Psychology Clinic Clifton Hill

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

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

• Having difficulty coping or feeling overwhelmed
• Affected by a traumatic experience
• Struggling with low mood
• Experiencing excessive worry or panic attacks
• Experiencing difficulty sleeping
• Finding yourself frequently irritable or angry
• Withdrawing from social activities and feeling isolated
• Experiencing difficulties with parenting or your relationships

It is common for people to be uncertain about what a clinical psychologist does and how their role differs from other mental health professionals.

Clinical psychologists are university-trained professionals registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, and their training spans a minimum of eight years.

This comprises four years of undergraduate university training, a minimum of two years of postgraduate training, and a further two years of supervised practice through a registrar program.

Yes, clinical psychologists are required to adhere to strict confidentiality policies in accordance with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency's (AHPRA) Code of Conduct and the Australian Privacy Guidelines. All information disclosed in therapy sessions, as well as any correspondence relating to your sessions, remains confidential unless you provide consent for it to be shared.

On rare occasions, a psychologist may be obligated to disclose information to a third party if someone's safety is at risk, they may seek the opinion of a supervisor to assist with treatment planning or if a document is subpoenaed. These details are outlined in the Centre for Clinical Psychology Consent Form.

We maintain strict data security protocols across our practice. If you would like further information, please request a copy of our Privacy Policy.

Should it be required, we can write psychological reports if you are a client undergoing treatment for instances such as TAC, WorkCover, and court proceedings. These reports are charged separately, in addition to our psychological consultations.

In the first session, your psychologist will focus on trying to understand your difficulties and how they can work with you to address them. This will involve an assessment process, where the psychologist will ask a series of questions and you will have the opportunity to reflect upon your experience.

Your responses will assist your clinical psychologist in developing a clearer understanding of your current situation. You may also be asked to complete psychometric questionnaires.

Your clinical psychologist will then discuss appropriate treatment options with you, including the types of evidence-based therapy that may be suited to the concerns you have described. Subsequent sessions are generally scheduled on a regular basis and typically become less frequent as your difficulties are resolved.

The number of sessions you attend is always your choice, and you are not required to commit to a minimum number. You are also free to decide how frequently you attend; however, it is recommended that these decisions be made in consultation with your clinical psychologist, who can offer guidance based on their experience and the available evidence.

If you hold a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you will be entitled to Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions. Should you utilise all 10 sessions, you may continue to see your psychologist at private fee rates.

We understand that not everyone can come to see us during business hours. This is why our professional psychologists offer a number of 6pm appointments and we are also open Saturday, 9am to 5pm.

We also offer telehealth services for those who are working from home and have some flexibility to attend a session within their working hours.

Details of our fees can be found on our fees page. Click here to view a full outline.

You may choose to stop seeing your therapist at any time, and you are equally free to resume sessions whenever you feel ready.

As a professional, your clinical psychologist will be open to your feedback and discuss with you why you may wish to end the therapy. They may discuss ideas with you and discuss why they recommend you continue.

In many cases, this kind of feedback can become a valuable part of the therapeutic process and may lead to meaningful progress. We encourage you to raise these concerns with your psychologist, rather than discontinuing therapy without discussion.

At the Centre for Clinical Psychology, we recognise the importance of a good therapeutic fit between you and your psychologist. We are happy to assist you in finding the right match, even if this means arranging a transfer to another psychologist or providing an external referral. Your care is always our priority.

The frequency with which someone attends psychology sessions varies from person to person and may change throughout the course of treatment. Some clients attend twice per week, others once per week, fortnightly, or 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.

Available evidence indicates that clients who attend more regularly, particularly in the early stages of treatment, tend to experience the greatest improvements (Bruijniks et al., 2020; Tiemens et al., 2019). We therefore initially recommend booking two sessions per week to support the best possible 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.

For those receiving Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma or PTSD, attending twice per week is strongly recommended. Research has found that attending CPT sessions more frequently, with fewer gaps between appointments, may be associated with 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 the best outcomes.

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

Evidence-based therapy differs from counselling in that it draws upon specific techniques, strategies, and processes designed to assist people in addressing issues and concerns that may be affecting them emotionally or mentally. These techniques and strategies have been scientifically evaluated.

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

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Perinatal mental health covers the health and emotional well-being of parents with infants up to one or three years of age, as well as the emotional well-being of infants. There is also a growing recognition of the importance of fathers' emotional health and well-being, which is increasingly receiving the attention it deserves.

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Infant mental health is concerned with the well-being of infants from birth through to three years of age. Those working in infant mental health are interested in understanding the social and emotional worlds of infants, including their ability to form close and secure relationships and their capacity to experience, express, and regulate their emotions.

Infant mental health practitioners are also interested in the infant's ability to relate to the world with curiosity and thus explore and learn.

Relationships sit at the heart of infant mental health, given that infants and young children are heavily dependent upon the support of their caregivers. The quality of these relationships and the care received may shape the infant's capacity for relating, learning, behaviour, and emotional well-being across a lifetime.

Infants are born with an innate capacity to communicate their internal states and seek responses from their environment. They are not passive recipients of care; rather, they are active agents capable of adapting to and influencing their environment and caregivers.

From birth, infants are active participants in their relationships. The caregiving environment extends beyond the immediate family to encompass community and culture.

Infant mental health matters because the window of opportunity is both powerful and finite. The first 1,000 days represent the most rapid period of brain growth in a person's lifetime.

When infant mental health is nurtured, children are more likely to develop resilience, empathy, and the capacity to form healthy relationships. When it is disrupted by trauma, neglect, parental stress, or inconsistent caregiving, the effects can be long-lasting, increasing the risk of anxiety, developmental delays, and difficulties in school and relationships.

Secure attachment in infancy may set children on a path towards positive mental health in adolescence and into adulthood.

Insights from infant mental health may assist parents in understanding the unique ways in which their babies and infants communicate. This understanding may enable parents to respond to their baby with greater confidence, which may in turn strengthen the relationship between parents and their baby.

The team at the Centre for Clinical Psychology is committed to supporting families with young children, whether this involves mental health treatment, guidance with early parenting concerns, or support with parental relationships. We understand that this support may benefit the whole family, and particularly the baby.

We serve residents across Melbourne suburbs including:

• Psychologist Abbotsford
• Psychologist Brunswick
• Psychologist Collingwood
• Psychologist Docklands
• Psychologist Fitzroy
• Psychologist Flemington
• Psychologist Kensington
• Psychologist Kew
• Psychologist North Melbourne
• Psychologist Northcote
• Psychologist Parkville
• Psychologist Princes Hill
• Psychologist Richmond
• Psychologist Southbank

And more!