PODCAST · education
The Secure Start® Podcast
by Colby Pearce
In the same way that a secure base is the springboard for the growth of the child, knowledge of past endeavours and lessons learnt are the springboard for growth in current and future endeavours. If we do not revisit the lessons of the past we are doomed to relearning them over and over again, with the result that we may never really achieve a greater potential. In keeping with the idea we are encouraged to be the person we wished we knew when we were starting out, it is my vision for the podcast that it is a place where those who work in child protection and out-of-home care can access what is/was already known, spring-boarding them to even greater insights.
Episodes
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#60: Therapeutic Love In Residential Child Care, with Kate Brown
Send us Fan Mail The word “love” can feel risky in child protection, but we keep coming back to it because the best care is never just a checklist. I'm joined by Kate Brown, an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist and supervisor, former therapeutic community practitioner, and...
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#59: Healthy Teams Deliver Healing, with Simon Benjamin
Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever watched a care team get dragged into chaos and wondered why “good practice” disappears under pressure, this conversation gives you a clearer answer than blame or burnout. We sit down with Simon Benjamin, founder of Blue Skies Independent Consulting, to unpack a…
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#58: Therapeutic Residential Child Care That Works, with Douglas Faircloth
Send us Fan Mail A young person once told our guest, “You’re the first adult I’ve ever had a conversation with.” That single line sets the tone for a deep, practical look at what makes therapeutic residential care work and what quietly breaks it. I sit down with Doug, an evaluator and long-time...
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#57: The Work You Cannot Leave At The Door, with Marie Clutton
Send us Fan Mail If you think you can do therapeutic residential care and leave it all at the door, Marie Clutton has a gentle challenge for you. Young people notice what we carry, even when we do our best to hide it, and they can spot the difference between performance and authenticity in…
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#56: Reclaimed Belonging, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail A child disappears into the underside of a foam settee, furious when the adults cannot find her. Another child “loses” Super Ted again and again, and what looks like chaos turns into a quiet test: will you come looking, will you bring me back, will I still belong? I sit down for...
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#55: Caring Means Holding Grief Without Turning Punitive, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail Care gets framed as gentle and cosy, but that story falls apart the moment you work closely with children who have lived through fear, loss and disruption. I sit down with Richard Rollinson for another instalment of objects that help use remember and think, to explore a tougher,...
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#54: A Big Heart And Spare Room Is Not A Care Plan, with Gareth K Thomas
Send us Fan Mail “All you need is a big heart and a spare room” might be the most damaging sentence in foster care. I'm joined by Gareth K. Thomas, former foster parent and childhood trauma consultant (Clarified), to unpack why that kind of messaging sets carers up to fail and pulls children into...
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#53: Residential Care Should Be A Thoughtful First Choice For Some Kids, with Martha Holden
Send us Fan Mail “Residential care is the last resort” sounds like a policy line, but it lands as a verdict on children and on the people who care for them. In this podcast conversation, Co-Director of the Residential Child Care Project at Cornell University, Martha Holden, and I push back on…
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#52: Small Moments Build Safety And Hope, with Mary-anne Hodd
Send us Fan Mail A child can walk into a house with a full fridge and a clean bed and still feel terrified. That’s the gap we’re trying to close, and it’s why this conversation matters. I’m joined by Mary-anne Hodd, founder of Journeys That Care, a CPD accredited training and consultancy that...
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#51: Leaving Care In Germany And Why Support Drops Away, with Tanja Abou
Send us Fan Mail Turning 16 should not feel like a countdown to being on your own. Turning 18 should not require a letter proving you deserve a roof over your head. I sit down with German social worker, researcher, and care leaver Tanja Abu to unpack how leaving care really works in Germany and…
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Good Residential Child Care Starts With Understanding Pain, with Professor James Anglin
Send us Fan Mail “Problem behaviour” is a label that can make adults defensive, punitive and quick to control. We wanted to slow that down and ask a different question: what if the behaviour is pain, showing itself the only way it knows how? For the 50th Secure Start Podcast conversation, I am...
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#49: Who Counts As A Trauma Survivor When No One Sees You, with Ruth Clare
Send us Fan Mail Some children live through severe developmental trauma in plain sight, then grow up to find they are missing from the research, the services, and the stories we tell about “who trauma happens to”. I sit down with Ruth Clare, author, TEDx speaker, and intergenerational trauma...
