Social Work Spotlight - Episode 113: Sinnead

Episode Date: July 5, 2024

In this episode I speak with Sinnead who works with individuals in a Student Wellbeing team in a University setting, supporting students who are impacted by challenges that affect their studies. Sinnead also has experience working with children, adolescents and adults in both disability and mental health, family intervention and domestic violence. Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:The Orange Door network - https://www.vic.gov.au/about-the-orange-doorOrygen’s Under the Radar report sharing insights into some of the challenges university students experience - https://www.orygen.org.au/Orygen-Institute/Policy-Reports/Under-the-radar/Orygen-Under_the_radar_report?ext=.Information about the impact of disruptions such as COVID on student learning and wellbeing - https://www.acses.edu.au/app/uploads/2022/03/Vernon_ECU_FormattedFinal.pdfAustralian Universities Accord - https://www.dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/australian-universities-accord-reformsThis episode's transcript can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K5hwBkOtoQrjx7b8v4NMCG-pyl42yOPArmTuxozOrrc/edit?usp=sharingThanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

I begin today by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eura Nation, traditional custodians of the land on which I record this podcast, and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people listening today. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an intrinsic connection to this land and have cared for country for over 60,000 years, with their way of life having been devastated by colonisation. Hi and welcome to Social Work Spotlight where I showcase different areas of the profession each episode.

I'm your host, Yasamine Lumpus, and today's guest is Shanade, who works with individuals in a student well-being team in a university setting, supporting students who are impacted by challenges that affect their studies. Sheenade works within a strength-based, person-centered framework and utilizes this outlook to support others to work through the challenges they experience within their context. She has experience working with children, adolescents and adults in both disability and mental health, family intervention and domestic violence. Thanks, Sheneid, for meeting with me today. I'm excited to have a chat with you about your social work journey so far. Thanks for having me. Can you tell me firstly when you began as a social worker and what got you into the profession? Yeah, so I graduated in 2020 and for me, I guess it wasn't exactly

a single event or experience that kind of led me to social work. But I guess it was different things that happened in growing up. I got to travel a lot as a young child and experience a lot of different people's and places and different experiences of life. So I guess that kind of sparked my interest for working with people. I found it really easy to connect and build relationships with a lot of different people. And as I grew up, I kind of, you know, was thinking during my schooling that maybe international relations was something that I'd like to explore. And that kind of manifested into looking at psychology. I did psychology and sociology during school. And then sociology aspect kind of drew me more into that space. And then, yeah, when I actually got to

studying two years later, I landed on social work and that was, yeah, the degree that I really enjoyed and loved and I had some great placements along the way that really, I guess, shaped and cemented my desire to work in that space. Yeah. Was there a particular country or place that for you really stood out or made you think in terms of culture or disadvantage? I got to travel to South America when I was 15 and that experience I think really shaped me and just seeing a lot of people who, you know, maybe didn't particularly have all the things that we had on our doorstep at home and seeing how happy they were for me that was really a really special experience. And yeah, it made me realize that I'd really like to work with different cultures and

disadvantage and maybe what we interpret as disadvantage isn't always the reality. Yeah. And what were your placements? What kind of built your foundation? My first placement was in child protection. So I studied in Queensland. And that was a great experience, very eye-opening. I definitely had the privilege of being able to do a lot and had a lot of autonomy in that placement role. The people who I worked with had a lot of trust in me. And I think that, you know, really grew my confidence. And I had a great supervisor as well. So yeah, that made me kind of think maybe I would like to work in that child protection space. I think the only thing that was a bit of a drawback for me was that work life balance. I saw that that was quite difficult for a lot of

the people that I worked with. So yeah, that was something that was. definitely a consideration for me that I had in the back of my mind that I would like to explore, maybe not necessarily in the child protection space where you're working with families who are kind of borderlining that out of care or, you know, needing that intensive support, but maybe working with families who, you know, more of a prevention space, I think. And then my second placement was working in an alcohol and other drug counselling support space. which was really different from my first placement, but was also very special in the sense that I think it's a space where adults and young people had a bit more autonomy over their choices and it was often a voluntary service. So they had the choice and control about being in that space and wanting to do that work as well, which was different, I think, from the first placement where, you know, sometimes that choice and autonomy is taken away for.

from some of those families. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you mentioned that you felt quite a bit of autonomy in that child protection role, which is interesting to me, because it is such a statutory field and very regimented and strict in terms of what you can do.

