Frequently Asked Questions

Evidenced based therapy is different from counselling because it involves the use of particular techniques, strategies and processes that are specifically designed to help people deal with the issues and concerns that may be affecting them emotionally or mentally. these techniques and strategies have been evaluated in a scientific manner.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that can develop following traumatic experiences (such as threatened or actual death, serious accident or serious sexual violation).

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Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a cognitive-behavioural treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which was developed in the late 1980s.  It has been shown to be effective in reducing PTSD symptoms related to a variety of traumatic events.

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Perinatal mental health  includes the health and emotional wellbeing of mothers, it should also include the emotional health of infants. Increasingly the emotional health and wellbeing of fathers is also receiving the attention it deserves.

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Increasingly, infancy is being recognised as an extremely important developmental period.  In infancy the foundations for later psychological, emotional and social functioning are formed.  Infant development occurs within the context of relationships with key caregivers.  An infant cannot survive without support from caregivers, ideally their attachment figures.  The quality of the relationships between infants and their key caregivers is of central importance to development and infant mental health.  Relationships and development are interconnected.

Infants are active participants in their world and their relationships:

Infants are born with the capacity to communicate their internal states and seek a response from their environment.  Infants have a capacity to adapt to their environment, they are not just passive recipients of care, but are active agents capable of influencing their environment and caregivers.

Building parents’ confidence:

With this in mind, psychologists trained in infant mental health can support parents to understand the unique capacities and communications of their infant.  Such understanding can enable parents to respond to their baby with greater confidence which can in turn strengthen the parent-infant relationship.

It is in the context of reliable, secure caregiving relationships that infants learn skills for self-regulation, empathy, trust and other pro-social behaviours.  Secure attachment can set infants upon a path towards good mental health in adolescence and into adulthood.

https://www.aaimhi.org/2016_AAIMHI-AUS_IMH-Matters-Infographic.pdf

Many people are uncertain about what a clinical psychologist does and how their role differs from other mental health professionals.

A clinical psychologist is a unversity trained professional who is registered with a national regulatory body, the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency. Clinical psychologists require 8 years of training. they require 4 years of basic university training, a minimum of 2 years post graduate training and then a further 2 years of supervised practice following, via an internship program.

Should it be required we can write psychological reports for instances such as TAC, Work Cover, and court proceedings. These reports are charged separately, and in addition to our psychological consultations.

We all experience and make sense of life in our own unique way. The challenges that life presents can negatively affect a personl’s mental health in a variety of ways.

It can be helpful to see a psychologist if you are:

• Having difficulty coping or feeling overwhelmed
• Troubled by a traumatic experience
• Struggling with low mood
• Worrying excessively or experiencing panic atacks
• Having difficulty sleeping 
• Frequently irritable or angry
• Feeling isolated and avoiding social activities
• Struggling with parenting and relationships

Yes, to practice as a clinical psychologist your therapist must adhere to a strict confidentiality policy in accordance with a professional code of ethics and the Australian Privacy Guidelines. What is disclosed in therapy sessions, as well as any correspondence relating to your sessions, remains confidential, unless you consent to it being shared with someone. We also adhere to strict protocols around maintaining the security of our data. However we may be obligated to disclose information to a third party if someones safety is at risk or a document is subpoenaed. Please ask for a copy of our Privacy Policy if you require any further details.

In the first session, your psychologist will focus on trying to understand your difficulties and how they are best treated. This will involve an assessment process in which you have the opportunity to reflect upon your experience. It will also include a series of questions from the clinical psychologist to help in understanding your current situation. Similarly, you may be aksed to fill out questionnaires.

The clinical psychologist will be seeking to understand what your difficulties are and what kind of therapeutic approaches are best suited to the difficulties you describe. They will discuss what kind of evidence-based therapy is known to work for what you have described to them. Subsequent sessions are usually on a regular bases and become less frequent as your difficulties are resolved.

You always retain the choice regarding how many sessions you need and you are not obliged to attend a minimum number. You are also free to decide the frequency of your counselling sessions, however it is advisable to make these decision in consultations with you clinical psychologist who can discuss with you and make recommendations based on their experience and with an understanding of what the evidence suggests.

If you have a Mental Health Care Plan from your Gp this will entitle you to Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions. If you use all 10 sessions you can continue to see your psychologist at the private fee rates.

We understand that not everyone can come to see us during business hours, this is why our psychologists are available Monday to Friday 9am – 9pm, and Saturday 9am – 5pm.

You can find an outline of our fees on our fees page click here…

You are free to stop seeing your therapist at any time. Just as you are free to start seeing your therapist again at any time.

As a professional, your clinical psychologist will b e open to your feedback and discussing with you why you may wish to end the therapy. They may discuss ideas with you and discuss why they recommend you continue. In an ideal situation this feedback can also become part of the work of therapy and can lead to important progress. We encourage you to have these discussions with your psychologist, rather than just dropping out of therapy.

