Family and Child Consultants

  Leadership in Crisis Isn’t About Being Right — It’s About Being Real By Niki Gent When everything is falling apart — the phones are ringing, staff are burning out, a client is in crisis, or the media is circling — the temptation is to tighten your grip . To jump into action. To deliver a polished statement. To look like you’ve got it together. Because somewhere, we’ve been taught that leadership in chaos means control. That being strong means being certain. That to lead well, we must have the right answer — quickly, cleanly, and without emotion. But that model of leadership? It’s outdated. And it’s damaging. Because in real-world crises — the kind we face every day in human services — there is rarely a single right answer. There is complexity. There is emotion. There are people who are hurting. And in those moments, your team isn’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for presence . 🎯 What People Need from Leaders in Crisis They need someone who will say, “I don’t have all th...

  Not Every Fight Is Yours — And That’s Okay By Niki Gent In the helping professions — especially in trauma-informed work — many of us carry a deep drive to protect, to challenge injustice, and to speak out. It’s what makes us good at what we do. We see pain, we lean in. We see power being misused, we speak up. We see systems failing people, and we want to burn them down and rebuild something better. But there’s a quiet truth I had to learn the hard way: Not every fight is mine. And not every fight is yours. And that doesn’t mean we don’t care. It means we’ve learned to care wisely. I used to think that if I didn’t fight everything , I was part of the problem. I’d carry every injustice I saw — in child protection, in healthcare, in family violence services, in schools, in policies. I’d argue, advocate, intervene, challenge. I was fuelled by purpose, but I was also running on adrenaline and outrage. Until I burnt out. Until I found myself jaded, exhausted, and not showing up as my b...

  Slow is Not the Same as Stuck By Niki Gent In a world that values speed, productivity, and efficiency, it’s easy to believe that slowing down means falling behind. In our sector — community services, mental health, trauma recovery — this mindset shows up everywhere: in the urgency of systems, in the pressure to ‘fix’ clients, and even in our internal narratives about how healing should look. But here’s what I’ve learned — both from my clients and from my own personal growth: Slow is not the same as stuck. We tend to think of progress as a straight line: goal set → plan made → action taken → success achieved. But real human development doesn’t work like that. Especially when trauma, loss, or chronic stress are involved. Progress often looks like stopping. Sitting. Breathing. Coming back to your body. Grieving what’s been lost. Re-evaluating everything you thought was true. Sometimes it even looks like going backwards — repeating old patterns, questioning your choices, doubting you...