Psychologist Kensington

We all navigate and make sense of life differently. The challenges that life presents may have a negative impact on a person's mental health in a number of ways.

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

• Struggling to cope or feeling overwhelmed by daily life
• Affected by a traumatic experience
• Experiencing persistent low mood
• Struggling with excessive worry or recurring panic attacks
• Struggling with disrupted or poor sleep
• Frequently irritable or angry
• Withdrawing from social activities and feeling isolated
• Finding parenting or relationships challenging

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 university-educated professional who is registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and is required to complete eight years of training.

Their training includes four years of undergraduate university study, a minimum of two years of postgraduate training, and a further two years of supervised practice through a registrar program.

Yes, to practice as a clinical psychologist, your therapist must adhere to strict confidentiality policies in accordance with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency's (AHPRA) Code of Conduct, 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.

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 also follow strict protocols to maintain the security of all client data. Please request a copy of our Privacy Policy if you require further information.

Where required, our clinical psychologists are able to prepare psychological reports for clients undergoing treatment for matters such as TAC, WorkCover, and court proceedings. Please note that these reports are charged separately, in addition to our psychological consultations.

Your first session will focus on your psychologist gaining an understanding of your difficulties and how they may best support you in addressing them. This will involve an assessment process in which a series of questions will be asked, 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 treatment options with you, including what kind of evidence-based therapy is known to work for what you have described to them. Subsequent sessions are usually on a regular basis and typically become less frequent as your difficulties are resolved.

You always retain the choice regarding how many sessions you have, 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 decisions in consultation with your clinical psychologist, who can discuss with you and make recommendations based on their experience and with an understanding of what the evidence suggests.

A Mental Health Care Plan from your GP will entitle you to Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions. If you use all 10 sessions, you are welcome to continue seeing your psychologist at our private fee rates.

We recognise that not everyone is able to attend appointments during regular business hours. To accommodate this, our psychologists offer a number of 6pm appointments, and we are also open on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm.

We also provide telehealth services if people are working from home and have some flexibility to see a psychologist within their working hours.

For a complete overview of our fees, please visit our fees page. Click here for details.

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 trained professional, your clinical psychologist will welcome your feedback and discuss with you any reasons you may have for wishing to end therapy. They may also share their perspective and explain why they may recommend continuing.

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 understand that the relationship between you and your psychologist is important. We are committed to helping you find the right fit, even if this requires transferring you to another psychologist or arranging an external referral. Your care remains our priority.

How frequently someone works with their psychologist varies from person to person and may change over the course of 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.

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) found that among university students attending therapy for adjustment, anxiety, or depression-related concerns, those who attended weekly sessions achieved clinically significant gains more quickly than those attending fortnightly.

For clients receiving Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma or PTSD, attending twice per week is highly recommended. Research has indicated that more frequent attendance with fewer gaps between CPT sessions 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 clients attending for personality disorders, twice-weekly sessions have been associated with positive improvement (Giesen-Bloo, 2006).

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

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health concern that may arise following traumatic experiences, including threatened or actual death, a serious accident, or serious sexual violation.

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Perinatal mental health refers to 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 themselves. Increasingly, the emotional health and well-being of fathers is also receiving the attention it deserves.

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Infant mental health is concerned with the well-being of infants from birth to three years of age. Infant mental health practitioners are interested in understanding the social and emotional worlds of infants, specifically their ability to form close and secure relationships, as well as the infant's ability to experience, express and regulate their emotions.

Practitioners in this field are also interested in the infant's capacity to engage with the world with curiosity, and in doing so, to explore and learn.

Relationships are at the centre of infant mental health. This is because the infant and child are heavily reliant upon support from caregivers. The quality of these relationships and the experience of receiving care may shape the infant's capacity for relating, learning, behaviour and emotional health, 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 actively participate in their relationships, and the caregiving environment that shapes their development includes not only family, but also community and culture.

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

Nurturing infant mental health may support children in developing resilience, empathy, and the capacity to form healthy relationships. When infant mental health is disrupted by trauma, neglect, parental stress, or inconsistent caregiving, the effects may be long-lasting, potentially 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.

An understanding of infant mental health may help parents appreciate the unique communicative capacities of their babies and infants. This knowledge may enable parents to respond with greater confidence, potentially strengthening the relationship between parents and their baby.

At the Centre for Clinical Psychology, we are dedicated to supporting families with young children, offering assistance with mental health concerns, early parenting challenges, and parental relationships. We recognise that this support may be of benefit to everyone in the family, and most importantly, to the baby.

We serve residents across Melbourne suburbs including:

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

And more!