Phoenix Psychological Services - Qld

Our Story

Writing down your story feels like writing a dot point version of yourself. Gary and I had worked for some large organisations (specifically he has been in the Australian Army, worked in a private gaol run by an American company and managed a professional team of Psychologists and Social Workers in the Queensland Police Service). Whilst he had been doing meaningful work, he wanted to take pause and get back to his roots and see clients again, so a change was in the wind. His background had been mainly working in trauma and so Phoenix Psychological Services seemed so apt. We can vividly remember making application to register the name, feeling that this was a defining moment in our future. Name in hand, still raising our kids, me working for QPS as a backup – he took the plunge and our business was born in 1998.

Fate has taken us on a journey and Gary found himself speaking with two Assistant Commissioners, one from Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and one from the Queensland Ambulance Service. They were sharing thoughts on the newly emerging topic of Emotional Intelligence and how leaders were promoted from their ranks based on operational skills not necessarily because they had the tools to be leaders. Almost as a throw away line, Gary was asked to put something together and Leadership in a Collaborative Environment was written. In parallel, I was still working at the QPS and had moved from the Equity and Diversity Unit to the Supportive Leadership Program. The planets were aligning for us to both have a shift in our direction and move from counselling into primarily workshopping.

Around the same time Gary secured a Department of Veterans Affairs contract to work with the Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service and the other arm of our business was born. We were now offering psychotherapeutic and psychoeducational programs to our Veteran Community and on both fronts felt that we were engaging in the most meaningful and soul enriching work.

It wasn’t until later that we realised that the Leadership & Team workshops and the Veterans workshops both evolved from the same platform. The formal terms would be Emotional and Social Intelligence but in real terms, we loved helping people journey their lives. We have offered practical programs that enable people to better understand themselves and improve their relationships with others for well over 20 years. Some would say these are the ‘soft skills’ but we would argue that they are some of the hardest tools to master. We are helping people to do what Joan Hallifax would say, ‘create a strong back and soft front’. Having the courage and strength to live to their values and pursue their own meaningful life whilst still bringing care, compassion and connection to themselves and others.

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