Troubled Kids Podcast
by Information & inspiration for working with troubled kids - with Jonny Matthew
Promoting recovery for troubled children & teenagers by inspiring & informing those who work with them. A mix of practice advice, opinion, research summaries, resources suggestions & guest interviews. TK PODS - these are the long form podcast episodes (in process - not live just yet...)BLOG PODS - these are the voiceovers from each blog post (up & running now!) jonnyvm.substack.com
Episodes
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HSB Practice Lessons 2.
BLOG PODS #49 - HSB Practice Lessons #2 - Lean in, Empathise & Be Kind INTRODUCTION In our last post we began looking at some practice lessons for working with harmful sexual behaviour (or HSB) in children and teenagers - this came off the back of a book chapter I co-authored with my fellow HSB...
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HSB Practice Lessons #1
BLOG PODS #48 - HSB Practice Lessons #1 - Bucking the System and Avoiding Knee-Jerks INTRODUCTION I’ve published a few things in my career so far; not a lot, but a few (see more here). But I never get tired of the buzz I feel when something new comes out! This month, a chapter I co-wrote with...
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Theory Bites 6b - Lawrence Kohlberg
BLOG PODS #47 - Theory Bites 6b - Lawrence Kohlberg: Stages of Moral Development INTRODUCTION In our last post, we began looking at Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. we saw where it (and he) fits into the theorising of his time and the basic structure of his theory. For professionals…
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Theory Bites 6a - Lawrence Kohlberg
BLOG PODS #46 - Theory Bites 6a - Lawrence Kohlberg: Stages of Moral Development INTRODUCTION Why do kids do what they do? What drives their sense of right and wrong? Can you teach this stuff or is it imbibed by just being in the world? What role does education have in the moral development of...
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Make 2026 a year of books
BLOG PODS #44 - Make 2026 a Year of Books - Some Inspiration to get you Started INTRODUCTION: Regular readers of the blog will know that I’m a voracious reader. It is one of my life’s great pleasures, as well as being the only guarantee of continued learning - something I’m completely committed…
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Trauma & Children with LDs - #2 How to Help
BLOG PODS #43 - Trauma & Children with Learning Disabilities - #2 How to Help INTRODUCTION Working with troubled kids has all kinds of complexities attached to it - none more so than when the child has a learning disability. Over the years I’ve come across this a lot but it still amazes me how...
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Trauma & Children with LDs - #1 Fundamentals
BLOG PODS #42 - Trauma & Children with Learning Disabilities - #1: Fundamentals INTRODUCTION Through my work with colleagues at TRM Academy, trauma is a major part of my working world. Lately, though, the intersection of trauma with learning disabilities has come to the fore. So the next two blog...
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A Fair Society - GUEST POST by Chris Perry
BLOG PODS #41 - A Fairer Society - GUEST POST by Chris Perry A book review by the author. INTRODUCTION This is the first guest post since I re-launched the blog on Substack. I hope it’ll be the first of many. Chris Perry is a former Director of Social Services for South Glamorgan County Council…
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Jonny update & some links
BLOG PODS #40 - Jonny Update & Some Links Introduction I wanted to pop on quickly to break the radio silence and say,’ Hi.’ My Mum’s serious health situation lasted many months and she passed away on Saturday 27th September - bless her! I’m prioritising spending time with my sibs and my Dad just...
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The Ammanford School Stabbings #3
BLOG PODS #39 - The Ammanford School Stabbings #3 - Facts After the Musings and some Suggestions to Help INTRODUCTION On 24th April 2024 at about 11am a 13 year old stabbed two teachers and a fellow pupil at Dyffryn Amman School in Ammanford in Carmarthenshire. Mercifully, none of the injuries…
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The Ammanford School Stabbings #2
BLOG PODS #38 - The Ammanford School Stabbings #2 - Musings After the Fact INTRODUCTION On 24th April 2024 at about 11am a 13 year old stabbed two teachers and a fellow pupil at Dyffryn Amman School in Ammanford in Carmarthenshire. Mercifully, none of the injuries were life-altering but one…
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The Ammanford School Stabbings #1
BLOG PODS #37 - The Ammanford School Stabbings #1 - Learning from the review INTRODUCTION Despite being still in a period of suspension from my usual blogging schedule (ongoing family issues) I couldn’t resist sending something out following yesterday’s published review into the Ammanford...
