FAQ

I am currently offering services to people 18 years and older, either individuals, couples or dyads. I have experience treating many commonly occurring concerns and mental health issues in addition to my areas of expertise. If I believe that I am not the best practitioner to meet your needs, I will let you know and assist you to connect with a more suitable health professional.

To allow enough time at our first session to discuss what has brought you to therapy, attend to some administrative items and begin a plan for our work together, I offer a slightly longer appointment of 75 minutes.

All subsequent sessions are 50 minutes.

This will largely depend upon the complexity of the issue, however, most people start to see benefits after a few sessions with an average of 6-10 sessions taking place. The frequency of sessions is usually quite fluid and will change over the course of therapy.

Sometimes people require longer term therapy which can be episodic in nature; periodic breaks from treatment taking place allowing time to implement the insights and skills acquired along the way.

I am happy to work with people either in person or via telehealth or a mix of both depending on your preference. There are some issues where Telehealth is not the most beneficial means to providing assistance; if it is my judgement that this is the case I will let you know.

No, you do not need a referral to see a Counsellor or Psychotherapist as Medicare rebates are currently not available for these services. My fees are reflective of this and are comparable with the gap fee charged by the majority of medicare eligible therapists (eg Psychologists or Mental Health Social Workers). 

If you have a health professional that you would like me to liaise with regarding your care please let me know.

In person appointments (Individual): $150 for 75 mins & $130 for 50 mins

In person appointments (Couple/Dyad): $150 for 75 mins, $140 for 50 mins

Telehealth appointments (Individuals only): $150 for 75 mins & $110 for 50 mins

Please note: fees are due at the time of the session and are payable by EFTPOS/Credit Card/Bank Deposit; Telehealth appointments are by bank deposit only.

I appreciate that ‘life happens’ and so have no issue with rescheduling an appointment with sufficient notice. This allows the opportunity for the appointment time to be offered to another person. A non-attendance or cancellation of an appointment with less than 24 hours notice will incur a fee which is payable prior to the next session.

Your attendance at appointments and the content of therapeutic sessions are confidential. There are, however, some instances where confidentiality is not absolute and I am required by law to break confidentiality. These instances are: if I hold concerns that you are at significant risk of harming yourself or someone else, if I believe that a child is at risk or physical/sexual/emotional abuse or if I receive a court order requesting a client file.

My preference is to let a client know if I intend to break confidentiality, however, in some circumstances this is not possible.

Yes, like all health professionals I am bound by the Health Records Act (2001) and the Privacy Act (1988) and so I am required to keep records of all client and supervision work that I do.

You have rights around accessing your records either to view them, request corrections or obtain a copy. More information can be found here.

When a therapist and client begin working together the term ‘therapeutic relationship’ is used. Like all relationships there are expectations by both parties around the others behaviour and it is important that this is overtly clarified when therapy first begins. I commit to working with you in a professional manner at all times which means that casual/social contact is not appropriate and contact outside of sessions will be minimal and usually for administrative tasks. 

I am not able to provide crisis services so if you have an emergency or are in crisis, you are to call 000 or go to the nearest emergency room. Do NOT call me first. I will be available to follow up emergency services with standard counselling and/or to liaise with primary care providers if you require in-patient treatment.

During the course of therapy I regularly ask clients to provide me with feedback about how they feel the work is progressing and if there is anything they are happy or unhappy with. I understand that, for a variety of reasons, some clients do not feel able to provide feedback or make a complaint directly to their therapist and in this instance are able to do so to my registration body The Australian Counselling Association or The Health Complaints Commissioner.