Clare MacLeod Consultancy

06/09/2025

02/09/2025

CW. ⚠️

I would like to publicly state that the vile excuse for a man in Geelong who has been charged with despicable acts of violence, is NOT a social worker. The social work title is unfortunately not protected here in Australia. There are many folks who claim to be social workers when they are not. Regardless of the profession he claims, he was in a place of power, and he abused that on the most heinous level.

Whilst social work has a history of abhorrent acts here in Australia and other countries, there are many of us who have worked hard to rebuild and reframe the past history. I commit to always remaining humble, acknowledging that I don’t know everything, building on cultural humility, and continuing to learn.

My hope is that folks can find the safety and support that they need to build the trust they need to heal the past. 💚💚💚💚💚

30/08/2025

Today is National Grief Awareness Day. This blog is a few years old now, but still applies. There are so many significant losses I could choose to talk about including those of ambiguous grief. However, I wanted to share about a grief that is often not talked about - the significance of losing a pet.

I remember my Mum taking our family cat, Tiger to the vet to be put to sleep. He was old and sick. I don’t remember my grief, but I do remember my Mum crying a lot, and my Dad getting angry because Mum had taken Tiger to the vet. Here were two very different responses to loss, but ultimately, both...

28/08/2025

Wear it Purple Day - 29th August
The purpose of Wear it Purple Day is ‘to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for rainbow young people.’ One of the key focus areas is about raising awareness and to assist youth organisations, institutions, etc. in creating inclusive experiences for rainbow young people.

As the Mum of a rainbow/unicorn young person, I have witnessed firsthand the heartache and real responses of others, with often misguided ideas and views, and often from well-intentioned people.

If you don’t know much about bi-erasure, please have a look at the links posted below. Imagine if you are in a couple as two married women and you are referred to as a ‘lesbian couple’ without considering that one or both women identify as bisexual. Bisexual erasure plays a critical role in reducing the community’s visibility.

https://bisexualresearch.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/bisexual-erasure-in-academic-research/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2773

https://research-groups.usask.ca/morrison/documents/gay-now-bisexual-erasure.pdf

https://www.puntoorginternationaljournal.org/index.php/PIJ/article/view/60

https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2019/march/bisexual-mental-

http://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780429030307-11/future-directions-sgm-therapy-Matthew-skinta

http://www.booktopia.com.au/mindfulness-and-acceptance-for-gender-and-sexual-minorities-matthew-d-skinta/book/9781626254282.html

And now I’m off to stand outside Tim Nicholls’ office to protest the halting of HRT for trans kids. 80% of trans kids have thought about killing themselves, 40% have attempted su***de, and trans youth have ten times more mental health issues than cis gender kids. I stand with the LGBTQIA+ community.

***de

16/08/2025

For many of us, watching or reading the news is extremely challenging and overwhelming at the moment.
As a social worker, I was taught to pay attention to the news in order to advocate, educate, attempt to change policy, and share information.
I sometimes struggle with switching off from it because there's a part of me that feels like I'm ignoring it, and then I come back to remembering that to be there for others in whatever capacity that might be, I need to take care of me.
What have you lost in the midst of the awfulness that is the news across the world, or closer to home?
What can you come back to or find for YOU?

07/08/2025

Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the big things, the busyness, and perfectionist stories that keep me busy! When I was at school, I detested science lessons. One of the only topics I can remember learning was the names of cloud formations.

I took this photo last week from my balcony looking to the west. It’s funny how those small pieces of information are stored in my memory bank, and suddenly popped out the other day to remind me of the present day moments that I can enjoy. I often look at clouds and identify their formations, and it’s just been something I have done without really thinking about it, and then the other day, this formation stopped me as I looked at it in detail. I’m including naming cloud formations as intentional mindful moments.

15/07/2025

This week is Non-Binary Awareness Week. As a fierce Ally, I’d like to share some information, and in particular in light of the awful issues going on around the world in relation to the LGBTQIA+ community. Young non-binary people have elevated rates of psychological distress, mental ill-health, and su***de risk when compared with their cisgender counterparts. This is not good enough and we can do better.

Please don’t scroll past. If you don’t know stuff, find out. Educate yourself. Think about how you can be an Ally. It may make a difference to someone you don’t even know. 💛🤍💜🖤

The non-binary pride flag was created in 2014 by Kye Rowan. Yellow represents people whose gender exists outside the binary, purple represents those whose gender is a mixture of—or between—male and female, black represents people who have no gender, and white represents those who embrace many or all genders.

The Non-Binary community is a diverse one, and includes people who identify as genderqueer, genderfluid, agender, bigender, and gender non-conforming. Non binary awareness week is a chance for the Non-Binary community to celebrate their unique experiences and identities, and to create visibility and understanding.

The goals of Non-Binary Awareness Week are to raise awareness of Non-Binary identities and to create a safe and inclusive space for Non-Binary people to share their stories and experiences. This week is also a great opportunity to start conversations about gender and to educate people on the spectrum of gender identities that exist.

20/06/2025

I’ve been quiet on here lately as marking Uni assignments took preference.

