"I want to feel ok in myself that I'm doing this right."
Natalie Hopkins is a social worker for Parentline Hamilton. She recently attended Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu’s Tongan cultural framework training, ‘Fofola e Fala Kae Talanoa e Kāinga’ in Hamilton with members of her team. She share her thoughts on the training and how she’ll apply it in her practice.
Natalie: I am a social worker who facilitates two programs – The Incredible Years Parenting Program and Keeping Ourselves Safe Program which is around prevention of sexual violence. With my social work role, I am in a long-term contract working with whānau with complex needs.
Why did you attend Nga Vaka’s Tongan family violence programme?
Natalie: I was invited firstly and gladly RSVP’d. I want more understanding of how to work in these spaces, because it’s not something that’s familiar to me. Being Pākehā myself, I’m very conscious of that. I was just talking about that before actually. It’s something that I’m very conscious of, walking into a home. I don’t know much about the eight nations so I wanted more of an understanding on how to work in those spaces.
What have you learned and what’s resonated with you?
Natalie: The migration story to me was quite emotional to watch. I not only think of what that was like for those people, but also thinking about what my family went through when my paternal side first came here in the 1800s. And then when my mum first came here in the late seventies.
Being at this has been really eye-opening and it’s not about the people that you see, it’s about what you bring into that space. You as a person, be real.
Whakawhanaungatanga is so important and that can take such a long time.
Have you been surprised that this Tongan programme has resonated with you?
Natalie: Not surprised, humbled. I want to feel okay in myself that I am doing this right by checking myself and my practice. I just feel privileged to be here actually. They are wonderful presenters with a world of knowledge.
How do you think you might apply what you’ve learned here into your work?
Natalie: I can apply it into my work by taking it back to the cultural roots of the whānau and thinking about researching their traditional practices instead of just rock on in there and say, here I am, I’m here to fix you. It’s about understanding how people operate.
One of the case studies that we were just reading and working through, was all about cultural safety, especially that first engagement with that whānau, which is important.
It’s about having conversations.
So, depending on which spaces I’m going into, it’s about looking at the cultural framework that is suitable or aligns to the family, by working through their identified challenges respectfully regardless of culture/ethnicity.
Earlier on you mentioned it’s important to break down barriers to build trust. What kind of barriers do you mean?
Natalie: I work in an agency that advocated for tamariki and supports parents that can be shy or ashamed to reach out for help.
My observations as a facilitator is that parents struggle to speak out about themselves because of fear of being judged. After a few sessions they start to share freely once they feel comfortable.
They may think that I know all the answers, but I’m there to support them. Incredible Years training gives us the knowledge to provide parents with the tools and skills they can apply at home with their tamariki.
We get so many different people coming into these spaces for example those who have been ordered by the court, caregivers/foster parents, grandparents or parents who genuinely what to upskill themselves.
"I can apply it into my work by taking it back to the cultural roots of the whānau and thinking about researching their traditional practices instead of just rock on in there and say, here I am, I’m here to fix you. It's about understanding how people operate."