Social Work Spotlight - International Episode 25: Sophia (Germany)

Episode Date: August 1, 2026

In this episode I speak with Sophia, a social worker, sexologist, and relationship counsellor from Germany. She has worked in child protection and youth services in both Germany and Australia, including child and family welfare services, therapeutic residential crisis care for children and young people, and specialised crisis support for girls who have experienced sexual violence and abuse. Sophia has worked as a lecturer in sexology, and is the founder of Sexology Hub, where she offers sexuality and relationship counselling, individual coaching, as well as educational programs, workshops, and professional training for diverse audiences.Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode:Trauma-informed work and recoverySanctuary Institute - https://www.thesanctuaryinstitute.org/Creating Sanctuary by Sandra Bloom - https://sandrabloom.com/book/creating-sanctuary-toward-the-evolution-of-sane-societies/Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman - https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1563764M/Trauma_and_RecoveryThe Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk - https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-scorePractical resources and research on sexual violenceRAINN - https://rainn.org/Caste-based discrimininationInternational Dalit Solidarity Network - https://idsn.org/International Cooperation WorkPedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire - https://fsi-ebcao.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1411/files/media/freire.pdfDecolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai Smith - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/decolonizing-methodologies-9781786998125/Social Work Crisis in BerlinAG Weiße Fahnen, DBSH Berlin, GEW BERLIN "Die Berliner Jugendhilfe befindet sich im Kollaps" | GEW - Berlin - https://www.gew-berlin.de/presse/detailseite/ag-weisse-fahnen-dbsh-berlin-gew-berlin-die-berliner-jugendhilfe-befindet-sich-im-kollapsSexuality and relationship counselling/therapyA Clinician's Guide to Systemic Sex Therapy by Gerald Weeks et al. - https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315817392/clinician-guide-systemic-sex-therapy-gerald-weeks-katherine-hertlein-nancy-gambesciaPrinciples and Practice of Sex Therapy by Hall & Binik - https://www.guilford.com/books/Principles-and-Practice-of-Sex-Therapy/Hall-Binik/9781462543397Personal / Professional ResourcesSophia’s open-access publication on Problematic Porn Consumption among Men: Males’ Lived Experience with Self-Perceived Pornography Addiction: A Qualitative Study of Problematic Porn Use - https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1497Sophia’s website - https://sexologyhub.com/This episode's transcript can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vmORcM52JnAuYjakfttLbPmLQHqEH2JH5fOPG8AmOC8/edit?usp=sharingThanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.

Before beginning, I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the countries of guests featured in this podcast and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, waters and community. I pay my respects to the First Nations people, the cultures and the elders, past, present and emerging. Hi and welcome to Social Work Spotlight where I showcase different areas of the profession each episode, with a 12-month focus on social workers around the world as of August 2025. I'm your host, Jasmine Lupus, and today's guest is Sophia, a social worker, sexologist, and relationship counselor from Germany. She has worked in child protection and youth services in both Germany and Australia, including child and family welfare services, therapeutic residential crisis care for children and young people, and specialized crisis support for girls who have experienced sexual violence and abuse. Sophia also brings extensive multicultural and international experience. and has worked as a lecturer in sexology.

Through internships, volunteering, project work, academic study and professional training, she has lived, worked and learned across multiple countries, shaping a strongly intercultural and systemic perspective in her practice. Sophia is also the founder of Sexology Hub, where she offers sexuality and relationship counselling, individual coaching, as well as educational programs, workshops and professional training for diverse audiences. Her work bridges social work, sexology, and systemic thinking,

with a strong focus on trauma-informed, relational and culturally sensitive practice. Thank you, Sophia, for joining me on the podcast today. I'm looking forward to speaking with you about your experience in social work so far. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for reaching out. It's a pleasure. I would love to know firstly what got you started in social work, what brought you to the profession.

I think I've always been fascinated by humans and interested to understand why we think and feel and behave the way we do. I think for a long time in school, I thought of maybe studying medicine of psychology, so I think it was clear from very early on that I'm going to plan to work with humans to some capacity. But then after school, I did a voluntary year in Tanzania. in a remote Maasai village and that was quite a pivotal experience for me on many levels. And after that, I think I already knew that it's rather social work that I want to do and just for confirming that I did a few internships in different fields. I did internships in elderly care in refugee help in child protection.

and actually in my last internship, that last one was mandatory for university before commencing the studies. That's when my parents picked me up on my last day. And that was an interesting experience because I have left after three months full time working in this youth home. And my parents picked me up to go on holidays. they just witnessed the scene kind of from the car. And there was like five teenagers standing in front of the house. And they cried when I left because we had quite an intense time together. Like it was super interesting.

