Reach Psychology Ltd

30/10/2023

Due to team expansion, our associate counsellors & counselling psychologists have some availability from January for in-school counselling in:

* Telford/Shropshire
* Wolverhampton / South Staffordshire
* Stafford
* Kidderminster/Worcestershire

Miminum commitment = 3hr block booking for 1 term (typically 3 pupils).

We pride ourselves on holistic team working & developing positive relationships with staff & parents as well as the young people.

Please email [email protected] for more details

• Reach Decisions • Reach Support • Reach Ideas •

24/08/2023

Congratulations to our clients who have achieved remarkable GCSE results.

Their determination to achieve when life has been tough is far more impressive than the grades themselves

19/05/2023

It’s the end of mental health awareness week, something we struggle with at Reach because we think you’re all very much aware. We think you’re aware of the lack of access to support, aware of the socio-political stressors negatively impacting wellbeing & are aware that locating the problem solely within an individual can maintain the difficulties.

Instead, we wanted to share the situation for a client we have supported over the past few years. Sessions are now occasional ’top-ups’, but have been weekly, fortnightly & monthly…

This client is sitting her GCES over the next few weeks. She’s in the hall with everyone else. She’s been praised on work experience, she has a place at college waiting for her. She is traveling independently, meeting up with friends, going into shops & crowded places. She’s bought her dress for prom. She knows how to re-regulate her breathing. She knows that her body goes into ‘flight’ & that most of the time it’s not responding to the current situation, it’s responding to a ‘threat’ from the past. She knows the unfamiliar feels scary. She’s worked incredibly hard to gradually expose herself to situations that made her uncomfortable. She’s identified family & friends who both support & challenge her. Her family have sought their own support & further developed their insight. She knows how to communicate her needs.

Our client is remarkable, tenacious, hard-working…and anxious. She says “you don’t get rid of anxiety, you learn to make friends with it” We are incredibly proud of her, & it’s that we chose to make you aware of this week 💚

•Reach Decisions • Reach Support • Reach Ideas •

17/04/2023

Worried about your child’s transition to primary or secondary school?

Don’t wait until there are problems in September. Get bespoke support from a highly specialist, friendly team who work daily with children & families finding things stressful.

Register now for our ‘All change’ support package: £299

You’ll get:

•A 1hr comprehensive vrtual consultation to explore your worries & determine best hopes

•Email feedback on what we heard & guidance on what you can do to alleviate your worries & smooth the transition.

•Initial liaison with your child’s current nursery/school & their next one to support the move.

And

•A check-in email mid September to see how you’re all doing.

There’s opportunity to purchase further support from us along the way, all tailored to you & your child’s needs.

Our team comprises psychologists, counsellor & consultant SENCO, all ready to support your significant changes.

Fill out our request form today & we’ll be in touch to get you booked in:

➡️ https://forms.gle/VfvdD92jh52o74c87

19/03/2023

If you’ve followed Reach for a while, you’ll know our Mother’s Day sentiments: We recognise longing, loss & limitations.

This year we thought we’d share an article from one of our favourite sources, The School of Life, which offers a perspective on some of the complexities of the parent-child relationship.

https://www.theschooloflife.com/article/coping-with-ones-parents/

• Reach Decisions • Reach Support • Reach Ideas •

We publish articles around emotional education: calm, fulfilment, perspective and self-awareness. | Coping with One's Parents — Read now

08/03/2023

We tend to find International Women’s Day to be a day of reflection about equity rather than simply a positive meme-indulgent moment.

Reach Psychology happens to be a collective of women. We are aware of our privilege; our cultural & educational capital. We have each experienced challenges, hardships & some significant threats to emotional capital & we work extremely hard towards equity in both our professional & personal lives. It’s complex.

We meet phenomenally resilient people through our work but are mindful that many of the things people are overcoming are circumstances or life events that simply shouldn’t be happening & in many respects we see firsthand compromised freedom and limited lives, limited opportunities and lack of progress towards equity. We also see equality & equity confused, often to the detriment of those we support.

The International Women’s Day website reminds us “Equity can be defined as giving everyone what they need to be successful. In other words, it's not giving everyone the exact same thing. If we give everyone the exact same thing, expecting that will make people equal, it assumes that everyone started out in the same place - and this can be vastly inaccurate because everyone isn't the same.

