Sydney Psychology and Counselling Service - Frequently Asked Questions

Psychological treatment is proven to be effective with managing many mental health conditions. The most common being depression, anxiety, disruptive behaviour and substance abuse. People may also visit a qualified Sydney psychologist to

APS Psychologists like The Green Room Psychology Service can equip people with needed skills to prevent problems and function better.

A referral is not necessary when making an appointment to see a psychologist however if you do have a regular GP or Psychiatrist it would be helpful if they could write a short letter. If you wish to claim rebates through Medicare Plus you WILL need a referral from your Doctor.

Private Health Insurance:
You can significantly reduce your therapy fees if you have Extras cover with a Private Health Insurance provider. Extras cover allows you to claim back part of your consultation fees. The rebate amount claimed will vary from fund to fund and will depend on your cover.

For a summary of the sort of rebates you can expect please see the table below and click on your relevant fund.

AHM Phone: 134246
AHM Website: www.ahm.com.au

Name of Extras: Select Ancillary	Name of Extras: Super Ancillary
Initial Consultation: $70 Subsequent Consultation: $26 Group Consultation: $13	Initial Consultation: $80 Subsequent Consultation: $30 Group Consultation: $15

Australian Unity Phone: 134246
Website: www.australianunity.com.au

Extras: Comprehensive	Extras: Harmony	Extras: Super
Initial Consultation: $50 Subsequent Consultation: $30 Yearly Limit: $300 per person Yearly Limit: $600 per family	Initial Consultation: $50 Subsequent Consultation: $30 Yearly Limit: $300 per person Yearly Limit: $600 per family	80% of consultation Fee Yearly Limit: $400 per person Yearly Limit: $800 per family

HCF does not rebate Psychology Service Fees at time of publish.

HCF Phone: 131334
HCF Website: www.hcf.com.au

HBA Phone: 131243
HBA Website: www.hba.com.au

Extras: General	Extras: Premier
Initial Consultation: $40 Subsequent Consultation: $35 Group Consultation: $10 Yearly Limit: $400 per person	Initial Consultation: $60 Subsequent Consultation: $45 Group Consultation: $15 Yearly Limit: $400 per person

MBF Phone: 131137
MBF Website: www.mbf.com.au

Extras: Everyday	Extras: Classic	Extras: Premium
Initial Consultation: $40 Subsequent Consultation: $30 Group Consultation: $10 Yearly Limit: $200 per pp with max $350 incl. other therapies	Initial Consultation: $x Subsequent Consultation: $x Group Consultation: $x Yearly Limit: $375 per pp with max $750 incl. other therapies	Initial Consultation: $80 Subsequent Consultation: $70 Group Consultation: $36 Yearly Limit: $375 per pp with max $700 incl. other therapies

Full Psychological Assessment $70-$179.80

Medibank Private Phone: 132331
Medibank Private Website: www.medibank.com.au

Smart Plus & Smart Choice	Extras: Advantage Plus	Extras: Premier Plus
Initial Consultation: $59.70 Subsequent Consultation: $55.70 Yearly Limit: $300 per person, $600 per family	Initial Consultation: $59.70 Subsequent Consultation: $55.70 Yearly Limit: $400 per person, $800 per family	Initial Consultation: $79.60 Subsequent Consultation: $79.20 Yearly Limit: $400 per person, $800 per family

Please call Medibank for more options on their Priority and Super Extras packaging.

NIB Phone: 131463
NIB Website: www.nib.com.au

Extras: Basic & Midlife	Extras: Top Cover & Quality
65% of session fee Yearly Limit: $200 per person	75% of session fee Yearly Limit: $300 per person

No benefits for tests, assessments or couple/group sessions.

Rebates listed may have changed at time of publishing (15/7/2006). The above table is NOT an exhaustive list of all known Health Funds.

