Intrusive Kindness

Can doing the right thing still cause harm? In this deeply personal episode of Intrusive Kindness , PJ explores one of the most challenging realities of social work and child protection: the space between safety and trust. Through the story of a family he worked alongside for months, PJ reflects on the relationships that sit at the heart of effective child protection practice, the ethical dilemmas...

In this powerful Season 3 opener, PJ returns to Australia after years working across NGOs and statutory systems in the UK only to step straight into the biggest ethical dilemma of his social work career. This episode dives deep into the world of Social Benefit Bonds (SIBs): market‑driven funding models where private investors bankroll social programs and governments repay them only if families ach...

In this episode, PJ sits down with Charlotte to explore what authentic self‑care really looks like for people working in the helping professions. Moving beyond the glossy, performative versions of self‑care often seen on social media, this conversation dives into the quiet, practical rituals that keep practitioners grounded while supporting others. Charlotte shares her journey into child and famil...

Part 2 tells the story of what happens when a child protection system collapses and frontline workers are left to navigate the fallout. From emergency all‑staff meetings to new recording systems, shifting leadership and increased oversight, this episode explores how reform disrupts casework and lands directly on the children whose lives are already unstable. Through visits with carers and young pe...

What does it really feel like to enter statutory social work for the first time? In this Season 2 finale, PJ shares the early casework that shaped his practice sibling groups navigating trauma, crisis behaviour, school escalations, and the delicate work of building trust. But alongside the casework sits the system itself: policies, accreditation, funding, leadership, and the structures that hold (...

What happens when your story crosses the stories of the people you support? In this episode, I unpack the hidden baselines we carry into practice, the discomfort of unfamiliar family worlds, and the emotional cost of trying to do everything for everyone. Through the lens of a refugee football team, I explore the first time I learned to step back and why that lesson matters for every social worker....

In this episode, PJ steps back into his first UK job a youth program built from pizza‑fuelled consultations, brave young voices, and a community that learned to speak for itself. But behind the scenes, a slow‑burn visa expiry, an unexpected love story, and the emotional fault line between personal and professional life begin to crack open. This is the story of a program that kept going after he ha...

In this episode, I revisit a domestic and family violence case from early in my career a case that revealed how easily social workers can follow a familiar pattern, only to realise too late that it doesn’t fit the family in front of us. What looked like progress on the surface engagement, rapport, referrals was masking a deeper pattern of coercive control I didn’t yet have the lens to recognise. T...

In this episode, PJ takes you inside his first UK social work role a program dropped into an organisation without instructions, scaffolding or structure. What began as “building a service” quickly became a lesson in how systems shape us, how we default to what we know, and why the myth of closure is one of the most powerful illusions in our profession. From learning a new landscape to discovering...

In this episode, I take you back to the moment I left Australia to become a social worker in the UK the leap, the fear, the uncertainty, and the unexpected lessons that shaped my entire career. This story explores what it really feels like to start over in a new country, navigate a collapsing job market, and rebuild your professional identity from scratch. From airport panic to the harsh reality o...

A first‑year social worker joins me to reflect on their first twelve months in practice the values they walked in with, the moments that shaped them, and the emotional labour of early career social work. Elle shares how her own family, who work in the profession, inspired her to pursue social work and helped shape her understanding of what this work can be. In this episode, we explore themes famil...

In this season finale of Intrusive Kindness, PJ reflects on his first year in social work — not from inside it, but years later, with the hindsight that only lived experience can offer. This episode explores the truth that one person’s story is never a singular story, and that social workers are rarely the main characters in the lives they enter. Through the lens of intrusive kindness, narrative t...

This is the real beginning the moment my social work practice cracked open for the first time. The Prequel (the real first) traces the early shocks of my first placement: a messy removal, the emotional labour of ED social work, the collapse no one saw coming, and the hidden skill that surfaced before I had language for it. Inside the chaos of hospital corridors, crisis work, and the unpredictabili...

In this episode, PJ returns to his first year of social work and the “small idea” he thought was just filling a gap a side quest he wasn’t sure he was ready for. What he didn’t realise was that this little program would become the first legacy of his career, teaching him what social work truly is: backing yourself before anyone else does, trusting young people as experts in their own lives, and cr...

PJ returns to the early days of group facilitation those first uncertain sessions where the goal was simply to stay steady, learn the rhythm, and build confidence one group at a time. Working alongside colleagues with different styles, he slowly found a way of holding the room that felt genuine. But just as things began to feel familiar, real life delivered a left‑field moment no guidebook could p...

In this episode, PJ returns to the early days of practice the first impressions, first challenges, and the first colleague who quietly reshaped his understanding of advocacy. What began as confusion and avoidance becomes a defining lesson in confidence, integrity, and standing firm for families. Through honest storytelling and reflective practice, PJ explores how kindness and authority can coexist...

The early years of social work are full of firsts — uplifting, humbling, and unforgettable. In this episode, PJ explores the moments that shape practice: gratitude, mistakes, overwhelm, boundaries, and the emotional labour of walking alongside people in their hardest seasons. Through honest storytelling and reflective practice, he traces how these firsts reveal the tension between rupture and repa...

The journey into social work often begins long before the first day. In this opening episode, PJ returns to a Tasmanian car park where a quiet phone call set his path in motion. Through immersive storytelling and reflective practice, he traces the childhood moments, community influences, and early acts of care that shaped his understanding of human connection. What follows is a raw account of the...

In this episode, PJ returns to the moment every social worker remembers: the first visit to a family. From the weight of the referral to the tension of the knock, he traces the uncertainty, imagination, and quiet fear that shape our earliest encounters in practice. Through honest storytelling and reflective practice, PJ explores how expectations collide with reality, how we learn to listen differe...

This is your invitation.   Intrusive Kindness is a different way to tell our stories in the care profession through the eyes of a social worker, where empathy and authority collide. This trailer offers a glimpse into the emotional terrain, narrative rituals, and quiet power of reflective practice.   Whether you’ve walked these corridors or never stepped inside, you’re welcome here.   Pause.   Refl...