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Today I want to talk to you 
about the stories that we tell 

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ourselves to keep ourselves 
emotionally or physically safe 

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as the world celebrates Easter 
with chocolate eggs and bunnies 

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and baby chicks, the majority of
the retail industry profiting 

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from that approach. 
There's others celebrating the 

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real story of how Jesus came and
died for our sins. 

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Which narrative is easier for 
people to believe? 

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Stories that give meaning to our
lives can make us feel better or

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look better in the eyes of 
someone else. 

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Stories that can make us feel 
less than. 

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Stories that we simply just make
up. 

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I want you to think about the 
stories your families are 

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repeating to themselves. 
What is the narrative they're 

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subscribing to, and what do they
believe to be true? 

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Let's talk Welcome to the Dear 
Social Worker podcast. 

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I'm your host Lee Suran and this
is the podcast that focuses on 

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you, the person behind the title
Social Worker. 

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Welcome to the Easter episode of
Dear Social Worker and it is the

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first episode which is walking 
into year two of this podcast, 

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so celebrate with me as we cover
this topic. 

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Don't forget you can leave a 
review if you are listening on 

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Apple. 
Please do. 

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And of course get involved in 
the Spotify poll. 

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Whatever seems to be true for 
your families may be in conflict

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with what you, as the social 
worker, see to be true. 

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Whatever seems true for your 
families may be in conflict with

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what you, as the social worker, 
see to be true. 

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This is the disparity between 
what some parts of the world 

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deemed to be Easter and what 
others say is true of the Easter

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story. 
I want you to consider this 

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podcast almost like it's 
different characters. 

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One, you as a person behind the 
title 2 the person who is the 

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social worker at work, and 
three, you as a social worker 

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assessing or analysing your 
family's stories. 

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I'm going to be talking about 
all three of those elements in 

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today's podcast, and I'm not 
going to keep you long. 

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It's Bank holiday after all, 
right? 

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But those disparities between 
what one person believes to be 

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true and what another believes 
to be true, that is the recipe 

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for conflict, right? 
So think about this. 

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What story do children attach to
receiving an Easter chocolate 

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egg? 
What do they think the purpose 

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of that chocolate egg is? 
So, for example, at Christmas, 

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the general story that children 
will receive because they're 

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given stories, that's a whole 
nother topic. 

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Santa supposedly visits with 
presents because you've been 

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good all year, but others will 
say that Christmas is about the 

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birth of baby Jesus. 
You see, no matter what you 

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believe, there's a story 
attached to it. 

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And that story gives meaning to 
your lives. 

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Your family's lives, the 
children's lives, and therefore 

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the lens through which you see 
things will likely be based upon

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what you believe to be true. 
For example, you all will know 

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by now. 
I'm a Christian, so if I choose 

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to buy an Easter chocolate for 
the children in my family, I'll 

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be sending a book about Easter 
with it. 

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Or I'll be sending a copy of the
Bible. 

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A kids copy of the Bible. 
Sorry, a kids version of the 

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Bible. 
That's what I believe to be 

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true. 
So from Palm Sunday, which is 

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the Sunday before Easter Sunday,
So from Palm Sunday to Easter 

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Sunday, That's a key moment in 
Christian history as it's 

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established the true meaning of 
having faith, because faith is 

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the evidence of things hoped for
and not seen. 

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So when Jesus died on the cross,
it's because he wouldn't bow to 

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the king who wanted to be 
worshipped as the earthly king. 

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He did not want God to be 
worship, but Jesus refused and 

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therefore he was sentenced to 
death. 

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And the story of faith therefore
continues when Jesus rose from 

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the tomb three days after he was
sentenced, so he was sentenced 

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on the Good Friday. 
And then that's what we call the

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Easter Sunday, is when he rose 
again. 

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Then he delivered key messages 
to his disciples to go out and 

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preach the gospel to others. 
Now here I want to mention 

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something Your families may want
you to pick up their story. 

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We're getting into the model of 
projection and transference 

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here. 
But if you are already carrying 

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heavy bags of stories, so let's 
go back to what I believe the 

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Easter story to be true. 
If I'm already carrying those 

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bags. 
The speaking metaphorically here

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do I have the room? 
Do you have the room listening 

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to your families for any other 
story? 