Yeah. What do you think it was that helped you feel that sense of I can kind of direct my own work? It's a good question. I think the team that I was working with very much did what they could, that aligned with their own values and principles with what they had. So working within the limits and boundaries that they had

didn't mean that they were not able to, you know, continue to be aligned with their own ideologies and, you know, going back to, I guess, the social work values and principles of self-determination, it was very much, I think, taking away autonomy was, you know, the last resort. we were able to give families multiple opportunities to work alongside us instead of them, I guess, not having that.

Yeah, no. So if they can model that for your clients, then hopefully some of that internal culture develops as well. Absolutely, yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. And I think, too, I was given a lot of opportunities in that space as a student that maybe other students may not have on their first placement.

you know, it's given a lot of, yeah, responsibilities that others might not have. And I think that trust in my own work and the importance of building relationships with families was really important too. Because when I hear responsibility, I also think risk for the company, for the business and something that we talk about quite a bit in terms of, to what extent can you go off and meet with a client by yourself kind of thing. and really supporting your learning without putting you at risk. So it's great that you're able to find some balance, but I feel like that came from you as much as it did from the team. Absolutely, yeah. And I think it was very much finding that balance too,

because you're exactly right. It was important that it was acknowledged too, that although that I was, I guess, developing individually in my practice, it was important to recognize and respect my own learning, but also having the guidance and continual support from the team in that space too was really important. So you did so much before you even graduated. How did your placements inform then what you wanted to do when you first got out?

I think for me, when I first learned about social work and when I was studying in that space, you know, I think over the degree you learn about so many different aspects and parts of social work And the things that you can do as a social worker are, you know, endless. You can work in that kind of frontline practice. You can work in developing social policy and procedures. And, you know, I think I dipped my toes in a lot of different things. There was the placements. And then I also worked while I was studying.

So I worked at a special school as a teacher's aide for five years alongside study. And I also worked in disability and mental health support work. So I think I got quite a taste of a variety of different things along the way. And for me, I knew that I really enjoyed working in the mental health space. And I also really enjoyed working with children and young people. So that kind of helped to inform what I wanted to do when I graduated. But I also had in mind that I wouldn't mind applying for a few different things and seeing where that kind of took me.

I was very much not completely decided in that way. way because I had tried so many different things in every aspect of the different things that I did, had some really positive learnings and experiences for me that came out of that. So what was that first role for you? So when I first graduated, I moved to Melbourne and I worked at the Orange Door for only a short time. That wasn't because I didn't enjoy it, but I ended up moving to Sydney a few months after that role had kind of begun. So, yeah, for me, it wasn't a long role,

but it was definitely very rewarding and eye-opening, I think, my experience of working in the domestic and family violent space in Queensland was very different to working at the Orange Door in Victoria. Because Orange Door, they focus on the men who have used violence, right, rather than supporting the women, or, you know, the person who's the victim of violence.

Yeah, so they do both. So there is kind of a part of the Orange Door who support women who experience violence. And then they also recognize that intervention and prevention with men is also an important aspect of domestic and family violence. So I worked with men who use violence. It was very kind of short-term intervention. But yes, it was definitely a very eye-opening space for me. you know, just out of university. But it was something that I think kind of sparked my interest for learning more about domestic and family violence. And I think it's something that is a big issue in the Australian context

and worldwide at the moment, we need to be doing more in that space. I feel like that would have been quite challenging for you, though, as not only as an early career social worker, but positionality as a woman trying to, you know, go into a space that is supporting men. Because a lot, so much of that is around peer support and trying to build peer relationships and model and provide strategies. And, yeah, I think it's a fascinating area of work.