At the Centre for Clinical Psychology we are also aware of the need for a good fit between you and the psychologist you are seeing. We are willing to assist you with this even if it means transfer to another psychologist or even and external referral. Your care is our priority.

How frequently someone books in with their psychologist differs for each person, and it may change throughout the course of the treatment. Some clients attend twice per week, some once per week, some fortnightly, and some monthly. This will depend on each person’s individual needs and circumstances, but it is also important to consider what the evidence shows is the most likely to lead to the best outcomes.

The  evidence shows that clients who attend more regularly (particularly at the beginning of treatment) have the greatest improvements (Bruijniks et al., 2020; Tiemans et al., 2019). We initially recommend booking 2 sessions per week for the best therapeutic outcomes.

If you are attending for depression, the research shows that twice weekly sessions are more effective than weekly sessions for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT; Bruijniks et al., 2015).

Erekson et al. (2015) reported that for university students attending therapy for adjustment, anxiety, or depression related problems clinically significant gains were achieved faster for those attending weekly sessions compared with fortnightly sessions.

If you are receiving Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma or PTSD, attending twice per week is highly recommended. A study has found that attending CPT sessions more frequently with fewer gaps between each appointment leads to significantly greater PTSD symptom reduction (Gutner et al., 2016). Attending twice per week also allows you to complete the entire 12-sessions of treatment in less than two months. If you cannot attend twice a week, CPT requires at least once a week attendance for best outcomes. 

For Personality disorder sessions twice a week have been associated with improvement    (Giesen-Bloo, 2006).

How many sessions will I need?

The total amount of sessions that someone needs with their psychologist will differ for each client. This can depend on various factors, including what type of issue you are attending for and what therapeutic approach is being used. We recommend discussing this with your psychologist in the first session to get a better idea of how many sessions may be required, but we have also provided some suggestions below as a guide. 

• Depression can often be treated in 12 to 20 sessions (Ijaz et al. 2018), or around 20 sessions (Kazantzis,et.al. 2017)
• Anxiety can often be treated 8 sessions with greater benefit (when treated with CBT) when more than eight sessions are used Hunot, et. al (2007). 
• PTSD and trauma are most often treated in approximately 12 to 20 sessions, but sometimes it can be less than this.
• Personality disorders are best treated with a longer period of treatment, often with treatment occurring across a span of  up to 3 years  (Giesen-Bloo, 2006).

References

Bruijniks, S. J., Bosmans, J., Peeters, F. P., Hollon, S. D., van Oppen, P., van den Boogaard, M., Dingemanse, P., Cuijpers, P., Arntz, A., Franx, G., & Huibers, M. J. (2015). Frequency and change mechanisms of psychotherapy among depressed patients: study protocol for a multicenter randomized trial comparing twice-weekly versus once-weekly sessions of CBT and IPT. BMC psychiatry, 15, 137. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0532-8

Bruijniks, S. J. E., Lemmens, L. H. J. M., Hollon, S. D., Peeters, F. P. M. L., Cuijpers, P., Arntz, A., Dingemanse, P., Willems, L., van Oppen, P., Twisk, J. W. R., van den Boogaard, M., Spijker, J., Bosmans, J., & Huibers, M. J. H. (2020). The effects of once- versus twice-weekly sessions on psychotherapy outcomes in depressed patients. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 216(4), 222–230. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2019.265

Erekson, D. M., Lambert, M. J., & Eggett, D. L. (2015). The relationship between session frequency and psychotherapy outcome in a naturalistic setting. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 83(6), 1097–1107. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039774

Giesen-Bloo, J., van Dyck, R., Spinhoven, P., van Tilburg, W., Dirksen, C., van Asselt, T., Kremers, I., Nadort, M., & Arntz, A. (2006). Outpatient psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder: randomized trial of schema-focused therapy vs transference-focused psychotherapy. Archives of general psychiatry, 63(6), 649–658. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.63.6.649

Gutner, C. A., Suvak, M. K., Sloan, D. M., & Resick, P. A. (2016). Does timing matter? Examining the impact of session timing on outcome. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(12), 1108–1115. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000120

Hunot, V., Churchill, R., Teixeira, V., & Lima, M. S. de. (2007). Psychological therapies for generalised anxiety disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001848.pub4

Ijaz, S., Davies, P., Williams, C. J., Kessler, D., Lewis, G., & Wiles, N. (2018). Psychological therapies for treatment‐resistant depression in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010558.pub2

Kazantzis, N., Dattilio, F. M., & Dobson, K. S. (2017). The therapeutic relationship in cognitive-behavioral therapy: A clinician’s guide (pp. xvi, 288). Guilford Press.

Tiemens, B., Kloos, M., Spijker, J., Ingenhoven, T., Kampman, M., & Hendriks, G. (2019). Lower versus higher frequency of sessions in starting outpatient mental health care and the risk of a chronic course: A naturalistic cohort study. BMC Psychiatry 19, 228. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2214-4