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Does it limit your capacity to 
listen, even if it's 

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subconsciously to any other 
story, and consider another 

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perspective? 
Listen carefully. 

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Are you simply looking for 
evidence to prove your own 

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story? 
So I'm going to pause here. 

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I want you to think about that 
first of all with your families,

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because we're talking about 
families here. 

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Let's think. 
You have a particular story that

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you believe about this family. 
Maybe the story is they will 

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never change. 
So therefore you may begin to 

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look for evidence to prove that 
story. 

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I can back some of this up 
scientifically. 

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It's something that I talk about
in all my coaching sessions, the

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recticular activating system, 
Ras. 

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It lives in the base of our 
brains, and I would describe it 

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as a deleting machine, because 
whatever you tell your brain to 

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look for, that's what it's going
to look for and it's going to 

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delete what it deems to be 
irrelevant. 

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For example, playing Spot the 
red Car, you're in the car with 

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one of the children. 
You're like, right, let's play a

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game, let's try and spot as many
red cars as possible. 

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Who can spot the most? 
And let's say you're on a main 

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road or a main highway, For 
those of you listening in 

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America, I see you and you're 
looking all the way down this 

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highway, all the way down this 
dual carriageway to just spot 

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the red car and all of the 
greens and the whites and the 

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Blues, they're going to pass you
and all you're doing. 

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You can scan that whole street 
and say there's a red one right 

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at the top there. 
That is how the recticular 

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activating system works. 
It works according to what you 

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tell it. 
So if you are telling yourself 

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about telling yourself a story 
about family and you think 

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they're never going to change, 
think about the impact that's 

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going to have when you are 
listening to their version of 

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their story when you are writing
the assessment. 

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Mum may say X, but you may 
interpret it as Y. 

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If you don't ask clarifying 
questions, your story of that 

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family could dominate your 
assessment without you 

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realising. 
Why? 

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Because it has more meaning to 
you, It has more meaning to you.

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So I say that to say this, 
giving you three points, one 

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from my story, what I believe to
be true about Easter. 

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I invite you to do your research
about Easter, and I want you to 

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consider it in the context for 
those children who are 

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Christians and you're working 
with them, what are you as their

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worker doing for them in this 
season? 

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How are you offering support, 
information and experiences that

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reflect their Christian faith, 
Their teaching of Easter? 

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Their understanding of Easter is
not the same story of what the 

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supermarkets and the retailers 
are selling. 

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Because they are selling a 
story, they're projecting a 

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story. 
So I urge you as social workers,

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Christian or not, don't get 
caught up in the hype of the 

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majority. 
It's a disservice to your 

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Christian children, particularly
those that our children in care 

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are about to be adopted. 
Truly consider what is the 

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adoptive or foster carers 
understanding of Easter and 

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Christmas and are they willing 
to reinforce the child's Story 

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#2 Stories are so powerful. 
More than you'll ever know. 

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It's a whole other episode. 
Be aware of your stories and 

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challenge them and where you 
want to, where you can, where 

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you've considered it. 
Embrace them. 

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Understand their impact on you 
and on others. 

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Lastly, take a moment to 
consider the story. 

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The family that you're working 
with or the families that you're

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working with. 
What is the story that they are 

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collectively telling themselves?
Or are there individual stories?

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Consider its impact and effect 
on your communication with them 

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to bring safety into their home.
This includes your interaction, 

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your assessment, how you speak 
to them. 

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If you're not aware of those 
narratives that are circling 

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your assessment, you may end up 
with assessment that is more 

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dominant of your story than 
theirs. 

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It may be more dominant with 
what you deem to be evidence 

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through the lens, that story 
lens that you've been looking 

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through, than there's I've been 
Lisa Ran. 

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I truly hope that this has been 
a useful episode for you always.

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Send me an e-mail, send me Adm. 
Let me know when you listen to 

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the episodes, how it's been for 
you, what you've got from it. 

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Have a blessed bank holiday and 
I will see you next week.