Workshop1 : Beyond Burnout – Building a culture of care in the SHS workplace

Beyond Burnout is for anyone working in the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) sector who wants to better understand burnout, strengthen psychological safety, and support people to sustain this vital work, without losing themselves along the way.

SHS work matters, and it is demanding. Heavy workloads, emotional labour and constant pressure can slowly drain energy, focus and connection. Beyond Burnout is a practical, reflective session that helps teams pause, understand what’s really driving burnout, and identify realistic ways to create safer, more supportive workplaces.

This session explores what burnout is, how it develops, and why it’s rarely an individual issue. We look honestly at the role of systems, culture, leadership and everyday ways of working, both in contributing to burnout and in preventing it. The emphasis is on shared responsibility and achievable change.

Participants will unpack what psychological safety looks like in day-to-day SHS practice, examining how supervision, meetings, team norms and decision-making can either support wellbeing or quietly wear it down. There is space to reflect on our own role, notice unhelpful patterns, and identify practical shifts we can make.

Drawing on 2024 sector survey findings and current research, this interactive session uses real-life examples and activities to provide tools you can use straight away.

You’ll leave with simple, practical strategies to reduce stress, restore energy during the workday, and take small, intentional steps to strengthen care, connection and sustainability, for yourself, your team and your organisation.

Presenters

Horatio O’Shea

Sydney Therapeutic Practice

Horatio brings over 28 years of not-for-profit experience as a frontline worker, manager, and workplace wellbeing expert. He founded a therapy practice and EAP service dedicated to supporting not-for-profit organisations and their people.

Throughout his career, Horatio has worked with children and families in out-of-home care, people with disabilities, homeless youth, and asylum seekers. He is an accredited Gestalt psychotherapist with specialist training in group crisis intervention and the Yalom method. As an accredited Compassion Fatigue Educator with the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, he focuses on supporting individuals and teams affected by secondary and vicarious trauma.

Horatio’s Master’s research examined organizational responses to vicarious trauma in the workforce. For nearly a decade, he has designed and delivered training in compassion fatigue, self-care, and trauma-responsive leadership for the sector. His approach is relational and centered on building psychologically safe, sustainable, human-centred workplaces.