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Batten House Podcast
Batten House Podcast
Batten House Podcast
Ep 6 Sarah on Mental Health, Myths, and Community Support
Discover the inspiring journey of Sarah, the driving force behind Four Wings Psychology, as she shares her unwavering dedication to mental health on the Batten House podcast. From her early dreams at 12 of becoming a psychologist to navigating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah's story is one of resilience and passion. Witness how she transformed a modest 600 square foot space into a flourishing clinic that serves Ottawa's West End community. Her commitment to offering comprehensive mental health services from children to families is a testament to her mission of making psychological support accessible to all.
Join us as we unpack the myths surrounding psychological services, guided by Sarah's expertise. One common misconception is the belief that one must be in crisis before seeking help. Sarah emphasizes the importance of preventive care and the value of addressing mental health before hitting rock bottom. Four Wings Psychology is a beacon of evidence-based services, equipping individuals with the necessary tools to maintain and improve their mental well-being. In a post-COVID world, Sarah's work is more vital than ever, providing crucial support in a time when mental health is at the forefront of the community's needs. This episode is essential listening for anyone eager to understand the transformative power of mental health care and its profound impact on society.
This is the Batten House podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sean Batten.
Speaker 2:Well, hello, Sarah so nice to have you on the podcast.
Speaker 3:So good to be here.
Speaker 2:You are one of our awesome customers that we have the pleasure to work with, and we really are excited to have you here, because you have so much to share and so, for our listeners, tell us about your business.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I am the clinic director of Four Wings Psychology. We're a mental health service located in the Ottawa area on the West End. We service pretty much across the lifespan children, teens, adults, couples and families. We're aiming to be kind of a one stop shop so that you can get services across for everybody in the family all in one spot, and we have quite a team working with us and we're continuing to grow, which is great.
Speaker 2:That's so awesome. I love it. So tell us, tell our listeners, about your journey. How, why did you get into your business? I'm sure it's a great story.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I mean, you know it starts way back when, you know, when I was about 12 and decided I wanted to be a psychologist. Really, oh yeah, I've always wanted to be a psychologist, which is bizarre. So I started then and when I finished up all the training and everything, I did co-own a different practice and really enjoyed that experience, went through some challenges over COVID and ended up having to, yeah, exactly, ended up having to kind of pull it back a bit and then with that, decided I really wanted to build kind of a group practice where we had a number of different practitioners all in one place and reinvent the practice in that way. So I ended up creating what's now become Four Wings Psychology. We started off in a very small shoebox of a place that was just, I think just about 600 square feet, and now we've recently moved into 2,100 square feet and we have, I think, eight to 10 clinicians right now.
Speaker 2:That's great. Well, I remember that space. It was a beautiful space but, yes, much smaller than what you have now. Um but but I love uh cause your heart has always, even from the beginning when we had first met um, your heart was really to offer a variety of of services and and what the work you do in the community is so vital, especially after COVID and just the mental health crisis that many really believe, as do I and I know you do. That really is part of our country right now and you guys do incredible work with all of that.
Speaker 2:There's so many facets right yeah go on, oh yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 3:I was just going to say, you know, and we tend to focus on providing the evidence-based services. So really trying to, you know, give people what you know, the tools that are going to help them in terms of moving them along in the right direction.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Oh, that's great. So can you tell us about any myths or misconceptions you hear about your service, your industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I could go on for hours about that. I think one of the biggest ones that I hear often is like you know that I'm not, you know, sick enough, quote unquote uh, you know to, you know, be needing psychological services, uh, or psychotherapy, that I, you know, I kind of need to be at rock bottom, you know really suffering, you know, and then I should get services where in reality there's so much preventative work that we can do, you know, in terms of even just keeping things level, you know, for people, but then even sometimes just improving things, you know, from an already okay space. So that's one of the ones that I hear very, very commonly. You know, when people come into my office and go, I don't know, maybe I shouldn't be here, you know we kind of go, no, like everybody has their starting point and you, you don't want to get to the point where you absolutely need to. You know, draw on that if you don't have to get to that place.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It's funny you say that Cause the first time I ever, uh, went to a counselor um, that was my first. I sat in the chair and this lovely lady and she was so warm and comfortable and that was my first line out of my mouth. I don't really know why I'm here, but I know I need to be right now, in this time of my life, and because there wasn't any prevention in my mind. In my community, my circle of friends, we never talked about preventative, so I love that.