And when going back into the car, my parents actually said sorry because they've been quite skeptical about my idea or dream to go into social work because I think in Germany it's not very prestigious and maybe not the most financially stable profession. So I think they would have preferred for me to do psychology or medicine. But when they saw that scene happening, they took a breath and apologized and said, Sophie, we're so sorry, this is this is exactly what you should do. We know that now, we'll see that now. And yeah, that's when after when I commented social work and to be honest, I laughed it from the first day until today.

Wow. How wonderful to have that confirmed, though, that someone from the outside can see that you're good at, you're passionate about and that it's making a real difference to other people that must have been really affirming for you. Yeah, totally. And when you went off to Tanzania, what was that experience like? Because going into, an area where there's no shared language? Was it a situation where it was easier to get along with the kids because I guess kids can sometimes be a little bit more welcoming of new people and new experiences and there's no judgment. Kids don't judge. They just kind of take things at face value. How did you find communicating with the kids, with the adults in that scenario? What was your experience like? So my volunteer year was in quite a remote area. It was like a Maasai village,

quite far from the next town and I worked there at a preschool kindergarten and I lived with the other teachers and now I speak very highly of that experience but like at that time it was also super difficult I certainly never felt that lonely in my life ever again because like the team maybe spoke five words in English the children didn't speak word in English as you already assumed incorrectly with children is just a completely different story. You don't need much verbal language to get along with them. And actually, I think it's thanks to them that I learned Kiswahili at the time and they were very patient with me. And so in the end, it was a wonderful experience where I still grasped from all the learning effects until today. Wow. And are you still in

contact with any of those people, whether it's the kids or the grown-ups? Not really. really, but funny enough. My partner is from Kenya. So we're actually planning to do a trip to East Africa next year and visit this call that I worked at and combine it with a family trip. Wow, that's pretty special to be able to go back and see where it all began. And I guess they would love to hear about your journey, your trajectory and where the launching part has kind of led you now because that was your very first experience. They can see how you've developed. as a professional as a person, I think it would be really rewarding for them as well. Yeah, 100%.

I mean, I did some project work a year later. I forgot to say that. So I think I was so inflamed, motivated and energized from that experience. It didn't let me go. And I did a toothbrushing project there because the children, they weren't brushing their teeth. They used some sort of sticks sometimes. But I noticed that the first teeth, they were having problems of carriers and all that.

So starting that project, I told the people I went to school with about it, and they were super excited because we had quite a big amount of donation left from our school, last school year that we collected on a celebration and wanted to give it to a good cause. And they actually trusted me with that amount. So I went back and did a two months project in different social organizations. Tanzania and obviously also visit it in the school that I've been at. So that was super interesting as well. Yeah, it never really let me go. That's wonderful. And does the university expect you to identify your own placements, apply for a role there because you said it's before you've even

started the coursework. So it's a lot of pressure and expectation to know where and how and how to actually start that networking. So the voluntary year, I did in Tanzania, as well as internships in elderly care and refugee health for the project work that I just mentioned. That was things I did by myself or I organized by myself. For the studies, there was the three months mandatory internship before commencing the studies, the one in youth work that I mentioned earlier. And then there was two or three very short internships. And then the fourth semester is a practical semester. Also for the practical semester, I was, I think actually the only one in my year who also went abroad for that. And I think that just stems from that super intense

experience I had in Tanzania. And for that one, I went to Nepal. I had some financial support for making that possible, but most of the other students, they would just do the internship somewhere in Germany, which obviously would be way easier. But I think something was sparked in me to keep going for this intercultural experience. Yeah. And why Nepal? What did you end up doing? What kind of learning came from that? To be honest, Nepal was not necessarily like a country I always wanted to go at or where I knew much about before going. But I thought it makes sense to go to a country where English brings me quite far and a lot of people in Nepal speak English. And then I learned about the project

through university, through a professor who also contributed at that project. And I worked at a project that was helping communities who were affected by discrimination from the caste system. And basically I worked mainly with people with multiple disabilities. So again, verbal language was not that important. And that was once again a wonderful, super interesting and life-changing experience. because the work with these communities was wonderful to learn about the caste system and what that means for the people there was super interesting, obviously also super said. And I worked under quite precarious conditions, I must say, but it taught me so much, like how you can make things possible and you don't necessarily need the resources to do great work. Yep, such good lessons.

And did you get to travel much while you were in the country or were you kind of stuck with your placement and very busy doing that? Well, a bit of both. I did try to travel as much as possible. I was able to do a hike there. It's called the Anapurna circuit, which was absolutely mind-blowing. I would everybody, everybody who has the chance. Did you get to the base camp?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the base camp is what you pass on the circuit, which was mind-blowing. Yeah, I did that earlier this year. It was pretty incredible. Oh, wonderful. How did you like it? Oh, I loved it. Just such interesting terrain.

I mean, I don't know about Everest, but I just feel like it's very technical. It's challenging. It's a lot more up and down than you might have expected. I think I thought initially it was just going to be sort of a hard slog up. But the variety and just around every corner, there's a new, amazingness of nature and yeah i think it teaches you a lot just being able to get through something like that and it teaches you a lot about the culture and how difficult things can be for these people living so regionally yeah for sure i remember i've slept in these tea houses and like people there would

show me how to make the local food and things like it was certainly not just a nature experience it was so much more than that but yeah to see palm trees on 3 000 meters altitude something else. So yeah, I always try to make the time for seeing part of the country. But to be honest, I was also fall into the work I was doing there. So maybe less time than I could have for sure. But therefore, I always have places I can always come back to. So Nepal was also a country. I've been back to once. And I hope to be able to go back again soon. But yeah, there's so many beautiful places in this world. Yeah, absolutely.

So you finished your degree. You've had such an amazing and diverse set of experiences. How did that then shape what you wanted to do? What was your first rollout? So I ended my degree with doing some research, once again, intercultural research and went to Uganda for my thesis. And actually continue these thoughts that came from those two experiences abroad with a critical analysis of intercultural cooperation and the power and balance between the

global north and the global south and i think that really stayed with me and during my studies i worked in youth work in Munich and i think in all internships in all work that i did there was always two themes that would keep popping up and that was intercultural experiences or intercultural situations and sexuality. And because I noticed that the topics always came up with a lot of uncertainty for the professionals I worked with, I was under the impression. I need to get some further learning with that because I also felt insecure about how to touch these topics, no matter if it was in elderly care or if it was with refugees or it was with children and youth, I just had the feeling I need to learn more about this. And then I learned about the

study program in Australia, which was a Masters of Sexology. And I thought, bingo, this is, this is it. Because there I can combine both of those interests. I can study sexology. I was blown away by the curriculum, which was like more or less based on the biopsychosocial model. So quite holistic. And I would study in a very intercultural environment because Australia is such an immigrant country. So I thought here I can bring those two interests of mine together and learn more about it and bring it back to my work. Yeah, wow. So by this point, you've probably spent more time abroad than actually at home, right? You could say so, yes.

Yeah. So it must have been, it's always challenging leaving your home, but at least you'd had that experience before. So hopefully leaving to Perth was a little bit easier, but it's just that much further away, right? So that feeling of isolation perhaps could have been even worse. I think most expats probably share that experience that if you leave home and you come back, you always feel a kind of odd or you don't really fit in anymore. I think that's just a process of reintegration that sticks with you, but I would never give up the experience I did abroad.

I can live with that awkwardness back home. That's fine. It was certainly worth it. And so you completed the degree in Perth. Did you stay on in Australia working or did you go back home? So I started the Masters in Australia, Perth. And during the Masters, I was working in child protection. So for the Department of Communities in Crisis Care Work.

And that was also super interesting. I loved to get to know social work in a different country. And I must say it showed me a lot of differences in how social work is understood, in how social work works. And maybe a funny story that comes to a mind that maybe shows exactly the differences that I found were there. So when I started, I think it was maybe my fifth shift or something. Then one of the kids asked me if I want to go for a ride. And to be honest, I found it strange. I didn't even understand the concept, but did this kid mean like going for a ride or going for a drive?

And it was like, yeah, we just take the car and go for a drive. And I was like, what? I wasn't even aware of the concept to just go and drive around without a destination. And yeah, then we did it. And it was absolutely amazing because I had the experience with these drives where I first thought, I don't know, it was strange and maybe also environmentally because. But it was like from a social work lens, it was amazing. I had the most amazing conversations with these kids on drive because they opened up in a different way. They would hop on the backseat. Their mind would be occupied. And we had the most amazing moment of connection and deep conversations. And it was absolutely wonderful.