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Avoidable Tragedy (republished on the 1st anniversary of the tragedy)
BLOG PODS #29 - Avoidable Tragedy (republished on the 1st anniversary of the tragedy): Lessons From Axel Rudakubana Context Just before midday, on 29th July 2024, three little girls were killed while attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event in Southport, North West England. Two adults...
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When Kids Blame Themselves #2
BLOG PODS #35 - When Children Blame Themselves - How to Help #1 Introduction In the last post, we looked at the common phenomenon of self-blame - when children take on responsibility for the way others treat them. We saw how abusive parenting and other such experiences can fundamentally skew the...
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When Kids Blame Themselves #3
BLOG PODS #36 - When Children Blame Themselves #3 - How To Help #2 INTRODUCTION In the last post and the one before that, we looked at the common phenomenon of self-blame - when children take on responsibility for the way others treat them. In the first post we examined the issue itself, asking…
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When Kids Blame Themselves #1
BLOG PODS #34 - When Children Blame Themselves #1: Understanding Self-Blame in Childhood Trauma Introduction Have you ever wondered why some people blame themselves for things other people did to them; things that are just not their fault? Yeh, me too! I’ve long since lost count of the number of...
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Object Permanence #2
BLOG PODS #33 - Object Permanence #2 - Some Strategies to Help Children & Teenagers INTRODUCTION In the last post, we began looking at Object Permanence (OP) - the understanding that objects (including people) continue to exist even when they are not visible. We said that it’s is an early,...
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Object Permanence #1
BLOG PODS #32 - Object Permanence #1: What It Is, Why It Matters & How It Can Go Wrong INTRODUCTION A 13 year old anxious toddler? I recently observed a young man in a residential setting who seemed genuinely unable to leave his carers alone. If they got up to go into the kitchen (or anywhere…
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The Case for Abolishing Youth Custody (DTOs)
BLOG PODS #30 - The Case for Abolishing Youth Custody: Harmful, Expensive and Criminogenic. INTRODUCTION The very first paper to drop into my inbox in 2025 was this one, from Kathy Hampson about why locking up children is a bad idea and needs radical change. I loved it! Why It’s Time to Abolish...
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Children on the Margins #2
BLOG PODS #30 - Children at the Margins #2 - What Practitioners Can Do INTRODUCTION To save you some time, last week’s post about this latest report on marginalised children, summarised the content and recommendations. This week I want to focus on what I think you and I, as practitioners with...
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Children on the Margins #1
BLOG PODS #28 - Children on the Margins #1 - A New Report Summarised & Improved Introduction My first full day back from the Christmas and New Year break began when this landed in my inbox - a new report from the Welsh Government called, ‘Children on the Margins.’ Now having had time to read it…
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Make 2025 a year of books
BLOG PODS #27 - Make 2025 a Year of Books - Some Inspiration to get you Started INTRODUCTION: To say I love reading is a massive understatement. I devour books. But now we’re in the age of Audible, my consumption has gone through the roof. Gone are the days when reading was something I squeezed...
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Theory Bites 5 - Stephen Porges
BLOG PODS #26 - STEPHEN PORGES POLYVAGAL THERY INTRODUCTION Polyvagal Theory is a departure from the others we’ve covered in this series, in that it’s not a theory of human development, specifically. I wanted to include it because I know, like me, many of you work with or care for kids who’ve...
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Theory Bites 4 - Sigmund Freud
BLOG PODS #25 - SIGMUND FREUD: The Psychosexual Stages of Development INTRODUCTION Sigmund Freud, a pioneering figure in psychology, introduced his theory of psychosexual development to explain how personality evolves through early childhood. He proposed that human behaviour is driven by...
