The Third Space

Lizzy & Nat•constellationcollectivechicago.com

The Third Space is a podcast for youth workers by youth workers. Each episode includes strategies for youth engagement, discussion on a pressing topic, and answers to listener questions. Cover art photo by http://www.facebook.com/chuttersnap

Last refreshed: July 27th, 2025 at 11:30 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

S3E5: Early Childhood Approaches

Lizzy & Nat welcome aj (they/them) to discuss early childhood approaches and how they can be used across various developmental stages.

Apr 07, 2025•56 min•Season 3Ep. 5

S3E4: Loss

Lizzy and Nat welcome Lindsay (she/her) to discuss one of the hardest parts of being a youth worker - death and loss in the professional realm.

Mar 24, 2025•59 min•Season 3Ep. 4

Pardon our Break

Nat stops by to explain the show's hiatus and share some resources for having difficult political conversations with youth. How Should Staff and Mentors Discuss the Recent U.S. Election with Youth: Leading Experts have Answers

Feb 03, 2025•3 min

S3E3: Youth Feedback

Lizzy and Nat welcome Dr. E Chico (they/them) to discuss the goals of, obstacles to, and strategies for collecting Youth Feedback and evaluating programs in a meaningful way.

Nov 04, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 3

S3E2: Group Development Stages - Storming

Lizzy & Nat discuss the "Storming" stage of Group Development and important considerations to hold before, during, and after.

Oct 07, 2024•48 min

S3E1: Building Buy-In

Lizzy & Nat discuss the meaning of "buy-in" in youth programming and how group leaders can increase engagement and participation.

Sep 02, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 1

Summer Programming

Lizzy shares her experience running summer programming for high school youth and Nat & Lizzy discuss the particular challenges and joys of youth programming during the summer season.

Aug 15, 2024•47 min

Diverse Social Abilities

Lizzy and Nat welcome Jess Levine (she/her) to share best practices and considerations when working with youth participants with various social abilities.

Apr 01, 2024•54 min•Season 2Ep. 6

Setting Boundaries

Our very first guest, William Collier (he/him), joins Lizzy & Nat to talk about setting boundaries with young folks - especially as a new youth development professional.

Mar 25, 2024•39 min•Season 2Ep. 5

Love Stories

Join Lizzy and Nat as they share some tales of young love and how these relationships sometimes play out in various programming spaces.

Feb 05, 2024•43 min•Season 2Ep. 4

Social Discipline Window

Lizzy shares one of her favorite tools in thinking through expectation-setting with young people. Social Discipline Window resource

Jan 08, 2024•34 min

Middle Schoolers!

Nat shares all their insecurities about their new job teaching 7th grade students and we talk about the parallels to the middle school youth experience.

Dec 18, 2023•31 min•Season 2Ep. 2

Aaaand we're back!

In this shorter ep, Lizzy and Nat discuss what has changed for them in the last 4 years and name their hopes for the new season

Oct 30, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 1

13: Parent Engagement

How do we engage parents and adult family members in our work with youth? In this work, sometimes it can be hard to know how to engage with parents to support our work with their children. In this episode we explore the strengths and challenges of parent engagement. Note: We'll now be releasing episodes on Fridays! Thanks for hanging in for our new schedule :)

Sep 27, 2019•46 min

12: Group Dynamics During Forming

In this episode, we'll discuss some of the challenges that come with group dynamics during their early stages and ways we've handled them as facilitators. . If you want to read more about Tuckman's stages of group development, start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman%27s_stages_of_group_development

Sep 16, 2019•43 min•Ep. 12

11: Onboarding

In this episode, we discuss onboarding youth to a new space and some of the tools and strategies we are using this fall to get groups going!

Sep 10, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 11

10: Hospitality in Youth Programming

In this episode, we'll discuss how to bring more hospitality into our youth spaces. We define different characteristics of hospitality through examples and stories from our own experiences.

Aug 20, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 10

9: Exit Interviews

In this episode, we explore the value and purpose of exit interviews, and discuss some of our favorite exit interview questions and strategies.

Jul 30, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 9

8: Adultism

In this episode, we define adultism and provide examples and strategies for being anti-adultist in our work with youth.

Jul 23, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 8

7: Work/Life Balance

In this episode, we explore the ever-elusive ideal of work/life balance, including strategies to help us move towards it. Ideas/Creators/Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk , authors of Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others : https://traumastewardship.com/inside-the-book/ Tonya Dalton , creator of Productivity Paradox and founder of Inkwell Press: https://ppx.inkwellpress.com/blog/8-top-productivity-tips-wrong-i...

Jul 09, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 7

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