Care Visions Talks

Why do we spend so much time trying to control how we feel? And could the constant search for calm sometimes be part of the problem? Psychotherapist and bestselling author Joshua Fletcher joins Lucy Johnstone to explore anxiety, overthinking and the pressures of modern life. Drawing on his own experiences and more than a decade working as a therapist, Joshua explains how the fear of anxiety itself...

What happens when a young person can no longer live with their parents and someone within their wider family steps in? Bobby Dean shares his own experience of going to live with his grandparents as a teenager and the stability they gave him at a difficult point in his life. Years later, Bobby discovered there was a name for what his grandparents had done: kinship care. In conversation with Humphre...

For decades, depression has often been explained as a chemical imbalance in the brain. Professor Joanna Moncrieff argues that the evidence simply doesn’t support that explanation. In this episode of Family Talk , Lucy Johnston speaks with Joanna about the serotonin theory of depression, what antidepressants actually do and why Joanna believes their effects may be better understood as altering or b...

Mirela Zoltan spent the first three years of her life in an orphanage in Romania before being adopted and taken to the United States. What followed was a childhood marked by disrupted relationships and repeated moves through adoptive, foster and residential settings. Mirela was frequently seen as a child with challenging behaviour. Looking back, however, she describes something much simpler undern...

Could we one day help identify ADHD by looking at the brain? That is the question at the beginning of this episode of Care Visions Family Talk , in which Lucy speaks with Dr Monica Berntsen , introduced as a practising neuropsychologist who has spent more than a decade working with people with ADHD and autism.  The discussion begins with the way ADHD is currently assessed. Dr Berntsen describes ex...

What happens when a child or young person in care is described as having “nobody”? For Kevin Campbell, that question became the starting point for research that would ultimately challenge some deeply established assumptions within child welfare. In this episode of Care Visions Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley speaks with Kevin Campbell of Pale Blue and Family Finding about family connection, k...

Why are so many children struggling? One in five children is now identified as having a special educational need — a significant increase over the past decade. Are children who were previously overlooked finally being recognised, or are ordinary childhood difficulties increasingly being understood as medical conditions? In this episode of Care Visions Family Talk , Lucy speaks with Dave Clements ,...

What happens when a child is moved away from danger but, in the process, also loses the network of relationships connecting them to their family, community, history and identity? In this episode of Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley speaks with Elizabeth Wendel, President and Co-founder of Pale Blue and an internationally recognised expert in Family Finding™ and Family Seeing™. Elizabeth explain...

What is a child really trying to say through difficult behaviour? In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speaks with Sarah Naish about therapeutic parenting, childhood trauma, boundaries, emotional regulation and why behaviour is often a sign of an unmet need. Sarah explains why standard parenting approaches do not always work for children who have experienced trauma, and why children may s...

For more than four decades, Steve Chalke has been working to improve the lives of vulnerable children, young people and families across the UK. As founder of Oasis, Steve has helped establish schools, housing projects, youth services and community initiatives in some of Britain's most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. His work has consistently focused on one central belief: people flourish when t...

How love literally shapes a child's brain. What if the most powerful influence on a child's future isn't education, money, technology or even genetics, but the quality of the relationships they experience? In this episode of Care Visions Family Talk, host Lucy Johnston is joined by evolutionary anthropologist, author and relationship expert Dr Anna Machin to explore the science of l...

What happens when a parent trying to protect their children enters a family court system that doesn’t always recognise abuse? In this episode of Care Visions Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley speaks with Julia Margo, co-founder of Fair Hearing, about domestic abuse, coercive control, safeguarding and the realities of navigating the family justice system. Julia shares her personal experience of...

Are standards in Scottish education falling — and what’s really behind it? In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speaks with Keir Bloomer, former Director of Education and one of the architects of Curriculum for Excellence. Drawing on decades of experience, Dr. Bloomer argues that standards in Scotland have declined, pointing to international data, curriculum design, and a shift away from...

What happens when more children need care — but there are fewer homes to support them? In this episode of Care Visions Professional Talk , Professor Claudia Bernard (Goldsmiths, University of London) joins Humphrey Hawksley to explore the growing pressure on the UK care system. Drawing on decades of experience in social work and research, Professor Bernard explains why the system is under strain —...

CHILDHOOD IN CRISIS Why are so many children struggling today – and why does no one seem to have a clear answer? In this Care Visions Family Talk: Spotlight episode, host Lucy Johnston speaks to world-renowned trauma expert and bestselling author Dr Gabor Maté about the rising levels of anxiety, depression, ADHD, eating disorders and emotional distress in children. As diagnoses increase and waitin...

Children are growing up on screens earlier than ever — but what is it doing to their development, wellbeing and safety? In this episode of Care Visions Family Talk, host Lucy Johnston speaks with Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children First, about the real impact of smartphones and social media on children’s lives. From rising anxiety and sleep issues to exposure to harmful content and online g...

What does it take to rebuild your life after a difficult childhood? In this episode of Care Visions Talks – Professional Talk, Humphrey Hawksley speaks with Tina Copp, who shares her experience of growing up in the care system and how those early challenges shaped her path into education and mental health training. Now a Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Tina reflects on trauma, resilience, and...

In this episode of Family Talk, Lucy Johnston speaks with Bruce Adamson, human rights lawyer and former Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland. Bruce shares insights from his international work advising governments and organisations on children’s rights. Together they explore the pressures facing children today — including poverty, mental health challenges, online safety and the rap...

In this episode of Care Visions Talks: Professional Talk, host Humphrey Hawksley is joined by Dr Andrew G. Thomas, PhD for a thoughtful conversation exploring male identity in a rapidly changing social world. Together, they examine how masculinity is evolving, the pressures facing boys and men today, and what this means for families, care systems, education and professional practice. In this conve...

In this episode of Care Visions Talks: Family Talk , host Lucy Johnston is joined by Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister OBE MP for a timely and in-depth conversation on fostering reform in the UK. Drawing on his leadership of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, the Minister outlines a vision to transform a system he believes has become too focused on process rather than people. From...

In this episode of Care Visions Talks: Professional Talk, host Humphrey Hawksley is joined by Professor Claire Cameron, the UK’s first Professor of Social Pedagogy, for a reflective and practice-focused conversation about care, relationships and professional culture. Drawing on a career spanning residential care, frontline social work, research and policy, Claire explores how care systems function...

In this episode of Care Visions Family Talk , host Lucy Johnston is joined by Mary Sharpe , Chief Executive of The Reward Foundation, for an open and informative conversation about the impact of online pornography on young people’s brains, wellbeing, relationships, and development. Together they explore why children are being exposed at increasingly young ages, how the adolescent brain responds to...

In this episode of Family Talk, Linda de Caestecker speaks with Gael Cochrane, Learning, Development and Innovation Lead at Community Justice Scotland, about how pornography and the online manosphere are shaping young people’s attitudes, relationships and wellbeing. They explore early exposure to online pornography, the influence of misogynistic online communities and figures such as Andrew Tate,...

Family Talk is part of Care Visions Talks, a UK podcast exploring the real issues affecting children, young people and families. In this episode, host Lucy Johnston speaks with Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children 1st, about the urgent challenges shaping modern childhood in Scotland. They explore how poverty, smartphones and social media, post-lockdown behaviours, family stress and community...

Host: Humphrey Hawksley Guests: Associate Professor Yvalia Febrer , Associate Professor of Social Work, Kingston University London Danny Henderson , Service Manager, Care Visions Episode Summary: How do we move beyond systems and structures to create spaces of belonging for young people in residential care? In this thoughtful discussion, Associate Professor Yvalia Febrer and Danny Henderson join H...