Definition and Unique Characteristics of Social Work

Dr Christopher Appiah-Thompson
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Social work: it's more than just helping people. It's a profession with a unique dual mandate. We're not just focused on individual well-being, but also on creating systemic change.

Episodes

  1. Neurons, Clay, and Canvas: How Art Therapy Heals

    JAN 8

    Neurons, Clay, and Canvas: How Art Therapy Heals

    This episode aims to explain how art therapy can support people living with depression, normalise the experience, and offer simple creative experiments listeners can safely try between sessions.

    7 min
  2. Trauma on the Page: Making Sense of What Happened

    JAN 8

    Trauma on the Page: Making Sense of What Happened

    This episode aims to offer a gentle, trauma‑informed introduction to using art therapy with trauma survivors, explaining “bottom‑up” and “top‑down” approaches and giving a contained, non‑triggering exercise.

    6 min
  3. Coloring the Dark: Art Therapy for Depression

    JAN 8

    Coloring the Dark: Art Therapy for Depression

    This episode aims to explain how art therapy can support people living with depression, normalise the experience, and offer simple creative experiments listeners can safely try between sessions.

    7 min
  4. AI-Driven Dementia Marketing & Podcasting: From Idea to Leadership-Ready Initiative

    JAN 8

    AI-Driven Dementia Marketing & Podcasting: From Idea to Leadership-Ready Initiative

    This episode aims to spark interest in the graduate-level course, “AI-Driven Dementia Marketing & Podcasting (Graduate-Level Certificate).” Show how the course helps listeners design an AI-enabled dementia marketing and podcast initiative they can take back to their organisation. Prompt listeners to join the upcoming cohort and download a simple info or roadmap PDF.

    6 min
  5. Beyond the File: Transforming Care Through Connection

    JAN 1

    Beyond the File: Transforming Care Through Connection

    This episode aims to amplify the voices and lived experiences of young people who have been in care, centering their perspectives on what constitutes effective social work practice.​ To highlight three critical themes that matter most to looked after children: genuine respect and participation, meaningful preparation for independence, and the importance of stable, trusting relationships.​ To translate young people's insights into concrete, actionable practice commitments that social workers can implement immediately to improve outcomes and experiences for children in care.​

    7 min
  6. Behind the File: The Emotional Reality of Child Protection Work

    JAN 1

    Behind the File: The Emotional Reality of Child Protection Work

    This episode aims to explore how emotions shape social workers’ decisions and relationships in safeguarding practice.​ To highlight common emotional challenges such as fear, frustration, disguised compliance, and hostility, and how they can cloud professional judgment.​ To encourage reflective, relationship-based practice that uses emotional awareness as valid information in assessment and intervention

    6 min
  7. From Novice to Expert: Building Professional Wisdom in Child and Family Social Work

    JAN 1

    From Novice to Expert: Building Professional Wisdom in Child and Family Social Work

    This episode aims to help social workers understand their professional development journey and learn to articulate and evidence their growing expertise in practice with children and families

    8 min
  8. Faith Fading Down Under: Australia's Religious Revolution

    12/31/2025

    Faith Fading Down Under: Australia's Religious Revolution

    This episode aims to examine Australia's shift from Christian dominance to a secular, multicultural society using census data and sociological insights. Highlight trends like declining Christianity, rising "no religion," and growth in non-Christian faiths.Explore implications for sociology, policy, and spirituality in a post-religious era.

    7 min
  9. Equity Erosion: How Australia’s Housing Game Is Rigged Against the Young

    12/29/2025

    Equity Erosion: How Australia’s Housing Game Is Rigged Against the Young

    This episode aims to explain how self‑interest in housing policy widens the wealth gap between older and younger Australians. • Explore what this means for home ownership, taxation, and intergenerational fairness. • Offer practical reflections for listeners on voting, policy, and personal responsibility.

    6 min
  10. New Year, No Home: The Hidden Life of Kids in Care

    12/29/2025

    New Year, No Home: The Hidden Life of Kids in Care

    This episode aims to explain how the intensive therapeutic care, motels and emergency placements actually work on the ground, and why they often fail to provide safety or stability. • Humanise the statistics through vivid storytelling that follows a young person’s New Year in care, making listeners feel the emotional stakes behind the headlines. • Explore what reforms are on the table, why change is so slow, and what communities, carers and policymakers can practically do to shift the story.

    7 min
  11. From Paper Rights to Real Lives: Human Rights in Everyday Social Work

    12/29/2025

    From Paper Rights to Real Lives: Human Rights in Everyday Social Work

    This episode aims to explore how social workers turn formal human rights laws and ethics into concrete actions with clients and communities. • Highlight compelling real‑world scenarios where empowerment, strengths‑based practice, and anti‑oppressive work reshape people’s life chances. • Examine how professional codes and global human rights frameworks can be used as tools for advocacy inside agencies and larger systems. • Inspire listeners to see themselves as strategic change‑makers who challenge discrimination, expand access to resources, and protect client dignity in day‑to‑day practice.

    8 min
  12. Changing Lives: The Social Work Compass

    11/17/2025

    Changing Lives: The Social Work Compass

    Social work's core definition: a profession dedicated to enhancing human well-being and addressing social justice issues. Its unique dual mandate involves both individual support and systemic change. Explore the profession's commitment to the person-in-environment perspective and its focus on empowering vulnerable populations

    13 min
  • 12 Episodes

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Social work: it's more than just helping people. It's a profession with a unique dual mandate. We're not just focused on individual well-being, but also on creating systemic change.

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