After a meaningful (exhausting at times), first half of the year, I have learnt new things, met some beautiful people and activated my brain to new heights, and the Semester is just about finished. I have taught over 180 social work students, marked 192 assignments, learnt systems (and still learning), and received such joy and purpose in teaching emerging social workers.

I am thrilled to have been invited back next Semester to teach and coordinate a Trauma Unit. For those who know me, this is my place. Yes, I have found my place, and I’m saying “No” to a narrative and generalisation that as women in our later years, we are not invisible, and we don’t have to apologise for who we are, or fit a certain mould.

I wrote a blog about hag and crone energy last year. I just read it again, and there are changes. The hag energy is no longer turning back in on itself. I know that writing that blog helped me to open up a space for all of the energy the crone has to offer me. It’s an evolving energy.

Someone asked me how I’m celebrating finishing all of the marking; well this is it, a cup of tea in bed with my dog sleeping beside me on an overcast day, and that’s a beautiful celebration.

13/05/2025

I’ve just been lecturing about this to my social work students.

I’ve lost count of the amount of women that I’ve seen in my clinic space with a diagnosis who have previously been turned away by other helping professionals who just see the pathology rather than viewing with a critical social work lens.

10/05/2025

On Mother’s Day here in Australia, I thought I’d write something for all of those beautiful people out there who may have mixed feelings about what Mother’s Day means to them.

For some folks, it may be your first without your Mum.
For some, it might be the longing and hope of being a Mum and it hasn’t happened.
It might be the one, or many babies that never breathed on this earth, or the child that left the planet before you.
For some, it’s the strained and painful, hurtful, or emotionally absent relationship, or one you have chosen to distance yourself from.

It’s 40 years next week since my beautiful Mum left this earth. The hardest part about losing Mum as a young woman, is that I never really got to know her as a woman; the time was cut short. I have snippets and whispers of memories with her as an adult. More than ever, I am thankful that I get to be a Mum with my three beautiful adult children, and I get to experience what she never had with me.

I love seeing adult women with their mothers and also feel an emotional twinge as I see a mother with her mother and baby. My children never got to experience or feel the love and support from their maternal, grandmother. The twinges get less as the years pass, and I feel more warmth for the things that I can remember such as Mum’s grace, beauty and incredible voice. and I am thankful to have an appreciation of music and a singing voice. Thank you Mum. 💚💚💚

Sending healing love, warmth, kindness and compassion to each and everyone of you who is finding today a difficult one. You are not alone.

03/04/2025

If we’re looking at S3xual Assault Awareness Month, then we should probably know what defines s3xual harassment. Catcalling is a form of public s3xual harassment or street harassment. It can include wolf-whistling, inappropriate s3xual comments or gestures, s3xist jokes, s3xual innuendos and invading a person's space. As we are seeing, with the Andrew Tates of this world, there is a growing culture in schools of students making obscene comments to female staff members and students, and also making noises mimicking s3xual moaning. In addition, some students are actually ma********ng in class, and yet, teachers are being forced to leave because the root cause is not being addressed. THIS IS S3XUAL HARRASSMENT.

In Australia, depending on the states and territories, street harassment behaviours are covered under the s3xual offence legislation that includes s3xual assaults and r**e. Although offensive language sits under the public order offences, verbal comments and staring are not directly addressed through legislation. Australia chose to explore prevention rather than criminalising the behaviours. With this in mind, how can we play our role and do our bit to work towards prevention?

When disrespect towards women like street harassment goes unchallenged, it creates a culture in which violence against women is more likely. This violence exists on a continuum and along with examining within the culture that this occurs, we all have a role in stopping it from happening in the first place.
CALL IT OUT. CALL IT OUT IN YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL. We can do so much more. Our teachers have it tough enough as it is without being forced to leave because misogynistic cultures are being maintained in our schools.

01/04/2025

April is S3xual Assault Awareness month.
How do we become more aware? As helping professionals we can’t turn a blind eye when the statistics are so high, but what can we do?

In the recent weeks there has been a big focus on personal safety when attempting to prevent violence. “Don’t go out on your own at night/in the dark.” “Don’t wear clothes that give the WrOnG impression.” “Stick to well lit areas.” And so on………

When we think about how to prevent s3xual assault, abuse or harassment, the focus is on ways individuals can keep themselves safe. We are taught not to go out at night when in fact, we can be unsafe in our own homes.

If we want to explore prevention of sexual violence, we need to work together as community members, helping professionals, individuals. We need to be working together to support what safe means, and what respectful behaviours and relationships mean.

We need to be starting with our babies and talking about consent and modelling consent. Even when changing a baby’s nappy, we can be talking about what we’re doing and explaining this to them.

We need to be educating ourselves on what consent is and what s3xual assault is. It is so much more than the act of s3xual pe*******on.

We need to be speaking out and challenging demeaning jokes, and behaviours, calling out those behaviours we see in our families and workplaces.

We need to be teaching our children about their bodies, how to respect them and teaching boundaries, and how to respect other children’s bodies and boundaries. We need to be calling out the Auntie, Uncle, or other relative who insists on a kiss or hug from their niece or nephew.

These are just a few steps we can take. It is not all helpless. We CAN take these steps and we CAN work towards preventing s3xual violence. We can do our bit.

How are you going to do your bit?