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#48: Making The Unbearable Bearable In Trauma-Informed Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
Send us Fan Mail When people are overwhelmed, they don’t need a lecture. They need someone who can help them think again. That’s the heart of our conversation with Dr Laura Steckley, a leading researcher in therapeutic residential childcare, as we tackle one of the most misunderstood ideas in...
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#47: What Children In Care Say Matters Most - Lisa Holmes
Send us Fan Mail We love neat metrics in children’s social care because they fit on dashboards: placement stability, school attainment, cost per child. But when you sit down with people who’ve actually lived the care system, the story gets messier and far more human. Colby Pearce is joined...
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#46: Attachment In Supervision, with Dr Alex Rowell
Send us Fan Mail Supervision can look calm on the outside while a whole attachment system is firing underneath. When a supervisee is worried about risk, second-guessing an intervention, or feeling judged, the supervision room stops being a “case review” and becomes a relationship shaped by…
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#45: What If “Bad Behaviour” Is A Disability We Refuse To See, with William "Liam" Curran
Send us Fan Mail Kids don’t “choose” impulsivity, shutdowns, school blow-ups or constant conflict at home, yet child protection and education systems still treat many of these behaviours like attitude problems. We sit down with William “Liam” Curran, a clinical social worker and international…
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#44: I am seen, so I am*, with Paul van Heeswijk
Send us Fan Mail A child breaks a window and the adults don’t rush to punishment. They sit with him, gather as a team, and ask a harder question: what have we been missing in his communication? That single moment opens up a deeper way to understand trauma, behaviour, and what “care” actually…
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#43: Whose Truth Becomes A Child’s Story? Therapeutic Life Story Work, With Professor Richard Rose
Send us Fan Mail Kids 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: it must have been my fault. I’m joined by Professor Richard Rose, founder of Therapeutic Life Story Work International, to talk about how...
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#42: How Barbara Docker-Drysdale Built Therapeutic Skill In Care Teams - John Whitwell
Send us Fan Mail A child’s acting out can look like defiance, chaos, or “bad behaviour” until you treat it as communication and ask what the adults are missing. That single shift changes everything, and it sits at the heart of my conversation with John Whitwell as we revisit the work and legacy…
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#41: From Bambi To Boundaries: What Objects Reveal About Mind, Body, And Meaning, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail A 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, loss, and confusion? We welcome back Richard Rawlinson, former director of the Mulberry Bush and long-time consultant in therapeutic childcare, to...
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#40: Rethinking Harmful Sexual Behaviour In Kids, with Alan Jenkins
Send us Fan Mail What if the biggest driver of harmful sexual behaviour in children isn’t deviance in the child, but disconnection in the systems around them? We sit down with Alan Jenkins—veteran practitioner, author of Becoming Ethical, and pioneer of “multi undisciplinary” teams—to rethink how...
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#39: Sri Lanka’s Care System: Progress, Gaps, And Hope - Nimali Kumari
Send us Fan Mail What 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’s changing, what still hurts, and how to build a system that puts children where they thrive—whether that’s family, kinship, adoption, or...
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#38: Why Emotional Reactions Are Data And How Organisations Can Turn Them Into Care, with Emma Higgs
Send us Fan Mail What 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 adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapist and organisational therapist, to unpack how psychodynamic thinking turns raw emotion into reliable...
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#37: From Chaos To Calm: Routines, Relationships, And Real Change In Residential Care, Tom Ellison
Send us Fan Mail What if the most powerful “intervention” in residential care isn’t a therapy model at all, but the quiet predictability of daily life held by thoughtful adults? We sit down with social care consultant Tom Ellison to dig into what actually moves the dial for children who’ve lived...
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#36: What If Behaviour Is Just Armour For Hurt? Vicki McKeown
Send us Fan Mail What if the behaviour that drives you up the wall is actually armour against shame? We sit down with psychotherapist and author Vicky McKeown to unpack how shame and attachment shape everyday life for children, parents, and the professionals who support them. From adoption and...
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#34: Making the conscious unconscious, with Peter Blake
Send us Fan Mail I am very excited to release my conversation with Peter Blake on The Secure Start Podcast. We explore how children communicate through behaviour and play, why containment matters, and how to balance understanding with practical management. We share tools to notice meaning, time...
