Psychology North Melbourne

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.

You may benefit from seeing a psychologist if you are:

• Struggling to cope or feeling overwhelmed by daily life
• Struggling with the impact of a traumatic experience
• Struggling with low mood
• Experiencing excessive worry or panic attacks
• Finding it hard to get adequate sleep
• Experiencing frequent irritability or anger
• Experiencing feelings of isolation and avoiding social situations
• Struggling to navigate the challenges of parenting and relationships

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

A clinical psychologist is a university-trained professional who is registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Clinical psychologists require eight years of training.

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, 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 required to disclose information to a third party, for example, when someone's safety is at risk, when seeking a supervisor's input to assist with treatment planning, or if a document is subpoenaed. These circumstances are outlined in the Centre for Clinical Psychology Consent Form.

We also adhere to strict protocols around maintaining the security of our data. Please ask for a copy of our Privacy Policy if you require any further details.

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.

During your first session, your psychologist will focus on gaining an understanding of your difficulties and how they may work with you to address them. This will involve an assessment process in which your psychologist will ask a series of questions, and you will have the opportunity to reflect upon your experience.

Your responses will help your clinical psychologist build a clearer picture of your current situation. In addition, you may 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.

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 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.

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

A full outline of our fees is available on our fees page. Click here to find out more.

You are always free to stop seeing your therapist, just as you are free to recommence seeing them at any time.

As a professional, your clinical psychologist will be open to receiving your feedback and will discuss with you any reasons you may have for considering ending therapy. They may also share their thoughts and explain why they may recommend that 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 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 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.

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

Research suggests that for personality disorders, attending twice per week has been associated with improvement (Giesen-Bloo, 2006).

Evidence-based therapy is distinct from counselling in that it employs specific techniques, strategies, and processes designed to assist people in addressing issues and concerns that may be affecting their emotional or mental well-being. These techniques and strategies have undergone scientific evaluation.

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

Read More

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.

Read More

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 central to infant mental health, as infants and young children are heavily reliant upon support from their 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 throughout their lifetime.

From birth, infants have the capacity to communicate their internal states and seek responses from their environment. They are not passive recipients of care but active agents capable of adapting to their environment and influencing those who care for them.

From birth, they are active participants in relationships. The caregiving environment includes family, but also 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 the early years may support infants in developing a foundation for good mental health that extends through 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 aim to support families with young children, whether through evidence-based mental health treatment, support with early parenting concerns, or assistance with parental relationships. We recognise that this support may benefit everyone involved, but particularly the baby.

We serve residents across Melbourne suburbs including:

• Abbotsford
• Brunswick
• Clifton Hill
• Collingwood
• Docklands
• Fitzroy
• Flemington
• Kensington
• Kew
• Northcote
• Parkville
• Princes Hill
• Richmond
• Southbank

And more!