We were lucky to catch up with Georgia Bryce-Hutchinson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Georgia, appreciate you joining us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

When I started in the psycho-therapy field, the most prominent career outcomes were agency work (primarily non-for-profit) or owning a private practice. Infact, I can recall during my tenure in the marriage and family therapy program, the highest post-graduation ideal predominantly identified by most of my colleagues, was engaging private practice. I was open to the idea, but I had always had my eyes set on corporate work, although I had no reference point.

I knew of no therapist making the “cross-over.” It did not dissuade me from remaining open to the idea though and sure enough in 2020, during the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, the opportunity to begin engaging a number of corporate forums as a speaker and trainer to help amplify mental health awareness and literacy in the workplace, presented themselves.

I have spoken at national and regional conferences, and engaged online webinars, seminars and both half and full-day training sessions (virtually and live). As I continue to expand the conversation centering mental health and wellness in the workplace in these broader settings, a next course of action I am planning to pursue is providing wellness coaching for leaders (particularly the C-Suite, managers and front-line supervisors), intentionally aimed at countering the impact of workplace psycho-social hazards, increasing resiliency and amplifying work-life harmony.

Georgia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Believe it or not, I did not hail from a long line of psycho-therapists. My background is exclusively science and engineering. I hold a B.Sc. degree in Environmental Studies and my first M.Sc. degree is in Environmental Engineering. I worked in the field of Environmental Science/Engineering for approximately 16 years before transitioning full-time into the mental health arena. I am a graduate of Nova Southeastern University, where I earned my second M.Sc. degree in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2016.

My passion for working with individuals long preceded the shift. I had always served as a lay counselor in my Church community. The bread crumbs had been there for many years, but it was not until I got so frustrated with life as it was then and I begun developing a greater desire to do something more meaningful with my life, did I make the transition.

I am still very much an engineer at heart and it continues to lend to my effectiveness as a systems thinker in the work that I do in private practice, as both a couples and family therapist. I help both groups address dysfunctional patterns of communication and interaction that often lend to grid-lock and conflict in the relationships. I am quite adept at helping my clients recognize these patterns readily and equippping them with strategies and techniques to overcome these challenges, foster their relationship ideals, and create new legacies.

I value the fact that the work that I do in the therapy room as a clinician makes me more organic and very much an expert in addressing the psycho-social needs of employees in the workplace setting. My content, conclusions and solutions are not just text-book diatribes. Having intimate knowledge of the needs of clients allows me to expand the narrative beyond the therapy room. I have always maintained that the employees who present themselves to work on a daily basis are the clients who show up for therapy with me. You cannot separate the “self” of the worker from the person of the worker.

Undoubtedly, mental health and wellbeing are at the heart of what I advocate. I want individuals, couples and families to be whole and functioning. I want employees to be healthy mentally, emotionally and relationally. I want leaders to see the value in creating psychologically healthy and safe work environments that protect the wellbeing of their workers, thereby stimulating their discretionary efforts and overall productivity. I want organizations to thrive.

I remain committed to serving in my capacity as a clinician and that entails:

1. Tending to the relational needs (communication, conflict management, relationship development and maintenance, etc.) of my couples and families, and

2. Helping my individual clients strategicially work through and appropriately address (with tools, coping strategies, etc.) challenges associated with their negative internal dialogue, or the impact from work-related stress; including anxiety, depression, adjustment disorders, poor self-worth, and poor work-life balance.

My work in the corporate setting continues to center advancing employee mental health and wellbeing. My approach is two-fold;

1. Increasing employee mental health awareness, amplifying literacy and and promoting wellbeing through my continued virtual / live speaking and training initiatives. I serve as a keynote, conference and panel speaker, as well as workshop, seminar and webinar facilitator. Some areas of focus include stress management, promoting self-care, mental health essentials, communication and group dynamics in team building, and tending to the leader’s internal dialogue.

2. Working (consulting) with organization leaders to help them identify and understand the psycho-social needs of their workforce, recognize the psycho-social hazards that precipitate employee mental illness, and designing and implementing policies, programs and practices to promote employee and organizational wellness.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistently delivering excellent service. Nothing beats that. I have repeat clientele and clients who actively refer my services to others because of this

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Ultimately seeking to become the best at what I do and continuing along this trajectory.

When I started interfacing with corporate America, I was introduced to the occupational / environmental health and safety industry by a very good friend of mine from that world. I was familiar with the industry from my days as an engineer (that friend was a client of mine, believe it or not), but had very little understanding of its dynamics, since it is a very broad arena ccomprised of multiple sectors.

To increase my knowledge of the industry and to improve my mastery of its language, I applied for membership in two of the nation’s leading organizations for safety professionals. I subscribed to their monthly magazines and that of other heavy hitters in the industry. I attend webinars and listen to podcasts hosted by several organizations in the field, as well as invest time in reading weekly and daily articles about industry happenings. I also took the step to join a mentoring program for women in the industry and requested mentoring relationships of a few seasoned individuals.

I recognized at the onset, that for me to do an effective job of being relevant to this industry and adding value to the constituents, I had to find the entry point that would allow me to sync my services as a mental health expert with their needs. I leverage and continue to leverage opportunities to present at industry conferences to show-case my expertise, as well as my services.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgiabuildingfamilies/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiabryce/
• Other: Newsletter https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6883118076557053952/