Kate Cheetham

Biography

I am a registered social worker. I began working with children and families seventeen years ago. I qualified with an MA in Social Work from the University of Leeds in 2014 and was subsequently employed in a Children’s Services locality team in Leeds.In 2017 I undertook a role as Senior Project Social Worker. The project’s aim was to reduce the number of young people living in external residential settings. Promoting placement stability became a focus of the project and the wider Children Looked After Service.I began working as a Senior Therapeutic Social Worker in 2020. I worked closely with children’s homes' practitioners to develop their trauma informed approach. When working with young people, using systemic approaches in collaboration with social workers and carers is necessary to achieve psychological and relational safety. Supporting practitioners to engage in a way which demonstrates a fundamental understanding of the relational harm children and young people have experienced is crucial. I was seconded to the University of York for a year as an Associate Lecturer in 2022. I was module convener for Law and Policy in Social Work and Power, Participation and Practice and delivered the Practice Education Professional Standards Level 1 programme. I joined the University of Bradford in 2023 as a Lecturer in Social Work. My specialist training includes Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy Skills Groups, Practice Education Professional Standards Level 2, 6P Formulation, Caring Dads Facilitator (physical abuse to children / domestic violence perpetrator groupwork). I am committed to promoting trauma-informed curriculums, and facilitating students to develop a trauma-informed lens throughout their professional learning process. This approach supports students to be effective, safe and self-aware practitioners, and compassionate, empathic people.