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Good morning and welcome to Dear
Social Worker Podcast, the 

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podcast that prioritises you, 
the person behind the title. 

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I'm your host, Lisa Ram, and 
today I am recording from my 

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mum's house because it's been 
Mother's Day weekend. 

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I mean, it's been an interesting
week because we've had World 

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Book Day, International Women's 
Day and Mother's Day all in the 

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same week for us as social 
workers. 

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That's just an average day, 
isn't it? 

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So I want to talk about the 
concept of compassion today. 

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I've certainly observed a lot 
over the past few days. 

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I've been out for International 
Women's Day. 

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I was at church for Mother's 
Day, and I just wanted to share 

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some of these observations with 
you. 

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You know how we do. 
We like to talk to each other. 

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Just before I do that and step 
into podcast mode, I just want 

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to remind some of you who may 
not have seen or heard the 

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episode. 
The bonus episode that was sent 

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out on Friday, it's called Let 
Go and it's named that way 

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because I woke up with like a 
message that I just felt I 

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needed to share. 
So thank you to everyone who has

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still getting over my cold. 
Thank you to everyone who has 

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listened to the episode and left
a comment. 

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You know, I see all of the 
reviews that come in, so I just 

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want to thank you for that. 
For those that haven't listened,

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I would highly recommend, highly
recommend that you listen to 

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that episode. 
It's the most raw and unfiltered

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episode I would say of this this
podcast for the past. 

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We're heading to a year now at 
the end of this month. 

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Those of you who have not got 
your ticket for Empowering 

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Social Workers Conference, 
please don't message me and say 

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are there any tickets left when 
I say they're sold out. 

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Early birth tickets are now sold
out, so we are on the home run. 

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So I would, if you want to come,
go to 

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socialwork@coachinghub.com. 
Let me rephrase social Work 

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coaching hub.com/events to get 
your tickets. 

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Now let's talk about this 
concept of compassion. 

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But first I'm going to tell you 
a short story. 

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Whilst I was at church 
yesterday, all of the mothers, 

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which is usual, all of the 
mothers, received gifts from the

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church. 
Just a small token and an 

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appreciation moment. 
The whole service really was was

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about that and it was lovely to 
see all the mums and the 

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children and the children 
dedicating their poems and 

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letters to their mothers in 
front of the church. 

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It's such a joyous occasion and 
in our church we like what we, 

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what we like to call uniform. 
We wear a uniform so our uniform

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colour, not literally like an 
army UU in the Caribbean, means 

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like a colour. 
So yesterday we were all wearing

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pink and I'm telling you, pink 
is not really a colour I have in

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my wardrobe. 
So that was an interesting buy. 

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But I did find a pink dress that
I bought from time ago thinking,

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yes, that might come in handy 
and it did. 

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So that that was good. 
I mean, it doesn't matter if you

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don't wear pink. 
There was loads of people 

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wearing their own attire, but 
it's all been part of a group in

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some cases. 
So that was a beautiful service.

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But during that service there 
were many people who had lost 

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their mothers, love their 
grandmothers. 

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And whilst we were there, 
celebrating all the mothers that

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were there and enjoying the 
speeches from the children to 

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the mothers and the sons, and 
you know all of that, we will 

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all joyous together. 
There was a whole group of 

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people where it wasn't a happy 
day for them. 

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And as I was leaving, I had a 
task that I needed to complete. 

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And so I left the main church 
hall, went into like the side 

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church hall to just rest my bag 
and my coat. 

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And then I went to do my task 
and come back. 

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But as I put down my bag and my 
coat, there were three ladies in

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the in the in that space, all 
the tissues in their hands and 

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all the tears in their eyes, 
They had all left their mother 

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recently, and I'm talking about 
grown women, right? 

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So I gave them all a hug and I I
stood with them for a moment 

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before, you know, I I went to do
my task and in that moment all 

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that I could offer them was 
compassion. 

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In the midst of that, shortly 
after, my mum came to join me 

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because we were going to go out 
to afternoon tea and there was 

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this feeling of I bet those 
ladies would give their right 

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arm, literally, to go out 
afternoon tea with their 

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mothers. 
Compassion is that gentle force 

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that binds us together in 
empathy and understanding. 

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And whilst I don't have the full
extent of understanding of their

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pain and their love and their 
grief, I was able to offer 

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compassion. 
And sometimes your presence 

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alone is enough. 
No, I'm not saying that my 

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presence to these ladies was 
enough in that moment. 

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I'm. 
I'm not saying that at all. 

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I'm stepping away from that 
story for a moment, just to 

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interject this notion that 
presence can be very powerful. 

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And whilst there were people 
coming up to these ladies and 

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offering words of encouragement 
and quoting scripture to support

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them and all of this stuff, I 
remember I was just stood there 

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with one of the ladies in in my 
arms. 

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I was just holding her and 
saying nothing. 

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And what came to me was 
sometimes for some people that 

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is just enough. 
And when I've experienced loss 

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and someone in church will come 
over to me, it's always the same

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lady. 
She'll always come over to me, 

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she says, I'm not going to say 
anything. 

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I'm just going to give you a 
hug, you know. 

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And it got me thinking about how
did Mother's Day link to us as 

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social workers? 
And I woke up with this word 

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compassion. 
And so now as social workers, 

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are we aware that some parents 
have passed away? 

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Let's be specific. 
Are we aware that those that you

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are working with and supporting 
if they've lost their mother or 

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their grandmother? 
And if so, do we take a moment 

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to acknowledge that now? 
Admittedly, the dynamic in the 

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relationship may not allow for 
such a conversation or allow for

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that compassion and empathy to 
be shown because equally you 

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know you are in their lives and 
it's likely they don't want you 

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in their lives. 
Yet within that you have these 

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days of the year, which is not a
celebratory evolving for some. 