But you then worked in that space only for a short time before coming to Sydney. But I feel like you would have learnt quite a bit from that. Absolutely. Yeah. It was a, like I said, very eye-opening experience. And, you know, it was really challenging as well, working with men who use fire. in that space, but it also, I think it kind of, for me in the back of my mind, you know, women are always at the forefront of that because that intervention was hopefully, you know,

preventing men from or supporting men to seek support around, I guess, their behaviors and trying to prevent further harm. So, you know, although it was challenging, there was still that, yeah, women at the forefront, women and children at the forefront of that for me. too. And what brought you to Sydney? It was at the tail end of COVID. So we thought and my partner got a job in Sydney. So I moved to Sydney just before another lockdown actually. So it was very good timing. And yeah, we still live together now in Sydney have for about three or four years. It's not somewhere where I thought I would live, but it's been a great journey. Sydney is a beautiful place to live. Yeah. I mean, I'm slightly.

biased but I think so. Yeah. What kind of work were you doing initially in Sydney? So when I first moved, I got a job in behaviour support and I was only in that for a short time as well, about six months. I found for me working in that space, it didn't really align with my views and values in how we engage and connect with clients. There was a really strong focus on funding and how we kind of interact with our clients. There was in the background always about money, you know. So that wasn't something for me. When I envision myself as a social worker,

I don't see that being something that is a priority or, you know, a value of course. When we are working with clients and people, you know, often who we work with, there's vulnerabilities of, you know, finance, but it wasn't in that context that I was working with people. And was that behaviour support in a specific area of funding? So it was through the NDIS. So NDIS funding. So yeah, there was a very strong focus on it being quite competitive with other peers who you worked with and bonuses and things like that.

For me, that's not something like I said that I value or something that I really thought that I would be doing in a social work setting. So I moved. on to child protection, family intervention shortly after that. Yeah, because your incentive is the process and the outcomes, not what you get out of. Obviously, we get a lot out of, and it's a very rewarding profession, but that's not the focus and that shouldn't be a little bit frustrating to hear. Yeah. Yeah. Moved on and stuck with your values and true to what you want to be doing. Yeah. It was definitely an interesting space, you know, the other aspect of it was

that we were working with people who experience disability or mental health and who, you know, it's in the name, who they experience some more challenging or complex behaviours. So it was building relationships with those clients and understanding, I guess, you know, how you could best support them to reduce the instance of those, yeah, complexities, which that aspect of the job I really enjoyed and, you know, we were able to write reports and stuff that staff and families would use to help inform their understanding of how to best work with that person. So that aspect was really rewarding and, you know, working with not only our main client, but other stakeholders too and helping them, yeah, to, I guess, inform their

practice as well. That part of the job was great. But for me, yeah, I think the other stuff didn't feel right, didn't sit right with me. And that was something that I knew I had to, I guess, listen to within myself. And yeah, I moved on, like I said, not long after starting in that role. That does sound like a very social work way to approach it, though. And I imagine a lot of the other people working in that space could have been from different professions like psychology. Yeah. Other than what you've already mentioned, what do you think the difference is there in terms of how we come at the problem and how we work. Yeah, so I know that there was also, in the behaviour support,

they also utilise, I guess, OTs as well. So I guess, you know, we're looking at as a social worker or myself as a social worker, I was looking at the person and how they fit into their context and their environment and then other things that impact them, like their experience of mental health or disability, and then obviously, you know, we're looking at how this all fits into the society. And then I guess as a psychologist, you know, they're really going to be focusing on that more

therapeutic and counseling intervention. So for me, I was more using different ways of, yeah, understanding them as a person with all the other things involved. And then with psychologists, it's more about that therapeutic aspect. I guess and an OT. I think they can sometimes work quite similarly to us and that's kind of, you know, something that I saw in that setting. And I think I see it now working in the setting that I do with OTs in who operate in the hospital, you know, they are often doing quite a lot of similar things as a social worker

would do, which is quite interesting for me. I never pictured OT to be a profession that would, you know, have quite a few. different intersectionalities with us. Yeah. And I guess when I was studying, I had never heard of OT. It wasn't until I started working in community and then hospital that the concept ever came up for me. So, yeah, to some degree, I feel like, yes, we probably could have easily studied OT as well. But I think, yeah, there's always that clinical side of things and prescriptions and things that, for me, my eyes glaze over. So I know that I made the right decision, but it is, very interesting how there is that crossover and we can learn so much from these other professions

