Siobhan is doing something remarkable. She combines all that she knows about the science of connection and trauma and brings that to life through the creative arts. Siobhan is part of Anam Alba - https://anam-alba.com - an organisation with a marvellous heading on their website

Creativity forges Connection.
Connection inspires Creativity.

They have demonstrated this through their production , The Little Iceberg - https://anam-alba.com/the-little-iceberg-story/ - which was a joy to watch. It is a musical based on the children's story of the same name - https://connectedbaby.net/product/the-little-iceberg/ and both are well worth checking out. Siobhan talks about all of this as well as her songs and her new project. She is irrepressible and absolutely bubbles with energy and enthusiasm throughout the conversation, characteristics reflected in her work.

She is generous about colleagues and collaborators and together they are having a real impact. They have tackled the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which was a massive risk and showed enormous courage, but it is also testimony to the commitment of Anam Albato sharing what they know and what they can do. Siobhan's ambition is to bring people together, to engage them, inform them and inspire them to find their own creativity and to take action for themselves.

I think this podcast might achieve all of that

I have been looking forward to this conversation since I started recording the Taking Action series. Iain Smith has done a massive amount to try to ensure that the justice system in Scotland recognises, and takes account of, the impact of trauma on people's lives. It is challenging work as Iain is so aware of the need to support the victims of crime as well as taking account of the circumstances of the perpetrators

Iain feels that his greatest achievement since he began campaigning was the introduction of the Young Persons Sentencing Guidelines which have been operational from January 2022 onwards.

Many Law Schools now teach trauma aware law and the Law Society of Scotland run a specialist accredited course for lawyers on Trauma.

As Iain says "The raising awareness of trauma is really the start for change. Real change is created by how individuals and systems “respond” to this knowledge. That’s trickier.

The justice system rightly focus’ on victims but fails to understand the vast majority of those who perpetrate crime start off as victims. Their victimhood is too soon forgotten in our desire for retribution and punishment."

That courage to take on what is often an unpopular view - remember the response to the other David Cameron's comments when he moved away from John Major's dictum that "we need to condemn a little more, and understand a little less - is admirable. In Iain's case it is balanced with sensitivity and an awareness of the complexity of the all that the Justice System tries too achieve

It was a privilege to record this conversation with Sarah Lathan. Her book, Creating a Trauma Informed Classroom is outstanding. It offers excellent support and advice for educators in any context. It is based on Sarah's experience, deep knowledge and understanding and it also offers a superb summary of the research, and the other texts, which inform the book. By my reckoning, it distils almost all of the books that you would otherwise have to read to become better informed abut the impact of adverse experience and how we should deal with that in our schools, If you have the time and energy, it will whet your appetite to learn more.

Despite all that the book brings, it is admirably concise and clear

As well as being a great author, Sarah is a lovely guest, patient through a series of hassles and glitches, which were all my fault, thoughtful, responsive and open.

Routledge have provided a discount code - 25EFLY3 n- for 20% off the price of the book on their website (Creating a Trauma-informed Classroom) but the book is also available from Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org and from most book retailers.

Listeners can follow Sarah on X at @lathan_miss (https://x.com/lathan_miss) or find her on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-lathan-107558336) and I highly recommend that you do and also take advantage of the discount offer. You willl not regret either action