For rebates to be payable from some of these funds and for WorkCover purposes, clients may be required to provide the following items: a referral from a General Practitioner to the Green Room Psychology Service; Our provider number for the specific health fund and a stamped receipt from us. Clinical psychology services may also be covered through Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Workplace Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and compensation insurers. To confirm your exact rebate entitlement please contact your Private Health Fund prior to making an appointment.

If you donot have health fund cover and interested in looking for one, or would like to change your Health Fund Provider, the iselect website offers a way for you to compare and shop around for a Private Health Fund.

Before your therapy session begins, we may ask our clients to fill out certain forms to assess your personal situation. We endeavour to firstly understand our clients personal circumstances, difficulties and challenges prior to working out a therapy treatment plan with our clients.

We do our best to cultivate a safe, relaxed and confidential environment when working with our clients. We advocate evidence based principles within our consultations and like to treat clients with compassion and respect in order to yield effective and positive change.

There is really no "typical" therapy session as there are different methods of treatment for different problems. The links below to the APS website will give you an idea of what may be involved in the therapy based on the the problem being treated.

This will vary with each client based on their unique problem area(s) and personal circumstances.

We will generally have an idea after the first couple of sessions as to how long it might take for you to reach the goals set at the first session. Some clients remain in therapy for just a brief time, around five sessions or a little more. Other patients who have had long-standing problems may choose to stay in therapy for many months. Initially, we see clients once a week, unless they are in crisis. Therapy frequency might change to every fortnight on agreement, then once every three weeks. This gradual tapering of sessions allows clients to practice the skills learnt while still in therapy. Booster sessions are recommended three, six and twelve months after therapy has ended.

Many patients notice a decrease in their symptoms within three to four weeks of therapy if they have been diligently attending sessions and applying the treatment techniques discussed in therapy between sessions on a daily basis. We will do our best to assist patients on the road to recovery.

Once we agree on a therapy management plan, its also important that patients continue to prepare for subsequent sessions by evaluating and applying techniques learnt along the way to everyday life. This will be very helpful and can yield lasting results.

We understand that clients are often concerned about their privacy and confidentiality. Any information disclosed to us (including case notes, records, and psychological test results) is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. If there is any need to disclose information from files with another professional (for example a medical doctor, lawyer, pastor or third party billing source), the client will be consulted first and asked to sign a release of information document. There are some legal limitations to confidentiality, however, which your psychologist will discuss with you during your first session.

Psychologists are people who have completed an undergraduate degree in psychology.

Clinical Psychologists further undergo specialist training in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and mental illness. Clinical Psychologists complete all the same basic training as Psychologists but, in addition, complete at least an additional 2 years of full-time university training at Master’s degree level or above in Clinical Psychology. This avails the to further training in more severe psychological problems and comprehensive exposure to several clinical settings. Most receive significant training in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), shown by research to be highly effective in treating a range of psychological conditions.

Clinical Psychologists typically assist people with problems such as: depression, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, social anxiety and phobias, stress and anger management, trauma reactions and PTSD, living with chronic pain, marriage & relationship therapy etc.
They are also involved in designing and implementing a wide range of prevention and mental health promotion programs

Psychiatrists are also trained as medical doctors as well as complete training in psychological problems. As they are medical doctors they have expertise in prescribing medication for the treatment of psychological conditions.

Psychologists tend to focus on teaching people skills to cope with psychological difficulties and resolving the problems that cause psychological conditions. Hence they do not prescribe medication. They do however refer clients to Psychiatrist if they believe medication will help with treatment. Many Clinical Psychologists utilise Evidence Based Therapy (EBT) which involves employing techniques that research has shown to be effective in treating particular problems. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an example of EBT.

Yes, we are a Full Member of the Australian Psychology Society (MAPS)
The APS is the largest professional association for Psychologists in Australia. The APS promotes high quality psychological practices and procedures by setting high standards of professional education and conduct.
You can visit their website www.psychology.org.au for more information.

We are also fully registered with the NSW Board of Psychologists and a member of the Clinical College of Clinical Psychologists.