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#35: What If Children's Safeguarding Began With Love? Carla Keyte
Send us Fan Mail What 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 conversation with Carla Keyte, founder of Lighthouse and a leading voice in UK residential care, as we unpack how safe, stable, loving homes are...
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Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Care - A Recap of 2025 on The Secure Start Podcast
Send us Fan Mail This 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 them and I am looking forward to 2026! If you take something inspirational from the video, please consider liking and subscribing to this channel…
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#33 Care Leavers To Care Leaders - with Surja (Udayan Care Alumni)
Send us Fan Mail What happens when belief meets opportunity and doesn’t let go? We sit down with Surja—care‑experienced leader, LIFT alum, and global advocate—to trace a path from a village in Uttar Pradesh to a seat at international tables, and to unpack what real aftercare looks like when lived...
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#32 It Takes A Network, Not A Superhero - with Robbie Gilligan
Send us Fan Mail What if lasting change for young people in care comes not from a single attachment, but from a web of “many good adults” who open doors to the wider world? We sit down with Emeritus Professor Robbie Gilligan to trace how schools, mentors, hobbies, and work links create belonging...
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#31 Truth First: Caring Beyond The System, with Louise Allen
Send us Fan Mail Some conversations burn slowly and then glow for days. Sitting down with Louise Allen, we trace a line from a childhood rewritten by others to a life spent restoring names, dignity, and futures. Louise grew up in care, became a long‑term foster carer, and now writes bestsellers...
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#30 - John Turberville: How The Mulberry Bush Helps Children Relearn Trust Through Relationships
Send us Fan Mail In this in-depth conversation with John Turberville, CEO of The Mulberry Bush, we explore how therapeutic residential care transforms the lives of children who have experienced trauma, relational ruptures, & multiple placement breakdowns. John reflects on the organisation’s…
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#29 From Trauma To Hope, with Dr Hayley Lugassy
Send us Fan Mail What 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 Haley Lugassy, a senior educational psychologist whose lived journey from teenage trauma and isolation in Spain to rebuilding life and career in...
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#28 What If Child Protection Started Before Harm Happened, with Professor Julie Taylor
Send us Fan Mail Imagine 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 with Professor Julie Taylor, a leading nurse scientist whose work bridges health, social care, and the lived realities of families under pressure....
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#27 Why Clear Primary Tasks And Brave Authority Transform Children’s Homes, with Tom Ellison
Send us Fan Mail The work gets easier when the purpose gets clearer. I sit down with social care consultant and leadership trainer Tom Ellison to unpack how a simple, jargon-free primary task can reshape children’s residential care. Tom traces his path from frontline practice to boardrooms and…
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#26 How a Reflective, Respectful Approach Helped Families Choose Healthier Relationships, with Adriana Dias
Send us Fan Mail Some 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...
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#25 How supporting adults creates the safety children need to learn, belong, and heal, with Megan Corcoran
Send us Fan Mail What if the most powerful lever for child healing sits with the adults who show up every day? I sat down with trauma-informed educator and Wagtail Institute founder Megan Corcoran to unpack how belonging transforms classrooms—and why staff wellbeing isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s…
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#24 Holding the Helpers, with Richard Cross
Send us Fan Mail What if the most transformative thing we can do for children is to care for the carers first? That’s the provocative starting point for a wide-ranging conversation with psychotherapist and clinical leader Richard Cross, whose work brings attachment theory out of the textbook and...
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#23 Thirty-Five Placements and Counting: Why Some Kids Need a Different Option, with Bruce Henderson
Send us Fan Mail What if we've been looking at residential care all wrong? Professor Bruce Henderson, author of "Challenging the Conventional Wisdom About Residential Care for Children and Youth," presents a compelling case for rethinking our approach to caring for vulnerable children. Drawing on...
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#22 Reimagining Children's Homes: From Last Resort to Purposeful Healing, with Kevin Gallagher
Send us Fan Mail What does it really mean to provide therapeutic residential care to traumatised young people? Dr Kevin Gallagher draws from three decades of experience to challenge our assumptions about children's homes and how we use them. Kevin's journey from banking to social work, driven by...
