Theoretical and Experiential Reflective Practice Day

Date: Friday 27th June 2025

Time: 10 am – 4 pm (Registration open at 9.30 am)

Venue: In person Wisdom Center, Sophia Housing 25 Cork Street Dublin 8, D08 Y6TF

Cost: €35 per person including light lunch and refreshments

Social Care Ireland is delighted to receive funding from the National Health and Social Care Professional Office to facilitate this valuable workshop on Reflective Practice. Reflection is as vital as relationship-building in social care, serving as a key component in maintaining resilience, wellbeing, and professional integrity. This workshop offers practitioners a unique opportunity to explore the theory and application of reflective practice in a safe, supportive, and facilitated environment.

Throughout the day, participants will engage in experiential learning and reflective group work, applying key concepts and tools to real-life practice. The morning session will introduce the fundamentals of reflective practice—what it is, why it matters, and how it supports professional growth. Particular emphasis will be placed on the structure and benefits of reflective practice groups, especially in enhancing practitioner wellbeing and broadening perspectives within complex work settings.

Reflective practice is integral to effective social care work, particularly in building and sustaining meaningful relationships with service users who may have complex and vulnerable needs. With the registration of Social Care Workers (SCWs) with CORU, reflective practice is now also essential for meeting CPD requirements and adhering to the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics.

This tailored workshop is designed to deepen participants’ understanding and capacity for reflective practice, enhancing awareness, insight, facilitation skills, and confidence. With three skilled facilitators on hand, we are committed to creating a psychologically safe and engaging space where small group activities can flourish and enrich the reflective process.

Objectives/Outcomes:
The overall objectives are as follows:
• Participate in experiential training designed to increase awareness and knowledge regarding reflective practice
• Enhancing awareness and understanding of social care roles through a process of reflection and critical analysis
• To implement some theoretical frameworks on  Reflective Practice
• Participants will have had the experience of engaging in a reflective practice group space.
• Participants will have had the opportunity to consider transition theory and systems psychodynamic thinking in a live way through their participation in the reflective practice space.
• Enhance facilitation, empathy and communication skills.
• Be provided with the opportunity to participate within discussion as part of the programme.

Facilitators:
Dr Nicola O’Sullivan, independent practitioner and supervisor, has worked with families and practitioners in community and residential settings in Ireland for many years. Her work has included overseeing the provision of residential and community-based services to children and families involved with child protection social work services. She has developed a sophisticated capacity to work sensitively with complex and emotionally demanding practice situations involving children and their parents and carers. Over a five-year period Nicola studied at the Tavistock and Portman Trust NHS, London. There she completed a Professional Doctorate in Social Care and Emotional Wellbeing. Nicola’s interests include the subject of anxiety and complexity in social care contexts, reflective practice and psycho-social research. She provides clinical supervision to individual practitioners and teams working with children and families, using a model of thinking closely aligned to her doctoral research.
Adrian Mc Kenna (Ado) is a frontline social care professional and qualified Clinical Supervisor. He has worked for many years with young people and adults in residential care, detention services, mental health services, and post adoption services. He now works as a clinical supervisor, trainer and social care consultant. He was a Member of the Social Care Workers registration board at www.coru.ie from it’s inception until March 2023 ,serving 8 years in total. He was also a member of the collaborative forum for former residents of Mother and Baby homes and related institutions, is a member of Social Care Ireland , Social Justice Ireland, a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Management Foundation and is a Servant Leader Trained professional. He is the recipient of the Social Care Ireland “outstanding achievement in social care ” award 2022.
Nuala Flynn has worked as a Social Care Worker in residential and community (child protection and welfare) settings. After returning to education, she moved to a training and education role in the HSE. In this role, she collaborated with Tusla and co-delivered supervision training to HSE health care professionals (supervisors and supervisees). Nuala was invited by the National HSCP Office to design the ‘Introduction to Supervision for HSCP’ module on www.hseland.ie in conjunction with Tusla. Nuala took up her role in the National HSCP Office in 2017, where she co-designed the HSCP Supervision Training for Supervisors and Supervisees with Eileen O Neill, Independent Trainer and Consultant, established and mentored a network of HSCP trainers to deliver this training. She collaborated with Social Care Ireland, the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory Medicine, and the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists to design the Reflective Practice for HSCP modules on www.hseland.ie and continues to have a keen interest in the benefits of supervision and reflective practice to support and develop health care professionals in the ever changing work environment. Nuala was an accredited ICF coach for six years. She now works in the Programme Management Office, HSE.

Proposed Agenda 

• 9.30    Registration with a self reflective exercise
• 10.00   Presentation by Nicola on reflective practice
• 11.00    Comfort break
• 11.15 – 12.15 Reflective practice group work – participants will be broken up into three groups with a designated facilitator
• 12.15 -13.00 Groups come back together to give feedback
• 13.00- 14.00 Lunch (provided on site)
• 14.00 – 15.00 Reflective practice group work (same group and facilitator)
• 15.00 – 16.00 Groups come back together to give feedback with closing comments.