Helpful Social Work Podcast

About Helpful Social Work Podcast

In 2024 the platform was handed over to the ARM-OUR; a podcast from the Anti-Racist Movement, where courage meets compassion, and connection flourishes within our community.

Publisher

Shantel Thomas and Sylvia Smith

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Oct 2018

Latest episode

24 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

98 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Apr 2026

   5a – More Than Hair: Identity, Power and the Salon Chair

   In this episode we step into the world of theatre and storytelling through JaJa’s African Hair Braiding — a play that centres the beauty, complexity and politics of Black life within the familiar space of the hair salon.  The conversation reflects pertinent themes such as identity, migration, labour  and belonging.  We delve into the unspoken dynamics that live in community spaces — the care, the tension, the humour and the truth. Through this discussion, we reflect on what it means to be seen, to be held and sometimes to be challenged within spaces that feel like home.  This episode is hosted by Sylvia, who guides a thoughtful and honest conversation that goes beyond the stage and into life in living colour. As always with ARM- OUR, this isn’t about passive listening. It’s an invitation to reflect: What resonated with you? What felt familiar? What challenged your thinking? If this conversation moves you, share it with your community, subscribe to the podcast and be part of growing a space where these conversations can continue.

2. 

   8 Mar 2026

   4a – Give to Gain: The Power of Giving and Black Women’s Generosity

   Welcome Back to ARM-OUR or OUR-ARM, the podcast from the Anti-Racist Movement (ARM).  Giving can be powerful, restorative, and intentional and this episode explores how we reclaim our energy and connect more deeply to our shared humanity. For this relaunch episode, we mark International Women’s Day with a powerful conversation inspired by the theme Give to Gain and the call to give again.  Black women have always given, we give our care, labour, wisdom, leadership and for our community. Giving is deeply connected to our humanity; it is how we nurture, sustain and uplift one another. Yet too often that giving has been expected, unrecognised, or taken for granted. In this episode, four women from ARM come together to reflect on what it means to give — not from exhaustion or obligation, but from a place of healing, intention, and collective strength.  Through honest and unfiltered conversation, we explore how generosity, boundaries, and mutual care remind us that when giving is rooted in our shared humanity, it becomes a powerful force for restoration, dignity, and real change. Heal boldly. Lead courageously. And never shrink your voice. If this episode resonates with you, share it, comment, like, and subscribe — and help us keep the conversation going. Your voice matters, and together we can give and connect more deeply to our shared humanity. Lots of Love, Shantel Founder/Director Anti-Racist Movement CIC

3. 

   18 Jul 2025

   3a – The Power of the Pen: A Black Women’s Writing Retreat

   Welcome to today’s episode. We’re diving into the power of Black women’s writing — not just as creativity, but as survival, healing, and resistance. This episode comes out of a five-day writing retreat in July 2025 for Black women in academia, social work, and beyond. I brought them together to write for the upcoming special issue for the British Journal of Social Work (listen back to episode 1 for details).  What happened in that space was profound: women who had been silenced found their voices, those isolated in their institutions found solidarity, and writing itself became a tool of leadership and liberation. In this conversation, we explore what it means to claim space on the page, to move from the margins to the centre, and to imagine writing as a form of organisational transformation. Stay tuned — this is about writing as resistance, and resistance as survival.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.1 / 5

17 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

14 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

80

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

93

Contact Helpful Social Work Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.