The Liberated Method and relational practice – May 2025

The session focused on the “The Liberated Method and Relational Practice”. We heard from Mark Smith Director of Public Service Reform at Gateshead Council (UK), Beth Webster (Sunshine) and Leigh Sinclair (Imagined Futures).

Mark Smith shared his experience in implementing relational approaches in public services, highlighting how transactional interactions often fail to effectively support people with complex needs. Through the story of “Brian,” he illustrated the benefits of the Liberated Method, which focuses on relationship-building and understanding individuals’ needs rather than assessments.  The case study demonstrated that by prioritizing “gloriously ordinary” activities and reducing referrals, the program achieved significant cost savings and improved outcomes for participants.

Beth highlighted how relational support builds people’s intrinsic strengths. Beth presented the Sunshine family support model, which incorporates community building and relational practices to address complex needs.  The model showcased how building relationships through community activities like cooking and gardening can help address deeper social needs for individuals and for communities.

Leigh shared the work of Imagined Futures, a partnership engaging 74 stakeholders focussing on community led responses and “sowing the seeds of empathy”.  She highlighted the Davis Park project and the Good Life Project, both showing how community facilitation and empathy-driven responses can lead to positive family and neighbourhood outcomes.

Group discussions focused on how leaders can support relational practice. Mark emphasised the need for mindset shifts and self-examination, and for leaders to intentionally create learning spaces and protect initiatives for relational work to flourish.   The group also discussed the importance of developmental evaluation and using data as a tool for learning rather than just keeping score.

Beth also spoke about the possibility of building a learning community around relational practice and is testing interest across the movement.  If this is something you might be  interested in, please reach out to https://www.linkedin.com/company/possibility-partnership  or email to hello@thepossibilitypartnership.org.au

There are a few tools and resources mentioned or provided as part of the session that you might want to explore further.  They are: