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Welcome to Episode 1 of a 5-part series on Resisting the Dilution of Trauma Informed Practice. Join Dr Lisa Cherry in conversation with Dr Karen Treisman as they explore how 'Trauma-informed' came to be on websites, job adverts, strategies and posters everywhere, but what happens when the terminology travels faster than the creation of the opportunity for transformation?

Together they unpack how trauma informed care gets reduced to slogans, checklists and superficial signals, while day-to-day behaviours still communicate blame, shame and disconnection. Karen and Lisa explore why the mismatch between what a service promises and what it delivers can feel like betrayal, and how that can re-traumatise children, families and staff. They also get practical about what “modelling the model” looks like; noticing our own nervous systems, naming mistakes, apologising and doing relational repair, rather than hiding behind perfect-sounding language.

If you want to think about trauma-informed organisational change that is honest, grounded, and safe, then you'll enjoy this conversation.

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Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

Buy Books Here.

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Support the show

Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

Buy Books Here.

Connect on Linkedin, Instagram and Substack by searching for Dr Lisa Cherry

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Join Dr Lisa Cherry in conversation with Lucy Kate Barnes as we talk about what it means to be openly care-experienced in public life and how we choose to tell our stories. This conversation was inspired by both Lucy and Lisa being nominated for different awards at the National Diversity Awards 2026.

They reflect upon:

• navigating how to speak about trauma without being defined by it
• noticing how stigma shows up as pity and professional gatekeeping
• reacting to National Diversity Awards nominations and why representation matters
• thinking about legacy and what it means to have your work recognised
• arguing for belonging beyond services
• the birth of Lawyers Who Care
• calling for deeper trauma understanding across the legal profession and beyond

You can vote for Lisa HERE and you can vote for Lucy HERE!

If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing or reviewing.

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Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

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Join Dr Lisa Cherry in conversation with Fiona Holiday, Play Therapist and illustrator of the children's book on loss "Squirrel's Search for Love", a book conceived from Lisa becoming a Grandma and also having a life-limiting illness.

There is an honest discussion about the early, foggy stage of creating when Lisa was unwell and how a strong collaboration can hold uncertainty until the story finds its shape. Fiona shares her craft process of building a sketchbook trail of ideas, creating consistency across pages and doing the preparation that lets the final artwork stay fresh.

We also dig into why illustration and storytelling are such powerful tools for children’s bereavement and grief support. Pictures can carry meaning on a non verbal level, offering continuity, safety and tiny details that children return to as they make sense of loss.

If you’re writing a children’s book for the first time, or you're working with children and using a trauma informed lens, or you want to talk to children you're caring for about death with compassion, this conversation is for you.

Buy the book HERE.

Learn more about Fiona HERE.

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Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

Buy Books Here.

Connect on Linkedin, Instagram and Substack by searching for Dr Lisa Cherry

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Join Dr Lisa Cherry in Conversation with psychic medium Nikki Leader for the final episode in this 6 part series on liminality!

We explore liminality in the world between worlds, tracing how trauma can open intuition and how small rituals help us cross from fear to becoming. We reflect on trauma as a portal to intuition and change, and rituals as bridges for separation, transition and integration.

Nikki gets a mention in my blog post on The New Year That Belongs to Everyone where we talk about 17th February!

You can find Nikki's website here and she is also on Instagram and TikTok.

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Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

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Join Dr Lisa Cherry in conversation with Dr Jo Taylor as they explore liminality as a human constant and argue why compassion is not optional when lives sit between identities, roles and outcomes. From school supervision rooms to street-level tensions, we share tools to widen safety, practise care and make change sustainable.

In this episode we talked about fears, blocks and resistances to compassion, which are totally human. You can read more about Fears of Compassion in this seminal paper link here.
We discussed the way that checking in with - and mapping - the flows of compassion in your life and work can be helpful. You can give this a try using Jo's resource the Wheel of Compassion.

You can find Jo and learn more about his work on LinkedIn and his website is here.

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Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

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Join Dr Lisa Cherry in conversation with Geraldine Costello, Director of Governance and Safe Sport at British Gymnastics, where we look at the liminal space between work cultures; the police and gymnastics. What happens when a career built on command and certainty collides with a mission that depends on trust, listening and repair? We explore how safeguarding shifts from policy to lived practice when survivors are heard and institutions choose to change.

Geraldine traces her path from the police cadets to child protection and multi-agency hubs, where she discovered that careful interviewing, cross-sector teamwork, and dignity-centred practice could change lives. She unpacks the contradictions of tackling domestic abuse and safeguarding in a culture still wrestling with misogyny and the allies and mentors who helped her stand firm. Then we follow her leap into youth guiding and sport, where volunteers, community and equity reshape how influence works. No badges. No warrants. Just persuasion, clarity and relationships that make safety possible.

Inside British Gymnastics, a newly created safe sport role emerged in the wake of the White Review and a surge of testimonies. Geraldine explains how governance, complaint handling and trauma-informed processes are being rebuilt to protect athletes, support coaches and clubs and restore trust through transparency and consistent apology.

She shares the personal scaffolding behind resilience, counselling, coaching, reflection, and how leaders can navigate the long middle of change without losing heart.

If you value thoughtful leadership, safe sport and trauma-informed practice, this conversation offers a grounded playbook for culture change. Subscribe, share with a colleague who works in safeguarding or youth sport and leave a review to tell us what resonated most.

You can connect with Geraldine on LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/in/geraldinecostello

Support the show

Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

Buy Books Here.

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Continuing the exploration of liminality, join Dr Lisa Cherry in conversation with Tracey Smith, who taught for many years in primary schools in Oxfordshire. She was Headteacher for Bladon, Tower Hill and New Marston Primary Schools in Oxfordshire, before becoming Head of Primary Teacher Training at the University of Buckingham. Tracey returned to Headship as Executive Headteacher of two Faringdon Primary Schools before continuing working with teacher training and supervision at the University of Buckingham. Tracey is also a trainer and consultant for Values-based Education and is in the process of completing her EdD entitled 'Working-Class Teachers and the Issue of Belonging in a Middle-Class Profession'. She has co-authored a book on Teacher Training with Barnaby Lenon (Hachette) and is writing her second book entitled: A Framework for Values-Based Education: From Vision to Practice (Emerald Publishing)

In this conversation, Lisa and Tracey explore how liminal transitions shape teacher identity, belonging and retention, with a focus on working class teachers navigating middle class norms. Stories, theory and practical steps show how mentoring, culture and values-based leadership turn the uncertainty of a liminal space into growth and transformation.

Topics covered include:

• Defining liminality and communitas in schools
• Class, accent and identity pressures in early career
• Values-based leadership, psychological safety and agency
• Reading culture through staff room signals and tacit rules
• Representation as aspiration for pupils and teachers
• Gramsci, Hall and the theory behind belonging
• Practical rituals that build shared trust and ease transitions
• Leadership attention to staff wellbeing as a lever for outcomes

You can connect with Tracey on LinkedIn HERE.

Support the show

Thank you for listening! Please share and subscribe the practice wisdom in this episode and create social change, one connection at a time. If you're feeling it, then leave a comment too!

Learn more about Lisa here:
www.lisacherry.co.uk

Buy Books Here.

Connect on Linkedin, Instagram and Substack by searching for Dr Lisa Cherry