Meet the Team
GUSTAV GOUS
Chief Operating Officer - The genesis of Are You Ok
In the early stages of the pandemic I was approached with a very unique problem. Patients at a high end drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Plettenberg Bay were forced to leave South Africa and return to their homes in Europe, preventing access to their coursework and regular contact with counsellors. Building a rudimentary, yet effective online platform, we were able to overcome such geographic restrictions, facilitating patients’ access to the materials and support they otherwise would have lost.
Seeing the need for mental health support at such a time, the COVID19 pandemic, it was clear that more courses addressing a wider range of mental health concerns was needed.
With the help of Colin and Deanna Garnett and our international mental health network, I was introduced to Dr John Crimmins PhD (Psychology) at the Behaviour Institute Dublin and so began a partnership that would assist in the provision of accessible, world class, mental health support that was affordable – marking the birth of Are You Ok.
Since then we have focused on collaborating with mental health professionals from various backgrounds and areas of speciality, to help people help themselves when faced with a mental health challenge, empowering individuals, teams and organisations. Are You Ok is rooted in the philosophy that you know you better than anyone else, so you are the best place to start on the journey to good mental health.
When my brother introduced me to Are You OK, I immediately saw the platform’s ability to make mental health support accessible to the masses ,overcoming a major hurdle than hinders those who need it from seeking help.
Getting to know the team I’ve been inspired by their drive to destigmatise the subject of mental health by providing professionally vetted courses and access to esteemed therapists, alongside real world, easy to understand content available to the public in video, blog and podcast form.
Thus breaking the perception that mental well-being support and therapy is only for a small sector of society.
KAYLA GOUS
Lead Counsellor - A step forward for mental health
KATE GEORGE WEAVER-GIBBS
Chief Executive Officer - There is no hierarchy of Trauma
My journey to Ok started in 2016 when a trip to the grocery store landed me in a coma, on life support with catastrophic brain injury and minimal chance of survival. Beginning 2017 with Hemiparesis (partial paralysis), Hemianopia (partial blindness), half a skull and even less memory, I finished it at Harvard discussing a future Masters degree. That year of physical rehabilitation was a challenge I loved. Learning to walk, use my eyes, clean my teeth and return to academic studies, I witnessed the unfathomable capability of the human brain. Think about it, without the human brain, nothing outside the natural world would exist. I am forever humbled and awestruck of that squishy blob of grey matter. The mind however, that’s a different story, a story that brought me to ARE YOU OK.
Psychological recovery from trauma doesn’t end once physical healing appears complete. Anyone who has been through a life changing event will know you don’t “get over it”, you move with it.
Post accident I’ve felt the fear, loneliness and abject sadness of seeing myself as half a person. I’ve lived inside the haunted hole of anxiety, guilt, paranoia and shame, when to the rest of the world I seemed “normal”.
That said I would not change what has happened to me. My experience has given me an edge, insight and purpose. It’s shown me that us humans, regardless of background, religion, skin colour or bank account, all crave the same thing: To be seen, heard and feel that our lives have value.
As CEO of ARE YOU OK I want to know your story. I want to know how you are, what you have been through and the support you and your family, team or organisation need in order to thrive. Your body and brain are built literally to survive. But living, for those privileged enough to read this, is about more than just surviving – it’s finding balance in order to thrive.
ARE YOU OK is driven by the motivation that Affordable, Accessible and Anonymous mental wellbeing support, is a step towards the healthy empowered society in which we all want to live.
