This research aimed to consider the impact of introducing the systemic approach to child protection practice through the forum of group reflective supervision. A single case discussion was observed, recorded and transcribed and the data interpreted using thematic analysis (Braun and Clark, 2006). The social workers observed were trained in the systemic approach to foundation level. The data generated showed social workers using hypotheses to put forward ideas about a family shaped by systemic principles. However the inclusion of a pathologising discourse about a mother being blind to the sexual abuse of her daughter and an absence of self‐reflexivity suggested social workers were limited by linear thinking. The paper uses this data to suggest a tension between systemic practice and the child protection paradigm. The findings illustrate the challenge of occupying a systemic posture (the being) and the application of systemic concepts and techniques (the doing) in child protection. This paper recommends that systemic practice be taught and supported in social work to shape a more robustly reflexive systemic ‘being’ in the child protection context. Practitioner points There are tensions in applying systemic principles in social work contexts that create unique challenges for practitioners Without due attention to systemic epistemology in group reflective supervision, practitioners can rely too much on techniques to the detriment of reflexivity Hypothesising in the child protection context can be useful in the work but can be constrained by institutional pressures Without paying attention to circularity and reflexivity, hypotheses can recreate pathologising discourses