And I think what this story shows though is that Australia has is that Australia has a completely different kind of resources and possibilities than Germany has. And I'm not necessarily saying it's better, but wherever I west in Germany, we didn't have like a car where we could go one and one with another child somewhere. Like we would have cars where we can coordinate with other groups if we can use it, but then we would go over the whole group with the whole bunch and go for, you know, a trap. Yeah. But to have the staffing in Australia to do a lot of one-on-ones was just like completely new to me and it just made social work like so much more relational and in connections just so much easier and intense even though it was crisis.

Yeah for sure. Did you find that the level of supervision or the way that you were supported has been different through the different countries? Yeah. I think Germany has a very structured system and a lot of specialized services like for whatever problem you have whatever age group you're going to find a very specific excellent service there i think in australia i had a feeling social work was less specialized it was like at least in perth and w i'm not sure about other parts of australia it might be different there but in w a i had the feeling there was less specialized services and sometimes kids would be relocated from a long way which was bringing up other challenges of course but I had the feeling the resources were significantly

better and changed completely the everyday today work there was a lot of supervision my work started with a two-week full-time page training well most jobs I did in Germany there was no to literally onboarding at all because there was no staff and everything was difficult especially since I'm working in Berlin. In Berlin this situation is certainly a bit more precarious than maybe in the rest of Germany. But that was so uplifting and I had the feeling it was like even though the specialisation and the organisation structuring probably comes with a lot of safety and a lot of sense of what do I have to do how but it was also quite rigid and there was less flexibility in australia i have was

under the impression we were able to discuss there with the team considering the youth how we're going to go about it and what is important of how to do and why so that was very interesting there was a very different approach i haven't stayed there long enough to know if in the long term this is also the better approach to have that flexibility it certainly felt quite refreshing for me because I had a feeling we are actually able to work with the client that is in front of us. Yeah. Very individually. That's wonderful. I'm glad that you've had a good experience. So you've completed the master's degree. You've also now started your own business using that degree. Has there been something in between that we're missing?

I don't want to skip forward too much too quickly. So after I, finished my degree i went back to germany mainly because i've been in australia during covid so i was not able to visit in between yeah and i just had a feeling i think i kind of have to go back to my Forbes and say hello yeah you don't want to get stuck as well yeah well i had a wonderful time and to be honest w a was probably only part of the world where covid was not really a topic yeah true so i think i was at the right at the right place at the right time but I definitely noticed I wouldn't be able to go back to Bavaria where I lived before after such an intercultural experience. So I decided to move to Berlin and then I started working in social services, so in child protection and family services as part of social services.

And that was super, super interesting. In Germany, that's considered one of the most demanding fields of social work that you can work in because you have a lot of responsibility. you're able to make big decisions for families that really matter. Yeah, you do court work, you do a lot of counselling with the families, you do a lot of coordination and documentation that is detrimental for the outcome of the work. So that was super interesting, but as I told you already, the social work situation in Berlin is quite difficult. I would actually speak from a social work crisis in Berlin.

So there the team actually dissolved, which I didn't even think is possible. How can social services close down? But the caseloads are crazy, which I wasn't affected by yet because I wasn't there for that long. But yeah, it is intense. There is actually organizations that don't take on clients because they're saying their client is too complex. They're not able to hold them. Some organizations even started application process. I don't even know how that's kind of grotesque.

I'm not sure how that's working. But yeah, from there I went to a crisis care organization that was there for girls who experienced sexual abuse and violence. So act to crisis care, which was obviously super intense, but also super beautiful. It was beautiful work working with these girls was very intense social work at the ground. lots of counselling, lots of crisis intervention, lots of trauma-informed care. That was very beautiful. And obviously, I was able to use some of the skills that I learned in my master's to apply there.

And actually, during all these experiences, I was looking for a very specific job where I could apply what I learned in my master's. And I couldn't quite find that. I think back then, nobody really knew what a sexologist really is. So I came with all that energy and was like, I'm going to Berlin and it's going to culturally. And if I can work as a sexologist, it's going to be Berlin and I'm going to use all my competencies and apply them there. And then I noticed, oh, okay, it doesn't really work that way yet. But you know how it is sometimes if things don't work out. I think that's what led me to open my own business because I couldn't quite find the employment that would offer me the

chance to apply those competencies. Yeah. And so I was kind of forced to think of an idea myself. So I was like, okay, I opened my own thing. And that's when I attended some coaching myself because when it comes to money, managing and everything like that, I'm really not good in it. And to be honest, that's also when I noticed in my heart, deep in my heart, I am a social worker.

