It’s a requirement that psychotherapy students complete a minimum of 200 one to one counselling hours throughout their training period. Louise and I instantly connected at our very first practice session together. Our experiences at work, although not identical had a very similar theme and proved to be a useful subject for practice hours.
Although I was considering entering the counselling profession, after my experience, I really believed there was an opportunity to help others avoid the situation I had faced. I was therefore exploring options relating more to mental health in the corporate world.
The idea was there but how do you go about starting something completely new?
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait that long. A friend contacted me about some accountancy work, and it emerged during this conversation that one of her clients was looking for a CPD day on ‘something different’. This was the opportunity to test my theory. I designed and delivered a full day talking about stress; it was a great success. Feedback was excellent and it really proved to me that there was a need for people to learn about mental health. The seed was planted – education. It’s all about education.
Louise (who at this point was still considering private counselling) and I spoke about this on many occasions. One day, at a practice session, the conversation turned to the future again. We talked and talked about possibilities and opportunities and realised we were really on the same page. We both had significant training and development experience, from completely different areas but that was perfect.
Mental health first aid. The ‘in thing’. We attended the Scottish MHFA course and….. disappointment. The course did not live up to our expectations as there was no consideration of the reality in a corporate organisation; something we knew very well. Delivering this training was not going to be an option for us.
They were really disheartened BUT that wasn’t going to stop us. Many, many conversations, networking events, conferences later – Mental Health Response was born.
A training programme designed by psychotherapists with a combined 50 years’ experience in corporate organisations. Who better to understand your business and your mental health?
BUT Mental Health Response wasn’t our brand, it was one of our services. What else were we about?
It was a niggle at first. Training, yes, vital, but what about the root cause of mental health issues at work?
Honestly, we wanted to do everything, we wanted to help everyone. That was one of the problems. We could see so clearly huge opportunities to do something amazing. The number of ideas and potential was sending us off on so many different directions, we weren’t focussing on what was most important, the root cause and a way to facilitate positive change at work.
We found help through Business Gateway. They provided funding for us to get some professional advice, which was probably the biggest turning point.
We created “Alex” our customer and designed everything through Alex’s eyes.
We really had to bite our respective tongues and take the criticism. After all, our expertise is not in brand creation and marketing strategy.
We learned a lot:
- Don’t spend money on business cards until you’re absolutely sure you’re done!
- It’s an emotional rollercoaster, don’t try this alone. We have both been up and down, at different times and have been able to support each other throughout. You may not have the benefit of a business partner but there’s a lot of support out there. Networking for one, can be an amazing source of advice and support.
- Patience and realism are a necessity. Taking it slowly and doing it right is more important than a fast buck. Get realistic about what is possible.
- Don’t be precious about binning your first attempt. This was very hard for us, we were attached to Mental Health Response, it felt right but a different kind of right. We just needed a minute to get used to the idea – back to patience and realism!
- Take criticism wherever it comes from. You don’t always know best, there are experts out there who can guide you, so, don’t take it personally as much as it might feel difficult.
- Watch your stress levels. One of the reasons for our new direction was to reduce stress for us, our families and our clients. Thankfully our training helps us to manage ourselves and each other daily.
- Stay focussed. Knowing there are literally hundreds of ways we can help businesses is fantastic, but we needed to start somewhere for “Alex”.
Mind & Mission was born. It’s a new look at how exactly mind and business fit together
