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
Couples Counselling
Couples counselling using the Gottman Method, can help couples address a wide range of issues. Here’s are some common issues that couples counselling can assist with:
- Communication problems: Therapy can improve communication skills and promote constructive dialogue between partners.
- Conflict resolution: Couples therapy offers tools and techniques to navigate conflicts and find mutually satisfactory resolutions.
- Intimacy issues: Therapy helps couples rebuild intimacy and strengthen their emotional connection.
- Infidelity: Couples therapy provides a supportive environment for processing emotions and rebuilding trust after infidelity.
- Trust issues: Therapy helps couples address trust issues and rebuild a foundation of trustworthiness.
- Parenting conflicts: Couples therapy assists in navigating parenting challenges and developing effective co-parenting strategies.
- Financial stress: Therapy supports couples in communicating openly about finances and managing money effectively.
- Blended family issues: Therapy helps blended families navigate challenges such as parenting roles and relationships with ex-partners.
- Emotional disconnect: Couples therapy aids in reconnecting emotionally and rediscovering shared interests.
- Life transitions: Therapy provides support as couples navigate major life changes together.
- Cultural differences: Couples therapy helps partners explore and celebrate their cultural differences while finding common ground.
- Lack of boundaries: Therapy assists couples in setting boundaries and creating a more balanced dynamic in their relationship.
Overall, couples counselling can provide a supportive environment for couples to address challenges, strengthen their relationship, and build a more fulfilling partnership.
Couples Therapy Process
Assessment Phase
Session 1 – Joint session with both partners – intake session
Session 2 – Individual appointment with partner 1
Session 3 – Individual appointment with partner 2
Session 4 – Joint session with both partners – feedback session
*Fees for the first session also include a comprehensive Gottman screening questionnaire. This is completed via Gottmanconnect.com and you will be sent a link to this once your first appointment is confirmed. This questionnaire is essential to providing an optimal assessment and treatment plan for you both.
Treatment Phase
Session 5 to 10 typically would be the core treatment phase; however, the number of appointments may vary depending on your needs as a couple.
A treatment plan is tailored to each couple based on your overall goals and specific circumstances.
Some couples may benefit from one session every week; others engaging in monthly therapy could be better suited.
Double sessions (110 minutes) are also available and are an efficient way to expedite the therapeutic process for some couples.
Integration Phase
Integration is an important component in couples counselling as it emphasises relapse prevention. These sessions are usually consolidating your learnings as a couple so that you can confidently move forward into the next phase of your relationship.
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
(in business hours, 9AM-5PM mONDAY-FRIDAY)
$230
Medicare rebate: $96.65
– (out of pocket: $133.35)
individual psychological therapy session
(outside business hours and sATURDAY)
$250
Medicare rebate: $96.65
– (out of pocket: $153.35)
Provisional Psychologist
Individual Psychological Therapy session
(in business hours, 9AM-5PM mONDAY-FRIDAY)
$130
Provisional Psychologist
Individual Psychological Therapy session
(outside business hours and saturday)
$150
Couples Counselling
couples session:
$260
Gottman assessment:
$60
registered counsellor
Individual counselling Therapy session
(in business hours, 9AM-5PM mONDAY-FRIDAY)
$165
Private Health Provider
(eligible for rebate)
registered counsellor
Individual counsellor Therapy session
(outside business hours and saturday)
$185
Private Health Provider
(eligible for rebate)
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.
$230 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