Founder and director of Health in Mind Orange: Psychological Services on Sale Street since 2014, clinical psychologist Dr Belinda Harris, 47, has been working with mental health for the past 24 years.

After watching her mother fall in love with the sector, a young and inspired Dr Harris headed down a similar path - but an original idea took on a different shape.

"As an idealistic Year 12 student with a strong Christian faith, I wanted to go into missionary work as I'd heard that they were in need of people to work with trauma populations in war-torn countries," she said.

"I thought 'yes, that's what I'll do', and I did actually end up working primarily with trauma, but in our own town rather than overseas.

"There was more than enough need here in our community."

According to research by the National Rural Health Alliance, there are more than four times the amount of psychologists in major cities than there are in regional and remote areas.

When comparing rural-to-urban data, the disparities and industry demands continue to climb - including limited access to mental health services, lower workforce numbers, and cost barriers.

A "huge factor" of late are the rising cost-of-living pressures, which Dr Harris says "comes up repeatedly" at her practice given the current financial climate.

"It's gotten to the point where people who need therapy are dropping out completely because they can't afford it, or they're cutting back on the ideal frequency of sessions," she said.

"The themes that I tend to hear are more about how cost-of-living pressures are impacting on [clients], so we're definitely seeing issues there in terms of people finding it harder to access services they need.

"People are skipping meals to pay bills, and the thing about chronic financial stress is it just increases peoples' baselines of stress.

"It only makes it harder than usual for people to deal with things outside of their own control."

But these hurdles form part of what also fuels Dr Harris in the professional realm.

Which is why she teams up with other Orange-based clinics to mentor provisional psychologists before formally entering the workforce.

With six years of studies required at a minimum, four interns are currently with Health in Mind, with roughly half of Dr Harris' workload dedicated to their supervision and training.

This dedication could also be why the hub's boss was named the 2023 Australian Allied Health award for Excellence in Rural and Remote Health.

"What motivates me is promoting the profession of psychology in rural and remote areas, because we need to be adding to that number in our regional communities," Dr Harris said.

"One of my big passions is supporting our provisional psychologists to grow their learning and skills, and I happily allocate the time to do it.

"I also work with chronic and severe and long-term mental health in terms of my own caseload, so I spend the other 50 per cent of my weeks supporting clients through different levels of trauma."

Specialising in helping people with dissociative, eating and/or personality disorders, Dr Harris' working days are also shared with a "terrific team" of like-minded people.

Having "worked hard" to create a positive workplace culture, Dr Harris' Sale Street empire picked up Excellence in Professional Services at the 2023 Orange Business Awards, landing finalists in Adult Services for the same awards in 2022.

The business has now been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2024 Australian Small Business Champion Awards in the Psychology Services category, with winners announced during April 12 and 13 in Sydney.

Crediting a chunk of the hub's success to the people around her, Dr Harris feels her crew is a well-worthy one of accolades.

"We haven't won this one before, but we're super excited to be on that list," she said.

"I feel so privileged that I get to work with the people I do, because they've just allowed me into their life and to share in their journeys, it's quite amazing.

"We have an amazing team who get along beautifully with each other and, as cliche as it sounds, it's truly a joy to come to work.

"I'm really careful about who I employ, as well, and this team is terrific. We really do have a beautiful workplace here."

Outside of work, Dr Harris is married with two adult children, aged 19 and 21, and balances her clinical work with a hobby-related side gig.

The face of BeeJay's Hand Dyed Yarn in her spare time, it's the psychologist's way of unwinding in a "meditative and creative" way.