Ever wondered why a supervisor’s quick "got a second?" sends one co-worker into a full-blown existential crisis, while another completely ignores the email? It turns out our early attachment templates follow us straight through the office doors and sit right at our desks!

In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey take a look at how adult attachment theory plays out in the wild world of social work and human services. We are diving into the quirky, relatable ways our internal working models of anxiety and avoidance show up when we're on the clock, shining a spotlight on everything from workplace dynamics to supervision style.

Whether you're navigating high-stress casework, managing a team, or just trying to survive your next group project, understanding your workplace attachment style is the ultimate cheat code for protecting your peace and preventing burnout.

In this episode, we explore:

· Attachment in the workplace: How secure, anxious, avoidant, and fearful-avoidant styles actually look during a typical workday.

· Boss Energy and Supervision: Why some leaders build a "secure base" while others slide into micromanagement or total ghosting.

· Decoding Client Dynamics: How spotting a client's attachment style helps you realize that "hostility" or "disengagement" isn't personal, it's just a self-protective strategy.

· Burnout, Boundaries, and You: How over-identifying with cases or putting up emotional walls impacts your energy levels.

· Building Psychological Safety: Simple, practical ways to use reflective supervision to build real trust and genuine connection at work.

Podcast Website: Visit relationalpracticeasocialworkpodcast.com.au for show notes, printables, and extra resources.

Get in Touch: Send your practice stories, feedback, or questions to Relationalpractice01@gmail.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Edited by Angus Pinkstone

Music by Hannah Park

Ever wonder why a delayed text message or a slight shift in tone can send an adult's nervous system into absolute freefall? It's because the body never forgets the quiet relational ruptures of childhood.

In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey take a deep dive into one of the most pervasive, misunderstood issues in clinical practice: abandonment trauma. While we often picture dramatic life events or overt caregiving ruptures, this conversation shines a light on the "quieter" wounds, the subtle, unsaid experience of ambiguous abandonment where a caregiver is physically present, yet emotionally unreachable.

Grounded in attachment theory and Pauline Boss’s concept of ambiguous loss, Jodie and Rose unpack how these early relational micro-experiences shape our internal working models. They explore how growing up with physically present but emotionally absent parents trains a child's developing nervous system to anticipate rejection, building implicit templates of unworthiness that persist into adult relationships and workforce patterns.

In this episode, we explore:

· The Spectrum of Abandonment: Moving beyond obvious abandonment to recognize emotional withdrawal, parentification, and conditional love.

· Ambiguous Loss in Childhood: Navigating the painful reality of ambiguous abandonment and the unique ache of growing up with emotionally absent parents.

· How It Shows Up in Therapy: Recognizing both ends of the spectrum—from panic, hypervigilance, and fear of rejection to rigid self-sufficiency, chronic emptiness, and emotional shutdown.

· Rethinking Clinical Assessment: Moving past generic checklists to ask the key questions that reveal a client's underlying attachment template.

· Practical Treatment Interventions: Step-by-step approaches for nervous system stabilization, somatic safe havens, parts-based dialogue, and repairing relational ruptures.

Show editing by Angus Pinkstone

Title music by Hannah Park

In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, hosts Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey sit down for a deeply honest conversation with Dr. Adam McCormick, Professor of Social Work at St. Edward's University and author of Healing the Helping Professional: The Unfinished Business of Childhood Trauma.

Drawing on his background as an educator, researcher, and former child welfare practitioner, Adam shares how both his academic work and personal lived experience led him to explore the unspoken links between childhood adversity and caregiving careers.

Together, they explore why so many professionals in social work and human services end up exhausted, overextended, and struggling with profound guilt whenever they try to establish standard boundaries. The conversation dives into how early childhood roles, like the family "peacemaker" or "hero” steer individuals into caregiving professions, and why high-stress, chaotic work environments can feel surprisingly familiar to an over-activated nervous system.

Adam breaks down why standard "self-care" advice often misses the mark, how the urge to "fix" others can inadvertently undermine client autonomy, and what it really takes to drop the "invulnerable expert" persona to build authentic, supportive connections with peers.

Connect with Adam & Explore His Work:

· Book: Healing the Helping Professional (NASW Press)

· Free Resources: Adam's Newsletter & Downloads

· LinkedIn: You can find and connect with Adam on LinkedIn

Show editing by Angus Pinkstone

Title music by Hannah Park