People who work with vulnerable populations—like children, the unhoused, veterans or people facing mental health crises—or with marginalized groups, such as different races, religions, sexual identities and even people whose brains work differently, are often expected to know what to do in difficult situations when different needs cause misunderstanding.

But how do we make individuals from all walks of life feel like they belong in the workplace? That’s the problem Dr. Essence Deming-Rivers set out to address through the Deming-Rivers Social Club, the Sarasota organizational therapy consultancy she founded with her wife Emily. A practicing psychologist, Deming-Rivers helps businesses and organizations build safe, inclusive and affirming workplaces.

“If people working in really stressful roles are able to better do their jobs and show up for those [vulnerable populations], it's so worth it,” Deming-Rivers says. “Equipping people with skills helps manage their emotions, makes them deliver better care, and also means that there are fewer people that might need therapy.”

Her work is rooted in a lifelong understanding of what it means to feel like you don’t quite belong. Growing up biracial in Columbus, Ohio, she says she often felt, in her words, like she didn’t “match.”

“I remember having internal meltdowns because when I was asked to check a box for my race on a standardized test. I’d be like, ‘Which one?’” she recalls. “[My teachers] would say, ‘Just pick one,’ but I’d think, ‘How am I supposed to choose?’”

Socioeconomics played a role in her outlook, too. Deming-Rivers remembers her parents struggling financially when she was young.

Those experiences helped her shape the Deming-Rivers Social Club. She wanted the work of organizational therapy to feel less like another workplace requirement and more like an engaging opportunity for co-workers—and their bosses—to connect.

The club’s services include staff training, leadership workshops, conflict facilitation, needs assessments and organizational roadmaps, along with ongoing consulting to help changes take hold.

For Deming-Rivers, helping even one person matters. And when the people being trained work with vulnerable students, unhoused residents or others facing difficult circumstances, the effect can stretch much further. Workplace frustration, she says, often comes from facing a challenging situation and not knowing what to do next.

Sometimes that work is as specific as helping a group of college students plan their weeks. Through the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation, Deming-Rivers conducted time-management training for the foundation’s Selby Scholars scholarship recipients, many of whom were the first in their families to attend college and didn’t necessarily have parents who could help them navigate the experience. She created a 30-plus-page workbook to help students organize their schedules.

Deming-Rivers Social Club is also consulting on Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Project HEAL, which focuses on identifying causes of homelessness and reducing the number of unhoused people in the region. The idea is that helping an organization work better can also help it better serve the people who rely on it.

“Everybody in the community can learn one or two tricks about how to support another person,” Deming-Rivers says. “And if everybody has one or two things they do well, we have a safer community.”

Despite the sometimes-heavy nature of the work, she is committed to making her training fun, hence the name of the business.

“A club is identity-centered,” Deming-Rivers says. “You can show up as yourself and build relationships [so you] belong. That’s the work we’re doing."