Speaker 2:You that's worth getting shouting from the rooftop say you don't need to hit rock bottom to get your call and sit down with one of your team members, and so you personally. So I mean, we're here to talk about your business, but also, like you've jumped into being an entrepreneur, which is super fun, yeah, and a lot, a lot of you know, kind of drinking from the fire hose sometimes, especially with the move, and hiring people and all these different things, um, but on the other hand, what? What do you do for fun, you know, when you're not working on your business and entering emails and paying bills and paying yourself and you know, being focused.
Speaker 2:you know, obviously you probably talk a lot about life balance with your customers, your clients, but what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:So I'm a bit of an interesting character. I tend to be a bit of a homebody. So I spend a lot of time, you know, just kind of at home with the family. I have two little pet bunnies that I steal some snuggles from whenever I can, and then I have a few activities that I love to do. So I do a lot of water sports over the summer, obviously, in winter not so much, but I also do archery, so that keeps me quite balanced and takes kind of different level of mental focus and calm. You know that I found really you know kind of balances me out, you know, on a regular basis.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, which is so vital for any industry, but especially when you're when what you're in cause, it could be so heavy sometimes, right, and so it's really it's really great that you have archery. Wow, I never would have guessed that is so cool, oh my goodness. So segue into. Can you describe one hardship or life challenge that you rose above and can now say, because of that challenge you are better for it and are stronger? Like, how has that kind of possibly influenced you becoming a psychologist and also as a business owner?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's actually a really, really good question. You know, I think one of the ones that really stands out for me was, you know kind of what happened during COVID. So I had this practice. You know that I was coning, it was super successful, it was doing well. We had like even purchased a location that we were, you know. So we were kind of like in our forever home and then COVID hit, and that was a pretty big hit. We had to sell the location.
Speaker 3:I ended up practicing from, you know, what I would lovingly call literally a shoebox or closet. You know I was kind of in a nine by 10 room for a couple of years, just kind of sorting things out, and you know, kind of recalibrating a little bit. And you know that ended up being kind of sorting things out and you know, kind of recalibrating a little bit, um, and you know that ended up being kind of the impetus for, you know, creating what I'm where I am now and what I have now, um, you know, just in terms of really, you know, having the vision and and then really implementing that. So from a place of, like you know, kind of being like a kick dog a little bit in some ways. You know that I ended up kind of rising above, I feel like, and you know, building something that I'm so happy with now.
Speaker 2:Absolutely and happy, and I know you're proud of it and you should be, because you're really becoming such a strong pillar in the community, which is, I mean, your services are needed everywhere and you've risen to that, and you found some talented young people to be on your team too, which is super. It's just so great for our community. I can't say enough. So for our listeners, what's one thing you wish they knew about your business? Maybe you touched a little bit about that with the myths, but there are misconceptions. But give me one or some.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, one of the things that we've just implemented with most of our providers is direct billing, so that's something that we're able to offer for a number of insurance companies and with most of our providers, but it certainly takes the burden off, you know, and one of the barriers of going, you know, which tends to be having to pay up front. So that's a pretty big one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that could definitely be a deterrent. And so making that's a pretty big one, yeah, that could definitely be a deterrent. And so making it's like less friction to call you and say hey let's chat, and that's hard enough, nevermind to have to like. It's like finding a dentist. You know you really you need to do it. But no, that's great, I didn't even know that existed actually for your services.
Speaker 3:New and improved.
Speaker 2:That's good. So then how can our listeners learn more contact you? Stop by your beautiful space over at Centrepoint there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so they can find us on our website. That's probably the first place to find us. So, uh, at four wings, psychologyca Um, they can also email our uh, our team, uh at admin at four wings, psychologyca Um, and we also uh take phone calls 6 1, 3, 4, 3, 5, 344. We also have presence on Instagram, linkedin and Facebook, so we're pretty active on all those platforms as well.
Speaker 2:You are, so that's good. So fourwingspsychologycacom ca yeah, okay, perfect, and we'll list that also in the description for our viewers Dot CA, dot CA. Yeah, okay, perfect, and we'll list that also in the description for our viewers. So, listen, I know, as a businesswoman, as you working in your business as well, not just on your business you're busy, so I thank you very much for your time with us and please reach out to Sarah and her team.
Speaker 2:She and they are are have just such a heart for our community and at least have a conversation with them. Okay, Thanks again, Sarah, Really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Thank you, take care. I really appreciate this talk.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Battenhouse Podcast. To nominate a favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to battenhousepodcastca. That's battenhousepodcastca.
