What’s it like to join the team Excel Psychology?

My name is Crispin, and I have recently come on board at Excel Psychology to take on the role of practice manager. I bring with me over a decade of experience managing small enterprise in a service industry. The industry I work in may have changed, but my focus on people and professionalism remains.

Prior to coming to work at Excel Psychology, I’m not sure I’d ever walked into a regulated health service and felt at home, but feeling at home has been the case for me every time I walk through the front door of the practice, and my observation is that when clients and staff walk in, they seem to feel it too. The beautifully maintained fish tank in reception, the serene murals on the walls, plush eclectic furniture room to room, framed comics with simple yet powerful messages in the hall, the natural greenery of living potted plants all around, and most notably, the friendly faces you come to know. All of this adds up to an environment that quickly makes one feel right at home, and reminds this place is real, it’s welcoming, it’s reliable, and it’s ready to take care of people. A real place in which real people may feel at ease to start unpacking very real issues with one of the real, personable, and professional psychologists.

It is evident to me the psychologists at Excel Psychology are consummate professionals with a high level of skill and expertise, but they’re also human beings that understand the power of connection and relationships when it comes to helping people. The psychologists at Excel combine the professionalism one would expect from a psychologist, with levels of care and compassion one possibly doesn’t expect. As the practice manager I don’t see or hear sessions in progress, but I do get a glimpse of the results. It’s remarkable to me to see a client's eyes light up, or perhaps an expression of relief as they see a face familiar to them appear at reception, welcoming and escorting them into session. Sometimes clients arrive in visible despair, or perhaps a little sceptical of a psychologist's ability to help them, and it’s just as remarkable to see the change in demeanour from before session to after session, and over time from session to session. Psychologists escorting clients into session and back to reception, taking care to ensure clients really are ready to go back out into the community before a friendly ‘see you next time’. It’s often small acts of courtesy and kindness that bring people together, and this is no less true of client and psychologist. Through the power of listening, understanding, and strategic therapies backed by science, the psychologists at Excel Psychology help clients overcome challenges and improve their mental well-being, and while I am not a psychologist myself, I consider it a privilege to help facilitate this process.

Of course clients go to psychologists for all sorts of reasons, but my observation is that many of the clients that visit Excel Psychology on a regular and ongoing basis seek not only psychological therapy, but also meaningful human connection, empathy, and guidance. The clients aren’t just here for a service, and the psychologists are not just service providers, like the rest of us, we’re all people.

Excel Psychology ultimately is made up of people, and you can tell by the people that work here and the people that come to see them, it’s a thoroughly people first organisation. From top to bottom the idea of putting people first permeates everything done at Excel, and I think it’s this emphasis on people and humanity that sets Excel apart. I’m here now writing to share that we’re not just saying so, it’s a full-time practice.