The concept of 'fairness' can get tricky as it's often assumed that 'being fair' means that everybody gets the same thing. Often, this has been taught when we were growing up, but 'fairness' really only works when we're all the same to start out with”.

So whilst you may ‘celebrate’ women today, we urge you to increase your own awareness about equity, & take action to drive gender parity.

💚

15/02/2023

💳 Existing clients, this lovely green button on your invoices means we can now accept online card payments rather than you having to make bank transfers.

🏦If you’d rather pay via the bank, we have new account details.

📧Ping any enquiries to our practice manager:
[email protected] & she’ll do everything she can to assist.

💚

20/01/2023

We are changing banks.

There’s currently an issue with our business account. I have been into branch to discuss because I can’t resolve it online & can’t get through on the phone. I requested a call back but it never came.

We are in a situation where you can’t pay us, & we can’t pay anyone else. I have a cheque I can’t pay in. The account is frozen. It’s an administrative issue because I didn’t tick a box to say I was still a UK tax payer & they didn’t update my new surname so now my name appears to not match with Companies House. Essentially, I’m needing opportunity to evidence both.

Business managers are no longer in branch. I was given a desk to sit at in a public area & a number to call. I sat for 30 minutes & my call wasn’t answered.

I asked the member of staff for more help to be asked in reply “what do you want me to do?” & I asked to speak to a manager. They were not forthcoming. I then said “this is so exasperating, this is not customer service, I pay a monthly fee to have this account, run a small business & really need some help.” She looked at me blankly & of course, I expressed that I knew she wasn’t personally responsible, but it’s really really hard & I don’t know what else to do.

I was told to lower my voice.

I’m not an aggressive public shouter. I have peacekeeping levels of tact & diplomacy, yet somehow deny, attack, reverse-offender mode had been employed & my distress was deemed offensive.

I left.

The photo is what was on the table next to the phone I was using. I’m clearly not the only one having a frustrating time in the bank.

Please be patient with us whilst we resolve these matters. We look forward to sharing our new Starling business bank details with you soon.

💚

31/12/2022

Every client we worked with in 2022 came via a recommendation from someone who had worked with us before.

Small businesses have had the pandemic & the current financial situation to navigate. It’s really tough. Wholehearted thanks for supporting us to be able to continue to support others.

Wishing you good health for 2023 💚

• Reach Decisions • Reach Support • Reach Ideas •

25/12/2022

Many people are having a lovely few days. Many people are not. If Christmas is a difficult time…

💚 Take a breath. Respond not react.

💚 Change environment (fresh air, different room, walk)

💚 Text or call a friend. They would rather hear from you than not.

💚 Make a safety plan if you need one:

https://stayingsafe.net

https://www.thehotline.org/plan-for-safety/create-a-safety-plan/

💚 Call 116123 https://www.samaritans.org (you don’t have to have suicidal thoughts to call)

Photo credit: Charlie Mackesy

27/11/2022

Incredible effort 💚

26/11/2022

Our team don’t have an office. Our shared space is a whatsapp group. Many of us see each other regularly, but it might be for a joint meeting, a home visit; it’s seldom for lunch & it’s almost impossible to get everyone together.

As you know, we pride ourselves on being human & not hiding behind a professional façade, so what you really see here are six exhausted women who juggle home-life strains, the challenges of self-employment, economic challenge, personal pain & who spend their working week immersed in the stresses, traumas & anxieties of others without a staff-room to comfort eat in.

What did this result in? An alcohol-free, laugh-a-minute ,4 hour stint of anecdotes. Ideas, kindness, laughter, mischief, & a conversational thread that would be deemed weird by anyone’s standards.

Front to back you can see:

L:

Ruth - Director

Mary-Claire - Psychologist

Beth - Practice Manager

R:

Deb - Counsellor

Laura - Psychologist

Victoria - SENDCo

To many, this photograph is just a snap of 6 people out for dinner. To me, it represents the remarkable bunch of humans I am very proud to know. 💚

• Reach Decisions • Reach Support • Reach Ideas •