Trauma Informed Conversations

How can parents, educators, and professionals support children in navigating their complex internal worlds and developing true emotional literacy? Far too often, emotional literacy gets confused with emotional control—praising children simply for being calm rather than teaching them how to safely feel, process, and express their big emotions.  In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , we...

How can schools and professionals move past performative empathy to build genuine, supportive partnerships with the parents of children with SEND? Far too often, the intense pressures within the educational system pit schools and families against each other, creating defensiveness instead of a united team around the child.  In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , we sit down with trauma...

Episode Description Can physical activity become a core vehicle for trauma recovery, emotional regulation, and deep belonging in our schools? Far too often, educational environments inadvertently re-traumatise children through behaviour management policies focused purely on sanctions and isolation. In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , host Jessica Parker is joined by former Director...

The Art of Listening - Moving from "Fixer" to Supporter In a world that moves quickly toward solutions, simply sitting with someone in their discomfort can feel counterintuitive. Yet, as we explore in this episode, true support often comes from doing less, not more. We are joined by Angelique Tavernier , founder of Clarity Ahead , to discuss the transition from being a "rescuer&quot...

What happens when you have to parent without a map? In this deeply moving and relational conversation, we sit down with care-experienced mum, kinship carer, and Churchill Fellow Terri-Anne Harmer to explore the complexities of raising a family while carrying the lifelong impacts of trauma and the care system. For many care-experienced parents, the journey of raising children is often shadowed by a...

Episode Description In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , host Jessica Parker welcomes teacher, coach, and author Emma Kell . Drawing on 27 years of classroom experience and her recent book, Real Lives of Teachers , Emma explores the psychological landscape of the teaching profession today. Moving beyond superficial wellbeing advice, Jess and Emma discuss the concept of moral injury a...

Episode Overview   In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , host Jessica Parker is joined by integrative therapist Louise Brooks . As a physically disabled therapist, Louise brings both professional expertise and lived experience to a vital but often overlooked topic: Medical Trauma . Moving beyond clinical definitions, Jess and Louise explore the cumulative impact of "medical gasli...

What happens to care-experienced people as they grow older? In this deeply moving and trauma-informed conversation, we sit down with researcher and storyteller Dr. Rosie Canning to explore the long-term health and wellbeing outcomes for adults who grew up in the care system. For too long, the narrative around "care leavers" has focused almost exclusively on the transition to adulthood at...

In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations, host Jessica Parker is joined by TICS Associate Gemma, an expert with over 30 years of experience in the NHS eating disorder field. Recorded in person on a rare sunny day in Yorkshire, the pair explores the vital, yet often overlooked, role that connection and community play in the lives of those experiencing eating distress and eating disorders. E...

In this episode, we delve into the often-overlooked nuances of kinship care through the lens of lived experience. While kinship care—being raised by family members or close friends rather than in the general foster care system—is frequently highlighted in policy as a preferred alternative, the voices of the children within these dynamics are rarely centered. Our host is joined by Blu Mikel , who s...

Trauma exposure is often associated with blue-light services or clinical roles, but the reality of emotional labour is far wider. In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , host Jessica Parker sits down with mental health and suicide prevention consultant Christine Clark to discuss the "quiet weight" carried by those in everyday professions. From catering kitchens to recycling ce...

Adoption is frequently presented as an endpoint: a “happy ending,” a rescue, a solution. For many adoptees, the story does not end with placement. It continues across the life course, shaped by identity, belonging, nervous system responses, loss, silence, and social expectation. In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations (part of the Care-Experienced People mini-series), host Carrie Wilson s...

Sibling kinship care is far more common than most people realise, yet it remains one of the least understood forms of care. In this powerful episode of Trauma Informed Conversations , part of the Care-Experienced People mini-series, host Carrie Wilson sits down with Dr Lorna Stabler from Cardiff University to explore what really happens when a young person becomes the primary carer for their own b...

In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations, Jessica Parker , Director at Trauma Informed Consultancy Services (TICS), speaks with Carrie Wilson , TICS Collaboration and Innovation Lead, following Carrie’s powerful appearance on BBC Breakfast discussing care-experienced people, accommodation, and the systemic issues that urgently need to change. Their conversation builds on the brilliant cove...

In this episode of Trauma Informed Conversations, Carrie speaks with journalist, Churchill Fellow and TEDx speaker Sophia Alexandra Hall about what it means to tell stories with care-experienced people rather than about them. Drawing on her own journey from care into journalism, Sophia explains the three roles the media often forces under-represented communities into: tragic victim, dangerous thre...

What happens when research is designed and carried out with people it's about, and not just on them? Carrie Wilson is joined by Dr Nikki Luke from the Rees Centre, University of Oxford, to explore practical ways to blend admin data, mixed methods, and lived experience, without losing the human story. We dig into examples of good co-production in research such as the Oxford research project le...

About the Series The Care-Experienced People Mini-Series is part of Trauma-Informed Conversations - a podcast created by Trauma-Informed Consultancy Services (TICS) to explore what it really means to build systems and relationships grounded in care, connection, and humanity. Hosted by Carrie Wilson, this special series invites care-experienced people, researchers, and practitioners from around the...

In this opening episode, Jessica Parker — Director of Trauma Informed Consultancy Services (TICS) is joined by her colleague Carrie Wilson to share the story behind the new podcast and the TICS model of practice. Following the energy and emotion of the recent TICS Conference, delegates told us they wanted more: more time to pause, to process, and to stay connected. Trauma Informed Conversations wa...