that we work with. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, like I said, I never before, I guess, working in these different spaces, I never thought that occupational therapy would have that crossover, but I'm learning more that there is, you know, quite a few aspects that do. And how did you end up at the university and what does that role look like? So I've been working at the university now for two years and working student well-being, which has been, you know, really great for me. I think it's a crossover of quite a few different things that I've kind of picked up along the way, so I'm getting to work with young people, which is probably an audience that I work

with the most, but also acknowledging, you know, mature age students and older students and working with experiences of mental health and disability. And that's been really special for me and learning more about mental health. Because for a lot of people, university is, you know, it can be a really difficult time. You're studying and often you're leaving home for the first time or, you know, you're kind of moving overseas

and you're adopting or learning how to exist in a new culture. you might be the first person in your family going to university. You know, there's so many different intersectionalities that are at play in a university setting. And I think it's a space where you're constantly learning from the students that you're working with and how resilience and perseverance is, I guess, at the forefront for a lot of the work that I do with students. You know, your life outside of university doesn't stop just because you're studying. and it's a very interesting space and I respect university and the experience that students have

so much more. I was very lucky at university to have a, you know, positive experience. And a lot of these things that I'm learning about now weren't something that I really thought about at university. So it's been an incredible experience and journey and I feel very, very lucky to work in the space that I do. And which department does that sit within? So we sit in the student life setting, so working alongside other teams. So we have a lot of, I guess, internal resources within the university that we're able to draw on, which I guess has been very different for me compared to working in the community space

where, you know, we're having to rely on other community supports a lot of the time. working in a university setting, there's a lot of resources that we can pull on internally before we have to explore external, which has been really great as well. And I think there's some really exciting changes in the university space as well. You know, there was the universities accord, the final report that came out at the end of 2022. And that's, you know, helping to shape and inform how we work with students even more. And another thing that I think is really special and great is that universities and I think, you know, people that work in that setting are beginning to more and more highlight the student voice and students' experiences and bringing

that to the forefront of the work that everyone does with students, whether, you know, you're working in a professional kind of support space with students or you're working in a teaching and learning space as well where it's really great. It's a whole university. wide approach. And how do you identify issues for students? Do they have to self-identify? Is it easy to recognize? Are there sort of promotions within the uni so that people know that your support exists? Yeah. So we are on the university website. We often will do, I guess, advertising around the university. students are able to refer themselves or we also have a referral pathway for community and teaching, learning and professional staff that they can identify if students have or they believe

that they might have support needs. And I guess with the existence of referral pathways for staff and community, it's really important that we recognize, you know, that students have their own right to autonomy and self-determination and it's about balancing reaching out when it is identified that a student might need support it's balancing yeah their own right to kind of connect with us and you know if there's other vulnerabilities involved we might look at reaching out to them and just make sure that everything's okay I just remember when I one of the many times I broke my ankle and I'd hobbled over to Wallace Theatre and sat myself down at the back on my crutches. And a beautiful security guard came up to me and said, do you need help getting around?

And I'd never even considered that support would be available. And I said, well, I guess so. I managed to get myself here from Red Phone Station, but I could probably use some help. And he gave me access to a car around campus and back to the station. And he put me in touch with the Disability Support Unit and I got a locker and all these things that I just would never have considered and it takes sometimes some of the internal people to kind of tap someone on the shoulder sometimes and say hey you know you look like you need a hand so yeah i'm glad that that sort of support exists but do you work closely with the disability unit as well yeah absolutely

i mean that's one of the kind of internal resources that i guess we draw on a lot most of the time with that aspect, you know, for me, if a student kind of self-identifies that, that we might think about connecting them with that space. But, you know, there is still quite a large stigma in the student population around seeking support and what that looks like, you know, you're working with people of so many different backgrounds and cultures and their, you know, experience of mental health or services or mental health support may have not been the most positive for them. So, you know, oftentimes in some of the work that we do, it's kind of, you know, helping to break down some of that stigma or maybe misinformation that they've received about what accessing support looks like. We often have students who are worried about, you know, connecting with support or maybe having that disability registration impacting future job prospects.

