Working with Families Experiencing Vulnerability A Partnership Approach

The way that professionals perceive of, and engage with individuals and families is critical. It establishes the context for trusting relationships to develop and opportunities for positive change to occur. In this chapter, we consider the ingredients of helpful and responsive practice with individuals and families experiencing vulnerabilities. In so doing, we privilege knowledge gained from the perspective of lived experience experts. Essentially, our work together is concerned with redressing the imbalance in our current systems of education and academia that privilege the voices of professionals and academics. Our approach includes sharing stories about our multiple and complex experiences as clients and/or practitioners to illuminate key foundational concepts. It is our belief that building the necessary knowledge base, skill set, and ethical stance required to become a helpful professional, pivots on understanding the lived experiences of people who access services at vulnerable times in their lives. This chapter continues our collective aspiration to continue producing knowledge for practice that privileges voices that are often marginalised.