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Theory Bites 3 - Erik Erikson
BLOG PODS #24 - Theory Bites 3 - Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Stages of Development INTRODUCTION Erik Erikson, was a German born American developmental psychologist, who proposed a theory that human development unfolds in a series of eight psychosocial stages, each characterised by a specific...
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Theory Bites 2 - Abraham Maslow
BLOG PODS #23 - Theory Bites 2 - Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of Human Needs INTRODUCTION Of all the theories I hear mentioned by colleagues in social work, youth justice, youth work and mental health, Maslow is the most common. And by a country mile! For most, though, this seems to hark back to…
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Theory Bites 1. - Urie Bronfenbrenner
BLOG PODS #22 - Theory Bites 1: Urie Bronfenbrenner - Ecological Systems Theory INTRODUCTION One of my constant refrains when training is to encourage colleagues to read. I am, and always have been a passionate believer in the need to stay teachable, hold our practice in an open hand, remaining...
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AI - It's Use in Social Care
BLOG PODS #21 - AI: Its Use in Social Care INTRODUCTION Today, a good mate of mine-an experienced and capable social worker-sent me a link to an article. It was all about an Australian social worker using AI to produce a child protection court report - and getting sacked for it. This set me...
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Banning Smartphones for Kids?
BLOGS PODS #20 - Banning Smartphones for Kids: The Case for Trying INTRODUCTION The influence of smartphones on children’s development, learning and safety is increasingly concerning. Lots of the cases I hear about in my forensic work have a digital element whereby the child’s safety is in some…
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Being Child-Centred
BLOG PODS #19 - Being Child-Centred: Lessons From 30 Years of Trying INTRODUCTION I’ve been trying (and struggling!) to capture some of my thinking, now that I’m over 30 years in professional practice with troubled kids. I want to distill some of the key lessons I’ve learned into a series of...
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Child Sexual Abuse
BLOG PODS #18 - Child Sexual Abuse: Prevalence & Practice Tips INTRODUCTION Lately I’ve been working on a book chapter with a colleague - it’s about kids and why their age and stage of development is especially important when it comes to assessing sexually reactive and/or harmful behaviour. The...
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Youth Justice - A Way Forward
BLOG PODS #17 - Youth Justice: A Way Forward for the UK Government INTRODUCTION I’ve spent most of my career, 30+ years of it now, working in or alongside the youth justice system. It’s a passion of mine to see a system evolve that treats children as children and which offers hope of recovery...
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'Expert by experience'
BLOG PODS #16 - Experts by Experience: Why It's Not Really a Thing INTRODUCTION Earlier this week, I had an interesting conversation with a friend and colleague from the States. We were discussing a training session I'll be delivering early next year. The idea for the training stemmed from a…
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Punishment doesn't work...
BLOG PODS #15 - Punishment Doesn't Work (for troubled kids) INTRODUCTION This is one of the most important things I’ve learned in 30+ years of working with troubled children and young people: 💡 Behaviour is NOT the problem, it’s a SYMPTOM of the problem Running on broken legs? Imagine a runner…
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'Meaning' in the work
BLOG PODS #14 - Meaning in the Work INTRODUCTION Years ago when I first started blogging, I read a book by Michael Hyatt called ‘Platform.’ One of things he says in there is: ‘If you’ve lost your way, maybe you’ve forgotten your ‘why.’ The toll The work many of us do—helping troubled kids—is...
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Anxious Children
BLOG PODS #13 - Anxious Children: Why The Increase & What Can Be Done? INTRODUCTION One legacy of COVID appears to be a sharp rise in child anxiety. The number of children in England being referred to the NHS for anxiety has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic. The degree to which...
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ADHD and Achievement
BLOG PODS #12 - ADHD & Achievement INTRODUCTION I left school with 1 GCSE. OK, so I was a lazy teenager. No doubt at least some of the blame for that lies with me. But my life since suggests that something was missed back then, that had it been discovered, might have helped me fulfil a lot more…
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ADHD & Emotions
BLOG PODS #12 - ADHD & Emotions INTRODUCTION I’ll never forget my psychiatrist asking me this question during my assessment: ‘Do you have anger issues?’ I thought for about 2 seconds and then burst out, ‘hell yeh!’ Or some such. For the first time, I realised that the life-long struggle I’d had...