and, you know, being something that kind of might set them back in the university setting. So at times it's just working with them to help them understand, well, no, that's not the case. And these supports exist to acknowledge that adversity does exist. And we want to make sure that everyone has, you know, an equal opportunity and the best opportunity to have a positive experience at university and have good outcomes. And are there sort of collective incidents that have affected students that you can think of? I'm just thinking there's so much personally that happens for people and it's case by case, but has there been something that you see either a theme, a pattern or a significant

incidents that's had multiple people coming to you? Yeah. So often at times, you know, some of the support that we do, and specifically, I guess, part of my role is to support students who, experience different events. So that might be in the university setting or in their personal life. And when we think about that, some of the things that might cause the need for a response for multiple people are things like, you know, natural disasters or if students experience events whilst on placement or overseas on exchange, if there's a large number of students who are

overseas and there are events that happen overseas, you know, we will be checking in with students and working with the exchange team, if that's applicable, to make sure that everyone's okay and has the support that they need, you know, either while they're in Australia or accessing supports offshore as well. Yeah, I hadn't considered that because there would have been a number of students overseas when there were the initial shutdowns

and probably having to do quite a lot of wrangling to get people back on soil or if they couldn't, then what was that going to look like for them going forward. Yeah. And before, I guess, student well-being teams existed in universities, there was the counselling or psychological teams kind of taking on that role of support for students. And often at times, they didn't have the freedom as much to kind of work with students who were offshore as well. And obviously, there was a massive need for that during the COVID lockdowns when, And yeah, the learning space was moved to online and a lot of students did return home or were

already at home, you know, during holidays or breaks when the shutdowns occurred. So I guess the implementation of student well-being teams meant that we could work with students who were offshore and make sure that they were receiving the support that they needed. And I think that's a huge kind of focus at the moment in the university space is making sure that universities are committed to supporting students. wherever they are and making sure that their safety and well-being is a priority. And it's an ongoing commitment, whether they're here or overseas, or they're in an online capacity or a face-to-face capacity as well.

When was the unit formed? When was it recognized that there was a significant need? And do you see any risk of that being taken away? Or do you feel like that's there to stay because there's really good recognition of the need? Yeah, so I joined the team in 2022 and before that there was just, I guess, a few people on the team and over time, the service, specifically in the university that I work at has kind of developed and grown and there is absolutely a need for it. and I can't see any point where there would kind of be any concerns about us or our roles being taken away. I think we've, you know, with the implementation of us, like I said, we're able to, I guess, increase our support options for students and also free up space in our counselling department so that students are able to kind of get that serviced quickly. They're not waiting four to six weeks, sometimes even up to two months in that.

community space to receive support, we're able to support students on the same day within, you know, a few hours as it's kind of needed. And it's also about being able to support staff as well, you know, sometimes they're supporting students or students open up to them and often academics, they don't have, you know, that background or they don't feel confident in in supporting students in their mental health and well-being. So for us, it's not only about supporting students, but it's helping build confidence in other people within the university and providing them support as well around supporting students

who have these experiences. What support do you need in that space? For me, I'm very lucky. I have such a supportive team and peers who, you know, have a lot of different experience and knowledge and experience. expertise that they bring to our team and to their jobs. And you never feel like you're working in isolation. There's always someone to talk to a shoulder to lean on if you're having,

you know, a hard day. And it's been it's been really special. I haven't, I've had some, you know, positive work experience and relationships in past jobs. But for me, yeah, it's been really incredible just feeling like you're not taking things home every day. Not that I felt like I was in the past, but I think it's helped me to really separate my work and home life. And I think that kind of goes back to, you know, when I was studying and in my first placement, I really was thinking about that work-life balance and how important it is.