So it was quite difficult for me to think of charge. for support. Yeah. It's very new to me even though I knew just that's how it works and that's normal and I shouldn't be shy about it. But it was really new and then I opened my business and ever since I offer sexuality and relationship counselling, individual coaching and educational seminars, further training, any kind of educational work. And I think especially the educational format was really important to me because I knew the counselling and coaching I'm offering is quite exclusive because not everybody is able to afford to attend those coaching or counselling sessions. But with the educational work, I was able to make sure that the work

I do also reaches people who work in social organisations and can pass on the topics of sexuality to do that I think are really important. Yeah, nice. So the educational side is that more with organizations and professionals and then the coaching and the counseling is with clients one-on-one? The counseling and the coaching is one-on-one or in relationships. So that might be a couple or that might be people in a non-normative relationship. So then there might be more people involved. And yes, the education seminars is mainly sex education and prevention at schools. and other than debt, mainly with social organisations and staff, there is or further training. Exactly.

Yeah, well, I feel like that's such a huge bucket of work potentially, and you might need to expand the business at one point, but that's a future problem. I'm curious as to why Berlin, you said if this was going to happen, it would happen in Berlin. Culturally, is there sort of an expectation that it's more progressive? and is that what you've ended up finding is that this is the best place to be doing this right now? I certainly think that Berlin is more open-minded when it comes to topics around sexuality and relationships. I think there is a reason that probably worldwide people from different genders or who live in non-binary relationships come to Berlin because it's more comfortable to live that out freely.

So I think Berlin is just a melting pot of people from different backgrounds, different cultures, different religions, different genders, living in different relationships and living their sexuality as they would like to live their sexuality. So there is a lot of clubs, organizations and communities where you can live the life you want to live. And I think that would be difficult in other parts of Germany. at least more difficult to find those kind of communities. So yeah, I definitely think Berlin stands out in a lot of ways in Germany. Sometimes I feel a bit awkward and wonder, is this really Germany? It's very different for sure. Yeah. I'm wondering also how your parents' understanding of the profession has evolved over time from that moment when they picked you up at the end of your internship to now with such a broad skill set and you're opening their eyes.

and probably many other peoples as to what social work can be, not just in Germany, but in different parts of the world. Yeah, yeah, you're right. Actually, I've always asked myself what my parents tell people when they ask about me. And I think they always tell me we're not really surprised anymore because you always do what you think is the right or right next step, and we're not surprised.

You know, you go to another country, do another. another project the other side of the world. Yeah. So I think they're kind of accepted it, but I think what you're touching on here is really important. I think most people don't really know what we do with social workers. They don't know how many different areas of work they are and that there's so many things we can do and so many things we can further specialize in and how

important, ultimately how important social work really is. And even, yeah, I think opening my business was just besides the business itself it was interesting to me because of all the thoughts i put in i just notice how deeply um identifying with being a social worker and the values that stand behind it yeah and yeah how important it is to me to stay connected to that because currently and i think always really i've been working in kind of an eclectic way i've never just done one thing i've always worked in different fields at the same time or I did some volunteering or I did a bit of freelancing and then a job in an employed position and I think that was always super important to me

because I was able to feed different needs of mine. It kept me intellectually and emotionally engaged. It was always really refreshing to have this kind of diversity of work experiences and that never a month looks the same. And I think the main thing I've learned was that I always learn minimum as much from the people I work with and they're learning from me. I think that's what keeps me like just working with people. I have the feeling with every conversation, every interaction. I'm actually the one profiting so much because I'm learning so much from them. Yeah. And are you working for an agency as well as doing the work on your business? I'm getting the sense that balance is important for you and doing just the business while it's incredibly fulfilling and

sustaining in many ways, you might want to stay connected to the profession in other ways. So I'm curious as to whether you have sort of side hustle or if you're employed through different means to do different kinds of work to kind of offset and mix things up a little bit. Oh yeah. Yeah, certainly. So actually after I worked in the organization for girls to experience sexual abuse and violence. I went back to social services. And while working in social services for one and a half years, I worked for university teaching sexual sciences,

either master's of sexual sciences, that I also did self-employed. And then it only happened while I was working there, employed and I'm still employed that I'm doing the work for my business. Okay. So it's not a, full-time thing what I'm doing with my business. It's just next to my employed position, but as you mentioned, that's something I kind of need, that balance of different work. And I think

