★★★★★ 50+ five-star Google reviews from workplaces, government agencies and communities · Read client stories
Support Built Into the Work, Not Bolted On
The people who handle your organisation's hardest conversations deserve more than a crisis line and an annual workshop.
Shiv Martin Consulting provides confidential reflective practice, supervision and debriefing for teams working with distressed, angry or traumatised people, so they can keep doing that work well.
Why Workplace Wellbeing?
EAP is valuable, but it is an individual clinical service that activates once someone is already struggling. A workshop is an event. Reflective practice is a habit. Without regular space to make sense of the work, skilled people become exhausted, avoidant or leave, and the people they serve feel the difference.
Read: The gap between EAP and ad hoc training
Three patterns are making this work harder right now.
Read: Keeping up with the cost of caring
Australian work health and safety frameworks recognise psychosocial hazards such as high job demands, poor support, unclear roles and poor workplace relationships. Structured support can form part of how an organisation responds to these risks.
Psychological safety is built or lost in everyday moments: how change is handled, how much autonomy people have and how conflict is met.
Read: Psychological safety, a mediator's view from the outside
Why Trust Us with Your Team's Wellbeing?
Our practitioners work in conflict every day. We are legally trained, trauma-informed and experienced in complaints, conciliation and mediation, so we understand the pressures from the inside, and as independent practitioners we can see a team's environment from the outside. We are supported by an expert panel that includes counsellors and psychologists.
Core Wellbeing Services
Practical, confidential support that fits around the work your team already does.
Structured Team Debriefing
A facilitated team conversation after a critical incident, a distressing matter or a period of sustained pressure, to make sense of what happened and agree what the team needs next. An operational, team-focused process, not therapy. Anyone needing more support is referred to EAP or clinical services.
External Peer Supervision
One-on-one reflective peer supervision for mediators, conciliators, complaint handlers and case managers carrying the most complex or distressing matters.
Sustainable Practice Workshops
Practical, trauma-informed training on compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, boundaries and staying steady in emotionally charged work, built around your team's real matters.
What Are We Actually Supporting?
Burnout, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue are related but different, and good support recognises all three.
Community of Practice
A facilitated reflective series where experienced mediators, conciliators and complaints practitioners from different organisations learn from each other and share the pressures of the work.
Who Are These Services For?
For leaders who want their people to keep doing good work.
Complaints and Ombudsman Teams
Reflective groups and supervision for complaint handlers and investigators.
Schools and Universities
Support for staff managing complaints, wellbeing and difficult conversations.
Tribunals, Commissions and Regulators
Support for conciliators, case managers and registry staff.
Community and Advocacy Organisations
Reflective space for advocates and frontline workers.
Health, Aged Care and Disability Services
Debriefing and reflective practice for frontline and complaints staff.
Mediators and Dispute Resolution Practitioners
Individual and group supervision for your own practice.
Perfect for
• Complaints and customer resolution managers
• HR, people and culture, and WHS leaders managing psychosocial risk
• Team leaders of frontline and case management teams
• Mediators, conciliators and investigators
• New staff and those carrying the heaviest caseloads
• Anyone responsible for the wellbeing of people who absorb conflict and distress
From First Conversation to Lasting Practice
Support is scoped to your team's size, exposure and what you already have in place.
1. Understand your team
A confidential conversation about the work, the pressures and existing supports such as EAP and supervision.
2. Design the right support
A recommendation that may combine reflective groups, individual supervision, debriefing or workshops.
3. Build a regular rhythm
Sessions run on a protected, predictable schedule, with a clear escalation pathway to EAP and clinical supports.
4. Review and adjust
Simple measures such as attendance, usefulness, psychological safety and turnover intention show what is working.
Examples of How Support Can Be Scoped
These illustrative examples show how support might be scoped for different teams. They are not reports of completed work.
A complaints team under sustained pressure
A monthly closed reflective group for six senior complaint handlers, individual supervision for two team leaders and a review after six months.
A conciliation unit after a distressing matter
A structured team debrief within two weeks, followed by a short series of reflective sessions.
A frontline disability service team
A workshop on compassion fatigue and boundaries, then quarterly reflective groups for team leaders.
New conciliators joining a statutory scheme
Fortnightly group supervision for the first three months, then monthly.
Trusted Wellbeing Support From People Who Do This Work
Shiv Martin is a lawyer, nationally accredited mediator and conciliator, trainer and dispute resolution consultant with 17 years' experience in conflict and complaints work, and qualifications across law, mediation, training and psychology. She trains and assesses mediators and conciliators across Australia and supports government agencies, ombudsman offices, tribunals and human service organisations.
What Makes Our Support Different
• Confidential and independent of line management
• Grounded in real dispute resolution practice
• Trauma-informed and culturally responsive
• Practical, not abstract
• Clear links to EAP and clinical support
• Evidence-informed and honestly evaluated
Trusted by Teams Across Australia
50+ 5 Star Google Reviews
Client feedback from workplaces, government agencies and communities across Brisbane, Australia and New Zealand. Whether online or in person, from facilitated conversations to workplace team training, Shiv Martin Consulting has your conflict resolution covered.
Questions About Reflective Practice and Supervision
Is this the same as EAP?
No. EAP is an individual clinical service for personal difficulty. Reflective practice is a regular, structured space to examine the work itself. They work best together, with EAP as the next step when reflection surfaces something bigger.
Is debriefing the same as counselling?
No. Team debriefing is a facilitated, practical conversation about what happened and what the team needs next. It is not therapy, and no one is required to share more than they choose.
Will managers be in the room?
Not in reflective groups. People speak more openly when the group is separate from line management. Any reporting back is agreed with the group first.
Can sessions take place online?
Yes. Sessions run online across Australia and New Zealand, or in person in Brisbane and by arrangement elsewhere.
How often should sessions run?
Monthly is a sensible minimum. Newer staff and those carrying the most distressing matters often benefit from more.
How much does it cost?
Every program is scoped to the team. Request our schedule of fees.