And this job's really helped me achieve a sense of, a really good sense of that. I think team is everything. Absolutely. Yeah. And culture and and the higher-ups and what they're emphasizing is important within the team and the department. Absolutely. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And I think, too, within our team, we have a lot of space for supervision in quite a few different ways. So we get our own individual supervision, and then we have, you know, smaller group supervisions as well, pretty much weekly and on a fortnightly basis is the individual supervision. So, yeah, you've always got a space. to kind of bring things and talk about things that might be challenging or I guess really also to

celebrate the wins you know we we do have a lot of wins in the in the work that we do yes there are challenges but I must say I do love my job it's very rewarding getting to work with you know students yeah are there other social workers in your team does some of that supervision happen sort of on that professional level yeah so we have five social workers in our our team and then we've got a few psychologists and one team member who has a background in human services. So I think we're all, you know, quite similar professions, but all have had a lot of different experience in different settings. And I think everyone brings their own touch, I guess, and, you know, like I said, we have a lot of spaces to kind of talk and share things and everyone's

able to bring their expertise and knowledge to those spaces. And you'll learn a lot of a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I love that there has been that announcement in the budget to support students on placement. And I would imagine there's a lot of, you know, a lot of the issues that come up for students is financial. It's around that pressure of how am I supposed to do this if I have to give up my part-time job? How do you see that impacting the students that you're supporting? Yeah, I think definitely financial need is a huge kind of theme. in the university setting there, like you said, there are a lot of students who are kind of choosing between family, a part-time job, following their studies and their dream to do something.

But yeah, some of the placements are really demanding that they do in professions like social work, nursing, you know, psychiatry, training to be a doctor, dentistry. And oftentimes a lot of students say that they don't have the time to work. and I think it's going to have a positive impact on meeting some of the kind of things that they've set out in a student accord, like making sure that we do support students' success in, you know, following through with degrees that they begin. Because I can appreciate that, you know, students don't start a degree to drop out six months later, you know, the intention is there and we want to make sure that we're setting

students up for success. So I think it will hopefully have a really positive impact. And, you know, that part of the budget and in the university's accord that has been led by students expressing the need for that. So again, I think it's, you know, bringing it back to the idea that the student voice is becoming more present in the work that's being done in the university setting, which I think is a really positive thing. If you had a magic wand, are there any other changes that you could see that would have an impact on student well-being or even that they could take with them into their professional life? I think for me it would be really great to be able to have more of a positive impact in, I guess, changing the way that some students perceive mental health and that access

to mental health support because I think if you look at research, there's a very large percentage of students who have experiences of mental health or mental ill health during their degree. And, you know, I want to support students to break down the stigma of accessing support. I think we can continue to grow and do so much more in the well-being space if some of that, yeah, stigma was broken down. which is a difficult thing to do when there is, you know, different intersectionalities of culture as well. You know, sometimes I think that's a big ask for me to say when you're working with people who have had a different idea

of mental health their whole life. But yeah, if I had a magic wand, that would be definitely something that I would like to do or improve. Yeah, amazing. And you mentioned earlier that you, you had an interest in international relations. Do you think you might work overseas as a social worker at some point? What would that look like?

I have considered it in working in England. I know, you know, you can get some amazing experience working in England in the child protection setting that is, so I've heard, is quite different and has its own, I guess, complexities that are differ from Australian social, work, but I think it may not happen. Yeah. I had a discussion with wonderful social worker who was also originally from Queensland, Kristen,

and she, that's partly what she does. She works in the child protection system in the UK. Yeah. But she also, episode 98. So definitely go back and have a listener. Get in touch with Kristen just if you wanted to know more about what that looks like. but part of her role is actually recruitment for social workers in Australia and New Zealand, mostly because our systems are very similar and that's what she knows.

But, I mean, in the episode, we go into a bit more detail around what that looks like and the process and timing and that sort of thing. But she's now a UK citizen. So she's staying there for good and she's really loved the opportunity that came from even just a short term there. So, yeah, it's definitely something that's, and they, they increased as of early this year they increased the age for that specific visa to 35 so it is actually easier for a lot more people to get that mobility visa to the UK from Australia so yeah yeah I think yeah definitely something that's always in the back of my mind it would be great and you know like

I said in the past I traveled a lot as a young child and I've kind of continued that love for travel so getting to do, you know, something that I love in the work setting as well as having adventure. Europe on our doorstep. Yeah. Very enticing. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Are there any other programs or projects that you're working on at the moment that you wanted to shout out? I am working towards my mental health accreditation. I guess that's quite, yeah, quite an individual thing. But yeah, I think that's kind of the main focus for me at the moment and kind of seeing where my role takes me next, I would really like to also think about working with a student too. So that will just, I think, you said before you work with students. And I think that would only help take my practice that next step further.

