Show Notes
In this episode I speak with Seena, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker based in Brisbane who has worked in the human services sector for over 15 years. Seena is a first-generation Gujarati woman born and raised in England but now living in Australia, and she brings an appreciation of how culture, identity, relationships, and lived experience shape people’s stories. Her practice spans mental health, trauma, domestic and family violence, relationships, parenting, and men’s behaviour change. Grounded in dignity, cultural humility, and trauma-informed practice, Seena is passionate about walking alongside people with both compassion and accountability and creating environments where people feel heard, respected, and empowered as the experts of their own lives.
Links to resources mentioned in this week’s episode: ‘Invitations to Responsibility’ by Alan Jenkins - https://archive.org/details/invitationstores00jenk
Our Watch - https://www.ourwatch.org.au/
No To Violence - https://ntv.org.au/about-us/
ANROWS (Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety) - https://www.anrows.org.au/
Institute of Non-Violence - https://ionv.com.au/
Safe & Together Institute - https://safeandtogetherinstitute.com/
Blue Knot Foundation - https://blueknot.org.au/
Emerging Minds - https://emergingminds.com.au/
Suggested reading: Judith Herman: Trauma and Recovery (1992)
Bessel Van der Kolk: The Body Keeps the Score (2014)
Janina Fisher: Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors (2017)
Peter Levine: Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma (1997)
Alan Jenkins (1990): Invitations to Responsibility: The Therapeutic Engagement of Men who are Violent and Abusive (https://archive.org/details/invitationstores00jenk)
Evan Stark (2023): Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life.
Michael Flood (2018): Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention.
Michael Flood (2025): Understanding Men's Lives: Pain, Privilege, Difference
This episode's transcript can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lvPGFrLhwztTY7eze3mjo_fRIqn84VUtkLIySfp01PY/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks to Kevin Macleod of incompetech.com for our theme music.
More from Social Work Spotlight
In this episode I speak with Dainora, a social worker from Lithuania, working as a Supported Decision-Making Specialist at the Agency for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and as a Marketing Manager at the Psychosocial Activity Centre “Nauja pradžia”, while also pursuing a master’s degree. Her work in supported decision-making focuses on empowering people with disabilities to make their own decisions, strengthen their independence, and have their voices heard.
In this episode I speak with Dr Eymen Ekmen, an academic in Türkiye who completed his PhD in 2026, and whose research primarily focuses on migration, refugee studies, and Syrian refugees in Türkiye. Eymen places great emphasis on working with diverse cultures and conducting fieldwork in participants' native languages, and he himself speaks Arabic, English, Turkish, and Serbo-Croatian.
In this episode I speak with Vesna from North Macedonia, with more than 20 years of professional experience beginning with volunteering in civil society organisations supporting people at social risk, where she discovered her passion for this profession. Throughout her career, she has worked with different groups, currently focusing on early childhood care, while also actively involved in international projects, non-formal education, and professional training as a lecturer and educator.
In this episode I speak with Gülcan, a social worker from Türkiye, currently living in Serbia. Gülcan has worked in migration and refugee support, child protection, and emergency and crisis settings, with field experience in humanitarian responses during the COVID-19 period, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the 2023 earthquake response in Türkiye. She has also worked with vulnerable children and women living in camps and other protection settings in both Türkiye and Serbia.
In this episode I speak with Elizabeth, a first-year PhD student at the University of Bucharest and early career practitioner. Elizabeth has participated in several exchange programs under the Erasmus+ framework, broadening her perspective on social work practices and international collaboration. She 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. Elizabeth is particularly interested in initiatives that promote innovation, inclusion, community development, and evidence-based practice within the social services sector.