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ADHD & Co-Morbidities
BLOG PODS #11 - ADHD & Co-Morbidities Introduction One of the things that spurred me on to seek out an assessment, was the fact that I was struggling (and always had struggled) with emotional regulation. In short, I get angry a lot. I don’t express it much, but it’s there; an underlying almost...
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School & My ADHD
BLOG PODS #10 - School & My ADHD INTRODUCTION: Looking back, the hardest thing for me to come to terms with was the impact of ADHD on my education and, consequently, on the trajectory of my working life. I was not only unable to fully benefit from the opportunities available at school, but my...
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ADHD & Time Perception
BLOG PODS #9 - ADHD & Time Perception INTRODUCTION Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can often feel like navigating a maze where time takes on a mysterious, elusive quality. At times for me, it’s a bit like the soap in the bath, it’s there but I really struggle to grasp…
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ADHD Myth: ‘We’re All A Bit ADHD, Aren’t We?’
BLOG PODS #8 - ADHD Myth: ‘We’re All A Bit ADHD, Aren’t We?’ INTRODUCTION: Anyone with ADHD will tell you that it can be really frustrating when others dismiss it’s existence or dilute it’s gravity because they have experienced symptoms themselves. To the person with ADHD, this is a shocking...
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ADHD & Stimming - How to Help?
BLOG PODS #7 - ADHD & Stimming - How to Help? INTRODUCTION: As I think about my own life as a serial stimmer, I’m aware of two glaring facts: * When I’m alone I do it more and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest * The only time it causes any tension or problem is when I feel judged for it…
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ADHD & Stimming - What Is It?
BLOG PODS #6 - Stimming: What Is It? INTRODUCTION: One day at work, I had a phone call from my colleague in the office downstairs, directly under mine. All she said, in a mockingly sing-song voice was, ‘I’m going to stab you!’ I’d been tapping on my desk again and she was enduring hours of…
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Diagnosed with ADHD as an Adult - #2 Tips
BLOG PODS #5 - Diagnosed with ADHD as an Adult - #2 Tips INTRODUCTION In the first one of these posts (Diagnosed With ADHD as an Adult 1 - Challenges) we looked at some of the bumps in the road having a diagnosis can bring. Here they are: * Late Recognition and Missed opportunities * Impact on...
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Diagnosed With ADHD as an Adult - #1 Challenges
BLOG PODS #4 - Diagnosed With ADHD as an Adult - #1 Challenges INTRODUCTION: It’s not that long ago that I had to come to terms with being an adult with ADHD. I was a child with ADHD too, of course, but I didn’t know it then. After years of suspecting so, I decided to ask two child psychiatrist...
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What Exactly Is ADHD?
BLOG PODS #2 - What Exactly Is ADHD? INTRODUCTION: I’ve had ADHD since I was little. I’m now in my late 50s. I can’t recall exactly when I first realised that there was something different going on with me – but I was an adult before the light really dawned. Well known, but not known about Most...
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'I've got ADHD'
BLOG PODS #2 - I've Got ADHD INTRODUCTION: It’s one thing to have a doctor tell you you have ADHD. It’s quite another for you to tell other people! To tell or not to tell, this is the question - whether ‘t’is nobler in the mind to… Well, you get the idea. There are pros and cons on both sides, of...
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'I think I may have ADHD'
BLOG PODS #1 - I Think I May Have ADHD INTRODUCTION: At the time of writing this I am 59 years old, but this process started about three years ago. A close friend of mine, also in his 50s, was diagnosed with ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, combined subtype. It was the idea of a...
About this show
Promoting recovery for troubled children & teenagers by inspiring & informing those who work with them. A mix of practice advice, opinion, research summaries, resources suggestions & guest interviews. TK PODS - these are the long form podcast episodes (in process - not live just yet...)BLOG PODS - these are the voiceovers from each blog post (up & running now!)
jonnyvm.substack.com
Hosted by
Information & inspiration for working with troubled kids - with Jonny Matthew