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#20 Challenging Last Resort Thinking: Why Some Children Thrive in Residential Care, with Dr Laura Steckley
Send us Fan Mail What if everything we think we know about residential childcare is wrong? What if, for some children, it's not the dreaded last resort but actually the best option for healing and growth? Dr. Laura Steckley, who leads the MSc in Advanced Residential Child Care at the University…
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#21 The Science of Prevention: How We Can End Child Maltreatment, with Benjamin Perks
Send us Fan Mail What if child maltreatment wasn't an inevitable social problem, but something we could dramatically reduce within a generation? Benjamin Perks, Head of Campaigns and Advocacy at UNICEF, believes this is not only possible but within our grasp. In this compelling conversation, Ben...
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#19 From Winnicott's Piano to Adolescent Minds: Peter Wilson's Journey
Send us Fan Mail A series of serendipities and the opportunity to play Winnicott's piano marked Peter Wilson's remarkable journey into child psychotherapy. In this captivating conversation, Peter reveals how a degree in industrial economics led unexpectedly to founding Young Minds, one of the…
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#18 Relentless Kindness: The Foundation of Therapeutic Care, with Adela Holmes
Send us Fan Mail What if everything we thought we knew about helping traumatised children was backwards? In this profound conversation, Adela Holmes reveals the revolutionary approach that transformed lives at Hurstbridge Farm Therapeutic Residential Care Pilot in Victoria. At the heart of...
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#17 The Hidden Strengths of Residential Care: Challenging the Status Quo with Dr Jenna Bollinger
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Jenna Bollinger takes us on a revealing journey into the heart of what makes residential care truly effective for vulnerable children and young people. Drawing from her doctoral research on stability in out-of-home care, she challenges conventional wisdom and offers a fresh...
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#16 Building Hope: Lighthouse Foundation's Legacy of Love
Send us Fan Mail What happens when one person loves a child unconditionally? According to Susan Barton AM, founder of Lighthouse Foundation, "they'll usually make it through." This profound belief forms the backbone of an extraordinary organisation that has transformed the landscape of youth...
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#15 Unlocking Potential Through Love and Acceptance, with Patricia Sheridan
Send us Fan Mail Patricia Sheridan's remarkable journey from critical observer to pioneering founder reveals how one person's vision can transform an entire field. When she established Moore House School in 1988, Mrs Sheridan was swimming against the tide of conventional childcare practices in...
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#14 Learning to Live with Yourself and Others: Insights from Therapeutic Residential Care, with Richard Rollinson
Send us Fan Mail Richard Rowlandson draws from over five decades of experience at the Mulberry Bush School to share profound insights about therapeutic residential care for traumatised children. His journey from New York City to the English countryside led to a lifelong commitment to creating...
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#13 Breaking the Cycle: How Investing in Children's Services Changes Lives, with Andrew Isaac
Send us Fan Mail Andrew Isaac brings decades of leadership experience in children's social care to this eye-opening discussion about the state of foster care in the UK. As Chair of BSN Social Care and the Children's Services Development Group, Andrew offers rare insights into both the frontline...
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#12 From Orphanage to Therapeutic Community: Portugal's Residential Care Revolution
Send us Fan Mail Colby Pearce connects with the core technical team of Livramento, a residential care home in Portugal with a remarkable 200-year history of supporting girls and young women from ages 6 to 25. • Tracing Livramento's journey from a closed orphanage during Napoleonic times to…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
In the same way that a secure base is the springboard for the growth of the child, knowledge of past endeavours and lessons learnt are the springboard for growth in current and future endeavours.
If we do not revisit the lessons of the past we are doomed to relearning them over and over again, with the result that we may never really achieve a greater potential.
In keeping with the idea we are encouraged to be the person we wished we knew when we were starting out, it is my vision for the podcast that it is a place where those who work in child protection and out-of-home care can access what is/was already known, spring-boarding them to even greater insights.
HOSTED BY
Colby Pearce
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Secure Start® Podcast have?
The Secure Start® Podcast currently has 62 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Secure Start® Podcast about?
In the same way that a secure base is the springboard for the growth of the child, knowledge of past endeavours and lessons learnt are the springboard for growth in current and future endeavours. If we do not revisit the lessons of the past we are doomed to relearning them over and over again, with...
How often does The Secure Start® Podcast release new episodes?
The Secure Start® Podcast has 62 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Secure Start® Podcast?
You can listen to The Secure Start® Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Secure Start® Podcast?
The Secure Start® Podcast is created and hosted by Colby Pearce.
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