It has been 3 years since Blue. Psychological Services was founded. Back then, I was thinking about how I could perhaps contribute to the fledging mental health landscape in my own way amidst the global pandemic. One thing led to another, ideation led to action, and Blue. Psychological Services was born.
Founding a service while holding down a full-time job was never easy. Everything came at a cost too – time and money. As Blue. was meant to be privately funded to ensure no conflicts of interest (and to ensure that the service would not have to betray its ideals when beholden to a funder), I had to keep spending to a minimum. After all, everything came out of my pocket. As such, everything had to be done from scratch on my own. From learning how to design a website (pardon the dated look), to registering for a domain, to setting up a system that connected the webservice host to an email service. While I had initially envisioned the service to become one where likeminded psychologists could contribute voluntarily, I suppose they too have time and financial obligations to consider. Some of my contacts who were initially excited never got down to contributing. As such, Blue. survived on a mere 2 contributors – Deborah and I. Nevertheless, Blue. expanded beyond just being a platform that offers free email consultation.
The Blue. Blog was its first adjunct service established. It was envisioned as a platform for contributors to share their thoughts, or to educate the public on the latest research in the field. Two distinct types of posts were created: the cringey named “Wassup'” (a play on “what’s up [in research]”) posts as well as the terribly named “Op/Com” (shortened for opinion/commentary) posts. The former was meant to keep readers abreast of the latest research evidence, while the latter offered flexibility in what was shared – a favourite book, a perspective, or just a commentary. Three years in, I have decided to finally rename and relabel them “Research Review” and “Opinion/Commentary” for clarity (and also because the cringe caught up to me).
Following The Blue. Blog, The Blue. Library was established next. It was envisioned as a one-stop page for readers who were curious about evidence-based practices in the field of psychology. Guides were created to educate readers on how to navigate and access the NICE guidelines or the Cochrane Library – two great resources in my personal opinion. Blue. research review posts were also included as a third resource.
Despite the ideals and vision, life has a way of disrupting things somehow. My own personal life (the ups and downs; the losses and grief) got in the way of consistently posting on the blog or updating the library. My full-time job as a psychologist in healthcare was equally draining, as was my commitments to other projects or responsibilities beyond my work and Blue.
In spite of all that life has thrown, I am glad to have started and embarked on this personal project. And with that, I’ll share some of the data collected over the past 3 years in this accountability report.
Website Data
The website received a total of >7,500 views, of which >55% were from unique visitors.
Consultation Data
Of the consultations received and addressed, the vast majority were seeking advice. Approximately 15% sought information, while the remaining 8.5% was something else. All queries were addressed and none were beyond the scope of our expertise.
The topics for the enquiries received are shown in the chart above. Enquiries about general mental health form the majority.
Blog Data
Our post popular post was about the unintended consequences of psychotherapy (~600), followed by finding the right psychologist in Singapore (~550), and with the scientific scrutiny of EMDR being third (~425).
Looking at the data, I suppose it might be heartening to know that perhaps over a thousand people might have benefitted from the painstaking tasks of writing these posts. Even if they don’t agree with it, having access to newer perspectives could only be helpful.
Future
So as Blue. embarked on its fourth year, what might the future bring? I’m not sure. For one, I am personally invested into revamping the site to make it look more organised and modern.
I’ve got some review articles planned but due to time constraints, some might have to be prioritised over others. Would it be business as usual for now? I guess so. But should anyone feel like contributing and do so in good faith, do drop us a message at contact@bluepsy.com. Until our next accountability report.
Eugene
Blue. Psychological Services 