just working in my business, I'm not sure if it would fulfill me. I kind of have the feeling I always have to touch base with classic social work. It really gives me a lot of energy and drive. Is that sexual sciences course at the university something new? I'm wondering, Is that something you could have done in Germany but chose to do it abroad or is it something that's a bit newer and you're able to help perhaps shape the curriculum a little given your experience? So there is currently, I think, three universities in Germany who offer something like sexology or sex or sciences, but not to discredit the program, obviously, but I think I was looking for something that is quite balanced in a holistic way of sexuality. And the program,

in Australia is advertising itself to have like a third biological and medical aspects of sexuality, one third psychological and therapeutic aspects and one third social and cultural aspects of sexuality. And I think that's exactly what happened as well. So I was really looking for that curriculum. I had the feeling in Germany the programs were more practice oriented and maybe more in direction of sex education. And I, and I, I wanted the full packet I do. And I must say I was lucky enough to have a scholarship because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to finance my masters in Australia.

And I think the scholarship was not only giving me an amazing opportunity of doing so, but the scholarship kind of also shaped or gave me first-hand experience of how it is to have somebody in your back that believes in here. because I think never ever without the scholarship that I had would I have seen myself going to at the other side of the word studying in my second language to be honest I thought I'm just going to study social work and that's it but with the scholarship who thought I can do that I think yeah I think if you have somebody genuinely believing in here it's you can just achieve things that you didn't think are possible yourself and since I made that

experience myself, I try to apply that with all the people I work with as well, that if I can be the person who can believe in you and it can change things for you, you know, I'm happy to do so. Yeah, that kind of fits with my understanding of how the curriculum is in Australia and the focus being very holistic. I think I mentioned to you offline with had a couple of guests on the podcast who studied psychosexual therapy in Sydney. And from what they're telling me, it's very much equipped them. Yes, there's third, third, third,

and looking at everything in context and everything all together at once, but it helped them to understand how to work with teams, not just how to work one-on-one with a client. So how to communicate what's happening respectfully and appropriately with a group of things.

people who are trying to help someone. And in the context of the people I spoke with already, they're talking about people with a significant disability, like a spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury. So it's around that communication piece and how do we biologically help to explain what's happening to someone, not just what's happening in your brain that's perhaps affecting your psychosexual functioning. So yeah, it is very interesting the way that it's taught, I agree. And I think hopefully that means that you can take that learning and embed that somewhat in the local ways of working and help the teams that you work with as well to have a broader understanding as opposed to this is a counselling or a therapy session.

It's very much a team's perspective. Yeah, yeah, I obviously try to. And I think what I also learned is I think a lot of people think of my mask as being very specialized and now you're talking about it how it's actually quite holistic because it covers a lot of parts. And I think I got a completely different understanding about sexuality. I think we think of it very specialized or something, you know, a little part of our life that is not spoken about often or never at all. But I think sexuality affects so many different things.

I think it's important to think of sexuality as a broader term or broader thing in life. And I don't think it was coincidence that I stumbled over the topic of sexuality wherever I was. work. Yeah. Like wherever you are working as a social worker, you're going to have to deal with the topic of sexuality. So actually, it's a shame that in, I think in a lot of bachelors or a lot of education around working with people, it's not even a topic. And I think that shows already a lot. And I think sexuality and relationships are so important for our mental health and feeling connected and feeling that we belong. So to take a look there, I think the education that I received in Australia was just super important to look at all aspects of sexuality because they're all

interconnected in the end. What would you suggest is the hardest thing or the most challenging either about social work in general or about the work that you're doing at the moment? What keeps you up at night? I think it depends a bit what happened on that day. I think sometimes in social services, as I said in Berlin, I think we have kind of a social work crisis at the moment. I think it's the overwhelm of the system that keeps me up at night. Sometimes I think there's so many things we could achieve, but there is so much bureaucracy. There is so many structural problems that we don't, I feel like I don't really get to the social work. Like so many times at social services, I feel like more like a firefighter than a social worker.

I'm constantly working in immediate crisis intervention or immediate crisis assessment or rather than doing, you know, slower relational social work. I think that's one of the most challenging things. And then in my other work, probably that it's still such a big shame to talk about it. Sometimes it takes quite a few sessions for people to really open up. I really always advertise the space that I'm trying to to offer as a space where I hope to give people the safety and trust as they would talk out loud to their diary because I think that's how it should be.

