#26 How a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships, with Adriana Dias

Send us Fan MailSome projects change direction without losing their purpose—and that’s where real growth happens. I sit down with Portuguese clinical psychologist Adriana Dias to explore Ravira Volta, a pilot that helped girls in residential care and their birth families build healthier relationships by widening choice, deepening respect, and keeping reflection at the centre of the work. Rather than forcing a linear “turnaround,” Adriana’s team embraced non‑linear change: testing new strategies, adjusting the plan with supervision, and redefining success as the best possible connection for each family.We trace how an external, dedicated team preserved role clarity with the residential home while working systemically across the whole family network. Adriana explains the project’s three layers of reflection—case thinking, design adaptation, and practitioner self-awareness—and why containment is the bridge that turns overwhelming feelings into manageable thought. That process helped parents move from defensiveness to agency, weighing their daughters’ needs alongside their own limits and, at times, choosing partial reunification as the healthiest path.The conversation tackles the hardest dilemma in child protection: children’s urgent developmental timelines versus adults’ slower change. Adriana shows how honest, reflective supervision safeguarded perspective, prevented enmeshment, and kept the team humane and effective. We also talk integration, funding a pilot, and the big shift the team made—from idealistic “full reunification” to a more nuanced aim: sustained, healthy relationships that fit each family’s reality.If you care about child protection, attachment, self-worth, or reflective practice, this one’s for you. Listen, share it with a colleague, and tell us: how would you define a “good outcome”—and what would it take to get there? Subscribe, leave a review, and join the conversation.About Adriana:Adriana graduated in Psychology from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto in 2006. She later completed a Master's degree in Special Education – with a Specialization in Early Intervention, from the Institute of Education of the University of Minho, in 2011. Adriana is a Full member of the Portuguese Psychologists Association, is specialist in Clinical and Health Psychology, and has advanced specializations in Psychotherapy and Psychology of Justice.Adriana also holds a Postgraduate degree in Child Protection from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, and is currently undertaking a PhD.Adriana recently led the Revira Volta project that sought to build healthy relationships between young people in the care of Livramento, and their birth families. Links:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheSecureStartPodcastPodcast Blog Site: https://thesecurestartpodcast.com/Secure Start Site: https://securestart.com.au/Disclaimer:Information reported by guests of this podcast is assumed to be accurate as stated. Podcast owner Colby Pearce is not responsible for any error of facts presented by podcast guests. In addition, unless otherwise specified, opinions expressed by guests of this podcast may not reflect those of pdcast owner, Colby PearceSupport the show