues of low engagement with Aboriginal women accessing sexual assault and domestic violence services
  • How Jannnice arrived at social work after landing her first job as an uneducated single mum
  • How and why Jannice keeps culture central in her social work practice framework
  • Reflections on studying the social work degree and the lack of theoretical frameworks that intersect Indigenous cultures
  • Exploring the benefits, responsibilities and achievements as a member of the Elders group and cultural committee within the organisation
  • The theory and cultural knowledge behind the Singing for Healing program
  • Jannice’s desire to connect with other Aboriginal social workers across Australia to explore cultural therapeutic approaches
  • The importance of accessing cultural social work supervision
  • The values Jannice says are important in overcoming challenges within the work
  • Critical aspects of a healing counselling service that contribute to Closing The Gap
  • Role models and special people that have influenced Jannice’s life and career in social work and a sense of gratitude
  • Inspiring Aboriginal women to take up social work
  • That sparkling moment with the clapsticks

The sound is less than ideal at the beginning of this interview, but does improve, so please stick with it.
To listen, simply click on the Play button below or listen via the Stitcher App for iOS, Android, Nook and iPad.
Listen to Stitcher
You can also subscribe to podcast and blog updates via email from the Menu on the Home Page.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’, send us an email from the Contact Page.

Things to follow up after the episode

Trauma Trails by Judy Atkinson

Waminda website

Follow Waminda on Facebook

Contact Jannice Luland on jannicel(at)waminda(dot)org(dot)au

vision-2372177_960_720

‘A Gentle Approach to Justice-Doing in Supervision’ with Barry Sullivan

Welcome back to ‘Talk the Walk’ in 2018.  Supervision goes under the microscope in this podcast episode with my guest, Barry Sullivan.  Like many social workers, Barry came to the profession after more than 20 years in teaching.  Arriving in Darwin in 1998, Barry started out in school counselling, before joining Relationships Australia where he has been ever since.

In episode 19, Barry demonstrates that you don’t necessarily need decades of direct experience working with Aboriginal people to offer a good reflective space for supervision. Barry’s narrative approach offers a respectful way for supervisees to reflect on their practice, using their own values, beliefs and principles.

Barry recently completed a Masters in Narrative Therapy and Community Work with a focus on ‘justice doing’ and its relationship to clinical supervision.  Barry has supported a number of counselling staff in individual and group supervision including those working in remote Aboriginal communities in the Top End.  The gentle and humble approach Barry takes in his work comes across in this warm conversation.

In this episode, we explore:

  • What Barry has discovered is the biggest ethical dilemmas and the most common issues discussed in supervision by social workers in remote communities
  • The approach Barry uses in supervision to support practitioners in working through ethical issues, looking through a cultural lens
  • The history of Barry’s interest in justice and his research into justice-doing in supervision
  • assisting supervisees to reflect on their own white privilege
  • how conversations about justice-doing in the supervision room has influenced practitioners and their work with Aboriginal clients
  • why Barry is attracted to the narrative approach to supervision and the principles behind this approach
  • How Barry got started in the narrative approach to social work and counselling practice
  • The childhood mentor that influenced Barry’s justice-doing in social work and how he intends to hold onto this principle in his future work

We apologise for the audio variability in this recording, but hopefully it does not distract from your listening pleasure.  Enjoy!

To listen to this episode simply click on the Play button below or listen via the Stitcher App for iOS, Android, Nook and iPad.
Listen to Stitcher
You can also subscribe to podcast and blog updates via email from the Menu on the Home Page.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’, send us an email from the Contact Page.

Things to follow up after the episode

Download Barry’s paper for the Masters of Narrative Therapy on ‘justice doing’ in supervision here
WRITTEN ESSAY NARRATIVE PRACTICE AND RESEARCH SYNTHESIS (1)

Writings by Vikki Reynolds

Contact Barry Sullivan at work on barry(at)ra-nt(dot)org(dot)au
or privately on barrysullivan96(at)yahoo(dot)com