Being able to work with people who are still studying is really special. You know, I think about, like I said, my experience on placements, that was a really positive experience both times with both my. supervisors and the other people that I worked with and watching how they nurtured me and really valued my, I guess, input within the team. That was really, like I said, helped build my confidence and I'd love to be able to do that with people who are just starting on their social work journey. So that's definitely something that's on the horizon for me as well in the future. Yeah, nice. And there's also a lot to be said for hosting a student in a team that seems so supportive because what you'll probably find is that everyone gets excited about having a student,

even if they're not directly involved in their learning. They still are in a way that the student can see how people work together and see what everyone's different contributions are and learn a lot from them as well as from you. So yeah, I think it's a perfect environment for someone. Yeah, yeah, I agree. So that's kind of, yeah, all I'm doing at the moment, but definitely I'll see where the next chapter takes me. Yeah, yeah, exciting. Are there any resources, any readings or viewing or listening, anything that you wanted to recommend for people if they wanted to know more about the work of you? Yeah, so I will give you after the podcast, I've got the universities accord and there's a few other really good readings on the mental health of students that I'd like to share as well because, yeah, there's a lot to be said in that space. And I think something that I haven't mentioned earlier that I would, you know, really like to highlight as well is that kind of behind all the work that we do with students, I think the main goal that we're looking at achieving with students is helping them to feel a sense of belonging and connection to not only other students in that environment, but also just making sure that I guess as a whole that they have a sense of that no matter where they are.

Yeah. That's incredible. Is there anything before we finish up that you wanted to say, mention anything you wished I'd asked? No, I've had a really positive experience and I just want to say thank you so much for giving you the opportunity to share and speak about, you know, I guess my experience of working in this setting. And yeah, I think there's a lot of things, like I said, that are happening in this space and there will be, you know, continued positive change. so thanks for letting me chat about it today. It's been my pleasure and I really love hearing about experiences where it's not a, it's not considered a traditional social work job or it's not called social work. Two thirds of my working life of being in those sorts of roles and I love coming back to the idea of well, yes, it's not advertised as such, but how can we make it a social work role?

What do we bring to those sorts of areas? Yeah. So, I mean, from the beginning you've shown an interest in people and, your travel built that desire to support other people and you used your placement opportunities to find your place and your interest and what you wanted to do. And I feel like you took some really valuable learnings from those early experiences and you had the opportunity through bouncing around different states to see the supports and program imperatives and funding across those areas and how people prioritise different things.

Absolutely. We've highlighted the work for areas that have other allied health professions but bringing that social work lens but yeah i've loved hearing about your current program which is supporting students to make the most out of their university experience or even just retention of students yeah and having a program that's so responsive to student needs and focusing on those wins internally within the department so that you yourself and your team members feel as though, you know, you're working towards something that's really valuable while still maintaining your well-being. And that's a really hard challenge. So it sounds like you've got good methods, good safeguards, good processes internally to make sure that you're doing

what you can for your students. Yeah. Thanks so much. Yeah. Thank you so much for the time. I've loved hearing about it, love chatting with you and look forward to seeing where it takes you next. Thanks so much, Yasmin. Have a lovely day. Thanks for having you. me. Thanks for joining me this week. If you'd like to continue this discussion or ask anything of either myself or Chenade, please visit my anchor page at anchor.fm.fm slash social work spotlight. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or you can email SW Spotlight podcast at gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you. Please also let me know if there is a particular topic you'd like discussed, or if you or another person you know would like to be featured on the

show. Next episode's guest is Veronica. an English and Arabic-speaking accredited mental health social worker supporting young people in an early psychosis program. Veronia has worked as a senior clinician and team leader with Headspace doing single sessions supporting an outreach clinic and participating in the flood hub in London Derry. I release a new episode every two weeks. Please subscribe to my podcast so you'll notify when this next episode is available.

See you next time.