Frequently Asked Questions

If you would like to claim for Medicare rebates YES you will need a doctor’s referral.

If you would like to claim for Private Health rebates NO you do not need a referral.

If you are not seeking claims for rebates NO you do not need a referral.
If you are a seeking services through NDIS or Victim Services NO referral is required however you will need to provide  relevant details and reference number.

Dr Herbie is available for all in person appointments, however it is not a requirement that he be there.  If you are uncomfortable about meeting him for any reason, please let us know before your appointment and we will work with you to identify the best option to meet your needs. 

Counselling generally tends to be short to medium term therapeutic interventions that focus on applying focused psychological strategies to reduce occurrence of mental health issues.

Focused psychological strategies include: Interpersonal Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Skills Training, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness, Narrative Therapy and EMDR.

Psychotherapy is typically medium to long term therapeutic interventions that involves the strengthening of a secure and safe therapeutic relationship to allow for deeper exploration and understanding of experiences and their impacts identity and relationships with others and your environment.   

Psychotherapy models include Internal Family Systems (Parts), Gestalt, Jungian, Psychodynamic, Existentialism, Eriksonian and Adlerian.

Psychotherapy models enable elements of counselling strategies to be practiced throughout the therapeutic process.  

The time limitations within counselling do not typically allow for psychotherapy models to be applied.

Both Psychotherapy and Counselling can support individuals, couples and families.

Psychologists have completed university qualifications in Psychology which are focused primarily on mental and emotional health, including diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions. Psychologists can assess, diagnose and treat mental health conditions.  Psychologists are accredited and regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

Accredited Mental Health Social Workers (AMHSW) have completed university qualifications in Social Work which are focused on a wholistic approach encompassing social, mental and emotional well-being, addressing both psychological factors and external stressors and social determinants of health.  AMHSW can provide assessment, intervention and treatment for mental health conditions.  AMHSW are accredited and regulated by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Both Psychologists and AMHSW 

• use evidence-based frameworks and can complete Mental Health assessments and diagnostic screening
• can refer you to a relevant specialist for formal diagnosis following assessment
• can be registered for rebates from Medicare, Private Health and NDIS

Most Psychologists are accredited to administer formal Developmental and 

Functioning assessments for diagnosis.

Some AMHSW may be accredited to administer formal Cognitive and Functioning assessments for diagnosis.

Neither Psychologists nor AMHSW can prescribe medication.

There are three (3) modality options for attending therapy.  You can choose to attend in-person, online (via telehealth) or on the phone.  Although the first preference is to attend in-person each modality has its benefits and aims to support increased accessibility for attending sessions.

Therapy is constantly reviewed to seek understanding of what is working well and what might need to change to ensure your needs, expectations and goals are being fulfilled.

It is your choice to attend sessions the same way each time or to mix it up by using different modalities.  Changes to the modality by which you attend sessions can be pre-planned in discussion with your therapist or may happen on the day of your appointment due to unexpected circumstances.

Fees vary depending on the service provided

Personal Growth Services:

$250 per hour

• Medicare, Private Health and NDIS out of pocket expenses vary.  It is recommended you contact your referrer or provider to determine eligibility and rebate entitlement.

Professional Growth Services:

Individual Clinical Supervision $185 (+gst) per hour

Group Supervision $100 (+gst) per person for 2 hours

• Groups have a minimum of 4 and maximum of 5 members

Leadership Development $230 (+gst)

Team Training and Workshops please contact us via our Discover More form or call us directly to discuss

Counselling and Psychotherapy sessions are typically booked for 1 hour (60 minutes).  The 60 minutes is divided into 45 minutes of time with your therapist and the remaining 15 minutes used by the therapist to complete professional tasks as relevant (e.g. notes, referrals, reports, sharing digital resources with you etc).

For new clients the first session is recommended to be booked for 1.5 hours (90 minutes) to allow for introductions, sharing purpose for seeking therapy and information about the therapeutic process. The 90 minutes is divided into 70 minutes of time with your therapist and the remaining 20 minutes used by the therapist to complete professional tasks as relevant (e.g. notes, referrals, reports, sharing digital resources with you etc).

The frequency of sessions (e.g. bi-weekly, weekly, fortnightly, monthly etc) is determined by your needs and in discussion with your therapist.  Frequency is regularly reviewed and is open to changing over time where needed.

Duration of therapy is similarly determined by your needs and in discussion with your therapist.  Some clients may continue with weekly sessions for over a year.  For others it may be that they dip in and out of therapy for much longer coming for a few months and having a break before returning for another period of support.  Similarly, others may progress from weekly to monthly sessions and continue therapy for many years following.

Essentially frequency is determined by you, your needs and in discussion with your therapist and always open to review and change as required.

Life is not always straight forward, and we understand sometimes plans change.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment. There is no cost for cancellation or rescheduling more than 2 business days before your appointment.  Changes requested with less than 2 business days notice before your appointment may incur a cost.

If your question has not been answered by the FAQs please ask us through our Discover More form and we will respond as soon as possible.