The Secure Start® Podcast

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 blends lived experience with psychology, teaching, and therapeutic practice. Mary-anne grew up in the care system and now supports the adults around care experienced children across fostering, residenti...

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 joined by Professor James Anglin, one of the world’s most influential voices in children’s residential care and therapeutic group home practice. We talk through Professor Anglin’s journey from ph...

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 trauma-informed practice: containment. We start by naming the problem. “Containment” often gets misused to mean restriction, restraint, or simply keeping behaviour quiet. Laura and I unpack the psychody...

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 safety, power, and emotion. That’s where attachment theory becomes more than an idea, it becomes a practical lens for clinical supervision. We sit down with Dr Alex Rowell, clinical psychologist, educator,...

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 looks like when it’s done well. We’re joined by Paul Van Heeswijk, a highly experienced child psychotherapist and former consultant to the Cotswold Community. Paul shares the stories that shaped hi...

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 of Barbara Docker-Drysdale, better known to many as Mrs D. John explains why her influence on therapeutic communities wasn’t just theory, it was the weekly discipline of helping staff teams think clear...

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 shame, belonging, and power shape what children do and how adults respond. Across vivid stories from schools and services, Alan shows how our default reactions—suspensions, isolation, forensic label...

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 information—and how organisations can harness it to protect staff and truly help distressed children and families. Emma traces her journey from a turbulent, formative therapeutic community to co-leading AP...

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 fostering to classrooms and case reports, we trace the subtle ways shame shows up and how a shift in language and stance can transform outcomes. Vicky shares her journey from criminology to trauma ther...

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 built—and measured—through relationships, not fear. We explore how love-led practice, not fear-based compliance, creates safe, stable, loving homes in residential care. We trace the sector’s language shif...

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 experience leads. With Dr Kiran Modi offering context on Udayan Care’s model, we explore how mentoring, peer networks, and co‑creation turn care leavers into care leaders. Across the conversation, w...

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 that refuse to look away. She talks candidly about forced adoption, the quiet children who go unseen, and the neighbour who saved her by offering what the system couldn’t: warmth without conditions and...

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 England reframes what recovery looks like. Her story is anchored by the power of one good adult, the steady fuel of hope, and the life‑changing mix of compassion and boundaries. Haley speaks openly abou...