They should not be scared of any judgment because that's what the space is full. But I think the shame that is there around sexuality and talk about it is so intense that it takes a while for people to be able to open up. And I think there is already a lot happening, even though I'm a bit of a K-4-me. when it comes to social media. But when I look back five years, we've came a long way. Like there's a lot happening around the topic of sexuality and a lot more professions and a lot more organisations look that way.

And I think that's really wonderful that we start to have these conversations that I think are so important. Yeah, so any step forward is a step in the right direction. Yeah, exactly. What support do you need then, both in your private work and with the agency work you're doing, how do you make sure it's sustainable and especially with the systemic challenges? How do you make sure you're just not going to not want to go in the next day? I think it's all I mentioned earlier. I think I really profit from working the eclectic way I do,

from not just doing one thing. I think if I would just work in social services, I think I would burn out quite easily because it's so demanding and sometimes working within. in such an over one system can be so frustrating. But firstly, I think there is the little moments we have with the clients. And I mean, we all know as social workers has it is, like it's usually not the perfect solution that is what we're trying to achieve.

Often it's little shifts, somebody who is starting to believe in themselves again, or somebody who feels seen and heard and builds trust to you and then things become possible again and they regain agency. So that definitely is like these moments of connection are super motivating and keep me going. But I think it is a strategy that I do different things at the same time. And it's challenging me in a good way and keeps me refreshed in my mind.

So I want to keep going. And yeah, I think so many times you have these little moments with the clients make everything worth it for sure. And you mentioned you had some business coaching early on. do you still have any sort of mentorship or someone that you can, maybe external supervision is a better way to put it, but someone to help guide you through the private work issues? Actually, I'm a big fan of just exchanging and dialogue. I think that's actually the way I learned best for just talking to people who are in the same field. And as I said, I think we always learn from one another.

and we always learn just as much from the other person than they learn from us, no matter who the other person is. So I think I'm quite connected with the community here in Berlin around social work and sexology. And I'm trying to keep in touch with them from now and then and talk about difficult cases, like get some external supervision. I think that's super important in that field of work, because sometimes it's just getting a bit much. and then you need somebody from the outside looking at it.

Yeah. And yeah. But again, I think that's actually for me there. My favorite ways of learning is just exchange with other people. So I'm actually trying to always make time for talking to people who are interested in the field or who are in the field as well. Because even by explaining something, right? For example, when I also taught a master's course at medical school, Berlin, that taught me also by teaching. I'm also learning again.

So it's always an interaction and I really love that. Yeah. And maybe as more people go through this course and start working in the field, you can develop maybe mini working groups or supervision groups and ways that you can get people together on a regular basis, maybe every month to talk through cases and concerns that you have. I feel like there could be a lot more networking in this space over time. Yeah, we have some work circles that I attend.

They're currently only four times a year and they're a bit spread out. So some they focus on sexuality and disability, some they focus on sexuality and relationship counselling. So I'm trying to attend those as often as possible. But yeah, as I said, they're a bit spread out and only four times a year. But a supervision group like the one you mentioned would be a wonderful idea as a next step. Yeah. And I know you're trying to grow the business now and no big changes just yet.

but wondering what sort of other areas of social work might interest you for future or do you want to keep teaching would you want to work in other countries where do you see this heading well to be honest i love to work with youth and i love crisis work so i was always kind of thinking if i should go back there because youth is just an age group i really connect with i really love because it's such an amazing time of transition and there's so much potential but it seems like life has a different idea of a turn for me. So I was actually recently contacted by my former supervisor, my master's. And it looks like I may start a PhD soon and it would lead me back to Perth.

That's amazing. Yes. And if it all works out, I would soon enough start working on sex trafficking in WA. Okay. working on, again, qualitative research and lived experience. And yeah, I don't want to be too excited too early, but it seems to be quite certain already. And yeah, I'd love to go back to Australia. That's incredible.

