FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW DO I GET PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP?
There are a few ways:
GP Mental Health Care Plan
If you or your loved ones notice that you're struggling with your mental health you can go to your GP. We recommend booking a 'long appointment' with them so that they can fully understand what is happening for you. Your GP may then provide you with a Mental Health Care plan which serves two functions - first, it connects the GP and the Psychologist so we can work together as a team to support your mental health; second, it allows you to claim a portion of the fee for the psychological therapy back from Medicare.
Private Referral
You can contact us directly and make an appointment. We call this a private referral, in that you have referred yourself. This is most common when you think that you could use some help being a better version of yourself or would like some professional coaching. Medicare does not provide a rebate for this.
ADF
If you are a current serving Defence member your MO can refer you to our clinic using the BUPA referral system. This is similar to a Mental Health Care plan but the sessions are fully covered by the ADF. We work as a team with your MO and sometimes your Chain of Command (with your consent) to help you return to wellness; transition out of Defence or address whatever other difficulties you may be experiencing.
Veterans and their families
Veteran's can access our services via a GP referral (D0904 form) and the payment is fully covered by DVA. We try to bulk-bill all veteran families. If you are an immediate family member of a veteran please identify that to us when requesting an appointment and we will be able to let you know if we have a bulk-bill spot available. This enables you up to 10 "Gap-free" sessions per year with a mental health care plan.
First Responders
You may access our services through Medicare or via work cover.
Couples
We love to see couples and help them through their journey whether it is pre-marriage counseling; marriage counseling; parenting support or something else. We use the Gottman Method for working with couples which has a strong evidence base and requires significant training and assessment of the therapist working with you. We understand the emotional, psychological and financial impact of marriage difficulties and want you to have the best possible chance of returning to a happy, cohesive marriage.
That said, we also offer co-parenting support for couples who want an amicable and successful separation. Couples counseling is a private referral and doesn't have a Medicare rebate.
WHAT THERAPIES DO YOU OFFER?
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
A structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients/clients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions, and behavior.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a modified type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Schema Therapy
Schemas are unhelpful patterns that some people develop if their emotional needs aren’t met as a child. These schemas can affect you throughout life and contribute to problematic coping methods and behaviors if they aren’t addressed. Schema therapy aims to teach you how to ensure your emotional needs are met in a healthy way that doesn’t cause distress.
HELP WITH COSTS
A mental health treatment plan lets you claim up back a substantial portion of the fee for up to 20 sessions with a mental health professional each calendar year.
If you have private health insurance you may be able to get some money back through them. You can check with your insurer.
CAN I BOOK AFTER HOURS?
We also offer sessions outside standard office hours to assist clients to attend amidst other commitments. Sessions have been made available before work at 7:30am, after 5:00pm and on Saturdays. Please be aware however these sessions do incur an ‘out of hours’ surcharge of $30, which is applied in addition to the standard session rate.
WHAT IF I CAN'T MAKE MY SESSION?
Any cancellations of appointments more than 24 hours prior to your appointment will not attract any fees.
Cancellations inside 24 hours but more than 4 hours from the time of appointment will attract a charge of 50% of the original fee.
Late cancellations within 4 hours or non-attendance of your scheduled appointment will attract a 100% fee charge.
Please note that no response to an appointment reminder will mean the booking will remain scheduled and you may be charged for non-attendance.
We do offer Telehealth sessions as an alternative should you be too unwell to attend in person.