Psychology Kew

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.

Seeing a psychologist may be worthwhile 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
• Finding it hard to get adequate sleep
• Finding yourself frequently irritable or angry
• Feeling isolated and avoiding social activities
• Finding parenting or relationships challenging

Many people are unclear about the role of a clinical psychologist and how it 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.

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

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

There are rare occasions on which a psychologist may be obligated to disclose information to a third party, including when someone's safety is at risk, when seeking supervisory guidance to assist with treatment planning, or when a document is subpoenaed. Full 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.

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.

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 talk through treatment options with you, including evidence-based therapeutic approaches that may be appropriate for the difficulties you have described. Sessions that follow are typically scheduled on a regular basis and generally become less frequent as your concerns are resolved.

You always have the choice regarding how many sessions you attend, and there is no obligation to commit to a minimum number. You are also free to determine the frequency of your counselling sessions; however, it is advisable to make these decisions in consultation with your clinical psychologist, who can provide recommendations based on their experience and 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 may continue to see your psychologist at the private fee rates.

We understand that attending appointments during standard business hours is not always possible. For this reason, our psychologists offer a number of 6pm appointments, and our clinic is also open on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm.

Our telehealth services are also available for those working from home who have some flexibility to attend a psychology session during their working hours.

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

You are under no obligation to continue seeing your therapist, and you are always welcome to return to therapy at any time.

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 an ideal situation, this feedback can also become part of the therapeutic work and may 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 transferring to another psychologist or even an external referral. Your care is 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 individual's needs and circumstances; however, it is also important to take into account what the evidence suggests is 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; Tiemens et al., 2019). We initially recommend booking two sessions per week for the best therapeutic outcomes.

For those attending for depression, research indicates that twice-weekly sessions may produce better outcomes 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 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 enables you to complete the full 12 sessions of treatment in under two months. Should twice-weekly attendance not be possible, attending at least once per week is required to support the best possible outcomes with CPT.

For those attending for personality disorders, twice-weekly sessions 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 encompasses the health and emotional well-being of parents with infants up to one or three years of age, and also includes the emotional well-being of infants. The emotional health and well-being of fathers is increasingly receiving the recognition and 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.

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 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.

The significance of infant mental health lies in the fact that the window of opportunity is both powerful and finite. The first 1,000 days of a child's life represent the most rapid period of brain growth they will ever experience.

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.

The development of secure attachment may help set infants on a path towards good mental health as they progress through adolescence and into adulthood.

Insights from infant mental health may help parents understand the unique capacities of their babies' and infants' communication. Such 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:

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

And more!