Well, I hope that all works out in your favour. And I know that getting funding and approval and all that sort of stuff is ahead of you. But hopefully it's all going to be smooth sailing and then you can just focus on the very interesting work at hand I think it's so important. Yeah, thank you. But yeah, I guess where life has taken me, I don't see myself getting stuck in one place too long. I think there was always an opportunity or a job in a different field or somewhere where I have to take a look and learn a bit more about this and that. Yeah. Well, and maybe that's the push that your family needed to go explore Australia, huh? Certainly. I think so. Yeah. If anyone wanted to know,

a little bit more about the kind of work you're doing, whether it's the youth work or anything to do with psychosexual therapy, where would you direct them? What sort of essential reading or viewing or listening would you recommend? I think regarding social work, I can actually, I could prepare a list of resources that are like best. I think when it comes to sexology, I kind of have my little Bible, which is the clinician's guide to systemic sex therapy. five weeks. I think that's the one book that I take in my hand again and again and again. Other than that, people are obviously welcome to connect with me and I can tell them about it. As I said, I really believe that exchange and dialogue is really important and sometimes more important than reading books, I think, to talk with people who are in the field and have experience and exchange their experience, I think is so valuable.

So people are always happy. I always try to make the time to connect. Yes, as I said, I'm not very active on social media. There is a account in theory, but there hasn't happened much because I've wanted it to be meaningful and authentic and I'm not really sure how that can look yet. But there's my website and I'm happy to connect and talk and have a chat beyond that space that you offered me. Yeah, lovely. And is there anything that we haven't had a chance to talk about and wondering even just any thoughts about what you love about social work or what's been something really rewarding about your experience or any questions that you wished I'd asked?

I think we touched on so many topics, but I think what I was really taught from my experiences abroad and going to different countries and different peers of social work and working with different age groups and people with different backgrounds really told me that in the end we all have the same needs. We all want safety. We all have that need for belonging. And I think sometimes we forget about that. We build different environments and different systems around ourselves, but in the end, we're all human, and we all need the same thing. And we as social workers can just help people to regain agency. and it's such an amazing profession and I encourage everybody to keep going even though sometimes in countries it's not the most prestigious job but it's so so so important and as I said

have somebody that believes in you can just change your life and I think we just have to remind each other build communities and remind each other of how important that is so even though it's a job that is quite demanding and has quite an emotion at all, I think it's important to remind ourselves of how wonderful it is. Yeah. I also think it's really good platforms like this or anything really where people are talking about what they do. It really helps to educate people, to inform people so that the recognition of our profession

is always growing. You mentioned you were interested in human behaviour and you wanted to study aspects of that and connection and experience. that people have, that's a global thing. That's not specific to social work, but it is something very specific to our value set and what we're interested in, and it's a great foundation. But that then led you to do so many other things like study abroad, to get employment abroad, Tanzania, Nepal, Uganda, Australia, how many people can say that they've been to all those countries? And it really allowed you to develop your interest in specific areas, to do further study, that passion and that drive to

fill a gap in the market has led to your business developing. And definitely what I have seen with other people who have started their own business is that aspect of valuing their work and putting a price tag on it because when you're working for an agency or for government, everything's done for you. No exchange of money is seen. So it's really hard to be able to say, well, this is how much I charge or this is how much my service costs. So that's something you've had to overcome. But you're working again with so many challenges with structures systems and despite all that i think what keeps you grounded and able to continue the work is finding balance in everything you do so you're able to with the different work that you're doing with the variety you're able to step back and really

see things in perspective which is really important for longevity in the profession and now you've got so much excitement potentially with this future research so there's always something new happening. I feel like you never sit still. You're always coming up with some sort of new idea or concept or project that you want to work on. And it's so inspiring to hear. And I don't know how you find the energy, but I'm glad that you're doing it and glad that you're able to make such a huge difference to so many people. And I'm so glad that I got to hear about it. Thank you so much for your kind words. It was a pleasure talking to you. Yeah. And yeah, if you wanted to send me any resources, I'll pop them in the show notes. People can go check them out. And hopefully,

hopefully connect with you as well because that's what it's all about is finding your people in the wild and yeah continuing those conversations. Yeah exactly because then you can make things possible that you didn't think you can. And conversations like this are maybe their motivation to do so. Yeah, I'm sure they will be. Thank you again for your time. I've really loved chatting with you. Thank you so much. Same here. Thanks for joining me this week. If you'd like to continue this discussion or ask anything of either myself or Sophia, please visit my anchor page at anchor.fm.fm slash social work spotlight. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky, or you can email SW Spotlight Podcast at

gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you. Next episode's guest is Elizabeth, a first-year PhD student at the University of Bucharest and an early career practitioner. Elizabeth has participated in several exchange programs under the Erasmus Plus framework and has worked in diverse roles supporting older adults and children with autism, allowing her to develop a diverse set of skills and a deeper understanding of different vulnerable populations. I release a new episode every two weeks. Please subscribe to my podcast so you will notify when this next episode is available. See you then.