Counselling
There is an art and science to counselling.
A psychologist will refer to science (evidence-based research and theories) to select the appropriate solutions and strategies for your problem. But to be an effective therapist, a psychologist will also utilise art (creative application of these techniques and strategies) to adapt the science to you.
You have your own unique set of characteristics, and your treatment plan needs to be tailored to you. The treatment plan may incorporate strategies from more than one approach depending on the nature of your concerns and goals. The focus will be on understanding your situation, and coming up with practical strategies that are evidence-based and focused on outcomes.
Counselling can help with:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Grief and loss
- Low self-esteem
- Emotion regulation
- Life transitions and adjustment to change eg. entering parenthood
- Communication difficulties
- Building healthier relationships
- Navigating cultural, gender and other diverse identities
What to Expect
First session
Number of sessions
This will depend on your goal for treatment. Therapy is a collaborative process between you and the psychologist, but your psychologist will guide you on the frequency and number of sessions required, and provide feedback on your progress.
Some individuals require a few sessions, while others are in therapy for a number of years. Typically, frequent attendance to therapy will lead to better outcomes sooner (eg. weekly or fortnightly sessions). The ultimate goal of therapy is to develop skills and strategies so that you can self-manage your problem and no longer need to attend therapy.
Length of sessions: 50 minutes
Fees
At Mind Lift Psychology, we believe in providing an affordable service. The current Australian Psychological Society (APS) and Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi) recommended fee is $300 per hour. A full APS Fee Schedule can be found here. A full APPi Fee Schedule can be found here.
Registerested Psychologist
Individual Psychological Therapy session:
$220
Medicare rebate: $93.35
– (out of pocket: $126.65)
Provisional Psychologist
Individual Psychological Therapy session:
$130
Couples Counselling
Initial session (including assessment):
$300
Subsequent session:
$250
Medicare rebate
To be eligible to receive psychological services under Medicare, you must be referred by your GP under a Mental Health Treatment Plan. Speak to your GP about your eligibility to claim these Medicare benefits.
For more information on Mental Health Treatment Plans, click here.
Private Health
We do accept private health. Unfortunately, we are unable to let you know how much your private health will cover. We recommend checking your coverage and eligibility with your private health fund to confirm if rebates apply to psychological services.
Cancellation Policy
When appointments are booked, the psychologist holds the whole hour especially for you. Therefore we require 24 hours notice with the following cancellation policy in place. This allows us to offer the allocated time to another person who may be on a waiting list for that appointment.
$220 fee for cancellation with less than 24 hours notice.
Full fee for an appointment that has been missed with no notice (non-attendance).
We understand that sometimes you may not be able to attend an appointment because of sudden illness or an unexpected personal emergency. If this happens to you, please contact us as soon as possible to explain the situation. You may call or email us at any time, even after hours, as we do have an answering service that allows you to leave a message and monitor our emails daily on business days.
The APS recommended cancellation fees are:
- 0-24 hours notice: Full fee
- 24-48 hours notice: 50% of fee
- 48 hours – 7 days notice: 25% of fee