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So what do we do? 
At times, the dynamics of 

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existing relationships can 
present obstacles to extending 

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compassion. 
Sometimes all you can offer is a

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sentence, you know, whether it's
these underlying complexities of

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the relationship social workers 
have with with parents 

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particularly. 
And I was talking with a friend 

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last week. 
She was sharing that she had a 

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child protection medical and she
had to collect, she had to 

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collect mum and child to bring 
to the hospital. 

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And we were just talking about 
the dichotomy and the complexity

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of that dynamic because the 
parent may in this case or not 

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be, they may be accused of the 
injury that's been seen on the 

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child. 
And we're asking this parent to 

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get into the car with us with 
their child and give consent to 

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a child protective medical. 
And we were just talking about 

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the complexities within that, 
the power dynamics within that. 

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And the friend I was talking to 
was expressing about the 

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consent, the complexity of 
consent that the parent gives 

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within a child protection 
medical cycle. 

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Shall we call it one of the 
fundamental aspects of 

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compassion? 
It's not just about the words 

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that are spoken, but also 
understanding the emotions that 

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are behind them at times. 
We're going to be required to 

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Createspace where those feelings
are validated and their 

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experiences are honored. 
Even though as social workers we

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may be seen as being the ones to
create the distress for the 

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parent because we're involved in
their lives, right? 

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Even though as social workers we
understand that the bigger 

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picture is about being there for
the child and making sure the 

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child is safe, we still have to 
interact with with parents. 

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And if they are in distress, if 
they are angry, it's you as a 

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social worker that that is 
helping support through that 

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time. 
And this is where that respect 

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comes in and lay the foundation 
for genuine support and 

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understanding. 
Sometimes, and I believe this 

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happens a lot in social work, 
Compassion and aptly invites us 

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to step outside of the confines 
of our own comfort zone and 

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extend ourselves in service to 
others can create that 

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interconnectedness, that rapport
and that transcends the 

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boundaries of self-interest. 
You have to be careful of having

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an ego as a social worker. 
I've seen many social workers 

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come and go over the years 
thinking that they know it all. 

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It's a dangerous place to be as 
a social worker in my view. 

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Confident, yes, but you are 
always, always learning. 

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Now, compassion isn't about 
being perfect, and I think those

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that in quote think they know it
all. 

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Want to project that perfection.
It's really you need to think 

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about what's happening behind 
that. 

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But it's about showing up 
authentically with vulnerability

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and humility and being willing 
to walk alongside others in 

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their journey, however uncertain
or challenging it may be. 

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But as noted, as social workers,
there's complexities within that

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because it's likely we're 
offering that to someone who 

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doesn't want us there. 
But we're really put in a 

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position as social workers to 
kind of embrace the imperfect 

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relationship that we have to 
build to work with our children 

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and families. 
But underneath it all truly is 

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human connection. 
So I'm going to leave you with 

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this stuff. 
And just before I do, I want to 

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remind you, those of you who 
have not taken the risk to 

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burnout quiz, go to 
socialworkcoachinghub.com where 

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you can find out your archetype,
which is what is your risk of 

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burning out. 
We always talk about prevention,

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we always talk about what to do 
when you get there, but we never

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talk about what are the 
characteristics that link to you

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be more likely to burnout. 
So go to 

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socialworkcoachinghub.com, click
the Risk of Burnout quiz and get

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00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,520
your results. 
And don't forget the Empowering 

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Social Workers Conference 
Saturday the 13th of April in 

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London. 
I want to see you all there. 

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We're going to be celebrating 
one year of my podcast. 

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It is super exciting. 
If you are listening on Apple, 

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leave a review. 
Click the five stars. 

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00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,240
If you've got an extra couple of
minutes, leave me a couple of 

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00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,440
sentences to share this podcast 
with others. 

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00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,880
And if you're listening on 
Spotify, I would love to hear 

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00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,600
from you. 
Click Voice message and leave me

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00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,200
a voice message. 
Ask any questions throughout 

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social work month, which is this
month. 

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I am going to be answering all 
of your questions, so leave me a

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00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,960
voice message on Spotify and get
involved with the poll questions

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that are put up for every single
episode. 

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I want to hear from you because 
this podcast is about you, 

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right? 
So go to 

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00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,800
socialworkcoachinghub.com for 
the quiz. 

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00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,720
Go to 
socialworkcoachinghub.com/events

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00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,800
for the Empowering Social 
Workers Conference where the 

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00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,280
early bird tickets are now gone.
So we'll run through the 

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00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,720
standard tickets. 
I'd love to see you there. 

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Let's wrap up this podcast by 
saying ultimately yes. 

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The essence of compassion lies 
in our capacity to see beyond 

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the surface and recognise the 
inherent humanity in each 

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person. 
It's through acts of kindness, 

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understanding, standing in 
solidarity with someone where 

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that's where we create 
compassion, where essentially no

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one is left to navigate those 
emotional complexities alone. 

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So today, I want you to embrace 
the transformity, the 

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transformative power of 
compassion. 

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Remember your children and 
families who may not have had 

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the best day yesterday, and as 
far as you perfectly can be 

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there for others. 
They may even be colleagues that

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did not have the best day 
yesterday. 

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Remember them today. 
Just a hug for some people will 

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do. 
Have a blessed week and I will 

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see you in the bonus episodes 
that are going to be throughout 

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the whole month. 
But of course I will always see 

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you on Monday morning. 
God bless.