Dr Mirian E Meade

09/06/2026

Who will hold your story?

I have been swimming in the warm indoor pool on these cold mornings. In Australia, it is winter. Heart thumping as I swim, I’ve been unsettled by the implementation of AI across the human services.

The depth of its capacity;
answering phone calls, generating a client case in the client management system, conducting an algorithmic risk assessment, providing advice about next steps, to name just a few that are already in use.

Wrestling with foundational ideas of relationship-based practice that have been in place for decades can feel, and be, perplexing.

Perhaps my Gen Z age has shaped the depth of commitment I have to people, practice, and stories. I suspect the hearing of people’s stories, and giving witness to their pain, will remain central. The holding of a person’s hand in the emergency department, turning up for outreach. What do you think?

Image by Joe from Pixabay

30/05/2026

This week I've been reading about post traumatic growth. Apparently, not related to resilience at all. Who knew?
It feels counterintuitive because when we think about a person’s recovery from trauma, we often go straight to the idea that a stronger, more resilient person will recover more quickly.
Well, it turns out there is some truth to that but post traumatic growth is about the changes in our approach to life after the traumatic experience.

So finding new meaning is a good example because it involves change and not returning to how things were before. I think this is the key to this concept. It’s about new skills that come from the struggle with trauma.



Image by Pexels from Pixabay

I love the sunrise as a powerful reminder of new beginnings

11/05/2026

One of the most common questions I am asked is how I have managed the impact of trauma‑focused work.
I have found that working with trauma shapes how our meaning is formed. Repeated exposure influences our perception.
One practical skill that protects this ongoing meaning‑making is cognitive reframing.

This involves noticing the meaning that begins to take hold, then intentionally widening the frame. For example, It can be the shift from “I am overwhelmed by harm” to “I am positioned at a particular vantage point where I can assist in recovery.”

This shift supports regulation. The nervous system is no longer required to respond as harshly. The context, role clarity, and perspective become more visible.
Over time, this same skill protects our purpose, connecting daily work to values and professional boundaries.

Cognitive reframing does not change what has happened.It changes how we think about it.

•Q What does this look like for you?



Image by Ольга Бережна from Pixabay

28/04/2026

What does it mean to hold hope?

I hold a vision for a better world. One with less suffering and more equity. With care that is unconditional and social justice that is real, not only spoken about.

I continue to choose this work, even when recovery is slow or uncertain for people we work with.

That choice is grounded in hope. A steady belief that things can be different. That people can change. That futures can open after harm or loss.
It is this hope that steadies my soul. It shapes how I listen, how I stay, how I show up.
It is a quiet kind of treasure.

What are the hopes you carry into your own practice. How do they shape your engagement with others?

Image by Bob from Pixabay

12/04/2026

I was in the kitchen at work the other day, making a cup of tea and chatting with a colleague.
“I have to be fueled enough to run,” they said, gesturing toward their muesli.
What a strong way of thinking about food.
It made me realise how rarely I think about eating in those terms. For a long time, food has been about comfort for me, with only a passing nod to weight or health.
“Cake for lunch” was a surprisingly reliable motto for years.
Even now, on weekends, the slow‑cooked ragu aroma fills my home and brings a sense of ease and belonging.
Our relationship with food is complex. It carries memory, meaning, culture, reward, routine, and care. It shifts across seasons of life and seasons of need.
Today might be an invitation to pause and notice what is already known to be true in this space.
There may be changes worth making. Or there may simply be more room to savour joy, connection, and shared moments around good food.

Q. When you think about food, what role does it play in supporting the life you are living?



Image by Gabi from Pixabay

28/03/2026

I finally got around to starting a Substack. Subscribe and follow along. I'm going to publish a series of twelve weekly essays starting soon.

I am Dr Mirian E Meade, a researcher, practitioner and leader.

22/03/2026

You cannot choose belonging on your own

A few years ago, I moved to a small country town where elm‑lined streets turn golden each autumn.
There are groups for almost everything: walking, gardening, woodworking, theatre, and more.

And yet, the people I feel closest to are friends I have known for many years, many of whom live some distance away.
That experience clarified something for me.

Belonging is not the same as participation.
And it is not something a person can simply decide into existence.
You can join groups, show up regularly, be friendly, open, and willing and still not experience belonging if the responses you receive are polite but distant, conditional, or effortful to maintain.
Belonging is a relational experience. It depends on what happens between people.

This is why unconditional presence matters so much in practice.
When a practitioner stays consistent, emotionally steady, and boundaried without withdrawing warmth when progress is slow or needs are expressed, the client receives something they cannot give themselves.
They experience connection that does not depend on performance, improvement, or fitting in.
Belonging cannot be chosen alone.
It has to be received.
And often, one unconditional relationship is enough to make belonging feel possible at all.





Image by Couleur from Pixabay

10/03/2026

Reimagination of our professional practice

A recent Forbes piece by Angela C. Hill speaks to reimagination not as reinvention, but as a return to our identity. A reclaiming of what is core, rather than a performance shaped by external expectation.
This resonated with me because in human services many practitioners are trained to adapt, respond, and carry multiple roles at once.
Over time, it can become easy to prioritise systems, outcomes, and compliance over professional identity, values, and purpose.
Reimagination in this context asks different questions:Who am I in this work?What values anchor my practice?Where has my professional identity shifted to meet expectations rather than my values?Reclaiming our identity strengthens practice. It brings clarity to boundaries, steadiness in decision‑making, and authenticity in relationships.
All these are essential in work that places people at the centre.This ongoing process of reimagining who we are, is not about doing more. It’s about returning to the core of what matters.
Consider your central anchor points and take the time to write them down.



Image by Tom Christensen from Pixabay

22/02/2026

You belong.

There are moments when you are with other people and suddenly realise you have found others like you.
When it happened to me I remember the stunned, fish‑with‑an‑open‑mouth way I looked around the room.
I was sitting in a conference auditorium with 3,000 people who were passionate about working with young people. The shock and power of that moment would change my life.
I was in my early twenties, still reeling from my own youthful (and misguided) adventures, when I found myself in a plenary session on adolescence. Something shifted. I could feel it.
Now, some 30 years, a master’s degree, and a PhD later, it is clear that most human service professionals carry a story that brought them to the work.
That moment remains one of the most career‑shaping and life‑changing experiences I have known. To realise these people were like me—or perhaps that I was like them.
They each had a journey.
They enjoyed learning.
They wanted to assist others.
Can you identify moments like this in your own life—times when you knew, emphatically, that you belonged?

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

17/02/2026

Navigating the Whirlwind of Change

In human services and community practice, we work in environments where change is constant.
Policies evolve. Funding models shift. Practice guidance gets updated. Systems are redesigned, often right after you’ve finally mastered the previous one.
It can feel relentless.

But one thing consistently helps teams stay steady:
The calm, clarity, and leadership we bring into these moments deeply influence how people experience and adopt change.
One approach that has worked well for me is taking the time to understand the change thoroughly, enough to cast a clear vision and answer the essential question:
Why does this matter?
When we connect the change to meaningful outcomes for clients, practitioners, and organisational culture, people can see beyond the disruption.
Pair this with encouragement, psychological safety, and a mindset that leans toward possibility, and the transition becomes smoother and far more sustainable.
This is how I’ve supported teams through complex and shifting environments without losing momentum or morale.
What helps you manage change in your professional practice?
I’d love to hear the strategies that keep you steady when everything else is shifting.


Image by Annabel_P from Pixabay