What to expect

When you make your first appointment you will be sent (either by mail or email) 3 questionnaires for you to complete before your first appointment. These questioniares will include a consent form, a personal details form and a questionaire related to you. Your responses on these questionnaires will be used to understand your problems and develop the best treatment plan for you.

In the first session (and sometimes part of the second) your psychologist focuses on collecting the information they will need to understand any difficulties you have been experiencing, and to help them develop an appropriate and individualised treatment plan.

Your psychologist will ask you about your own goals for treatment and obtain information about any other treatments you have had in the past. Subsequent sessions will focus on helping you to achieve your goals by teaching you the skills you need to learn in order to overcome your problems (see Approach below). A typical appointment is 55 minutes.

All personal information gathered during your psychological treatment will remain confidential and secure except when:

1. It is subpoenaed by a court; or
2. Failure to disclose the information would place you or another person at risk of harm; or
3. Your prior approval has been obtained to provide either a written report or to discuss the information with a third party e.g. a GP, psychiatrist, insurance company, employer, parent or spouse; or

4. If you report that a child or young person is at risk of harm (from yourself or someone else) clinical psychologists are considered “mandatory reporters” and are required by law to report to the NSW Department of Family and Community Services if they suspect (using their professional judgement and training), on reasonable grounds, that a child or young person is at risk of harm (i.e. physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect).

We are committed to providing a professional and effective service to all of our clients. Our approach to therapy involves developing an individualised treatment plan based on the client’s goals and focuses on working collaboratively with the client and other treatment providers (e.g. doctor) to ensure the best possible outcome. Our ultimate goal is to help each of our clients make the changes that will help them live a happier and more fulfilled life.

We only apply therapeutic techniques that have been scientifically validated (i.e. that have been evaluated in well-designed research trials) and that are based on psychological theories that have also been supported by contemporary research. In most cases this involves Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Our psychologists have considerable experience in the delivery of CBT, which is widely considered to be the most effective psychological treatment for a wide range of common problems including depression, anxiety (including panic, social anxiety, excessive worry, and health anxiety), posttraumatic stress, insomnia, relationship problems and coping with chronic health problems (including pain). The effectiveness of CBT has been demonstrated repeatedly in a very large number of research studies conducted in Australia and internationally for several decades.

CBT is based on the idea that the way we think affects how we feel. CBT helps people to become more aware of thought patterns that are unhelpful and that may be contributing to their negative feelings and teaches them to change those thought patterns. CBT also uses techniques that help people to change behaviours that may be contributing to how they feel (e.g. avoiding social activities is common in depression but can contribute to people feeling more depressed by increasing how isolated they feel).

More information about CBT can be found here