Each counselling session goes for approximately one hour. Many people often feel anxious when they first attend counselling. The psychologist has the skills to help you feel comfortable to share your concerns and issues. The first session tends to be focused on identifying and understanding the issues that have brought you to counselling.
The psychologist and yourself can then start to work out treatment goals and a treatment plan. Your psychologist has the extensive experience to provide you with an individualised evidence-based treatment and is trained in dealing with a wide range of psychological and emotional difficulties.
The psychologist’s knowledge will guide the process by offering you strategic interventions, techniques, and effective ways of bringing about positive changes so you may achieve your goals and feel better overall. As you move through this process, you may notice a lowering of psychological defences, increased self-esteem, improved mood states, a sense of returning to your old self, a more balanced lifestyle, a return to better health, less emotional flooding, more motivation, an improvement in your relationships, better focus at work, more positive attitudes, an improvement in your concentration and memory, and so on.
Your psychologist will focus on best practice treatment strategies that have been clinically proven to help people achieve their goals and aspirations. Most treatment plans will incorporate a Solution-Focused and Client-Centered Approach. What exactly does that mean? It means that your psychologist works with you to explore your strengths. It means that they believe you know yourself best, and they empower you to make your own decisions. They will not over focus on your problems, but rather on ways that they can help you solve them.
Modern counselling approaches also include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness or Interpersonal Psychotherapy, which are all well known to be equally effective as medication for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Most forms of depression or anxiety respond well to counselling, especially for individuals that can recall significant periods when there were no symptoms.
Your psychologist will provide you with a range of strategies that aim to reduce distress and to enhance and promote emotional wellbeing.
Counselling Rebates
You can receive a Medicare rebate if your GP/Psychiatrist has provided you with a “Mental Health Treatment Plan” and a referral to see a psychologist prior to your first counselling session.
Under the government approved Better Access initiative, eligible clients are entitled to a rebate through Medicare for a maximum of 10 counselling sessions for psychological treatment per calendar year.
