Meet ShMaya Houtman
Founder & Clinical Director
Accredited Mental Health Social Worker | Accredited Social Work Supervisor | Leadership Mentor
I’m the founder and Clinical Director of Wonder-Full Works, and I’ve spent more than two decades working across mental health, child and family services, community health and human services.
My career has taken me from frontline practice to senior clinical, management and leadership roles across government, non-government and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. I’ve worked in services across regional and remote Queensland and the Northern Territory as a child protection officer, family violence worker, and for many years as an advanced mental health clinician. I have led multidisciplinary teams and held executive roles in multiple government departments. Those experiences have shaped not only how I practise, but how I think about the importance of good supervision, strong professional relationships and having people around us who encourage us to think, question and grow.
I have a particular commitment to regional, rural and remote practitioners, private practitioners, and social workers working in professionally isolated roles. I know how different practice can look when you’re a long way from a large multidisciplinary team or when you’re the only social worker in the room. Access to an experienced, discipline-specific supervisor can make an enormous difference.
I work with people at all stages of their careers—from newer social workers finding their feet and developing their professional identity, through to experienced clinicians, private practitioners, clinical leads, managers and senior leaders. I also really enjoy leadership mentoring, particularly supporting people to find a leadership style that is authentic to who they are rather than simply adopting how they think a leader is supposed to be.
My supervision style is warm, conversational and curious. I enjoy a good question, I’m comfortable with complexity, and I don’t believe that either of us needs to arrive at supervision already knowing the answer. There will be times when I challenge your thinking, times when we sit with uncertainty, and probably times when we laugh. Curiosity, reflection and growth are at the heart of how I work.
That philosophy is also where Wonder-Full Works came from. After all these years in practice, I’m still interested in people, still asking questions and still discovering different ways of seeing things. I think retaining that capacity to wonder is one of the things that keeps us thoughtful, compassionate and alive in our work.
BA | BSW | Grad Cert Loss, Grief & Trauma | MSW | Accredited Member AASW | Accredited Mental Health Social Worker | AASW Accredited Supervisor
