Psychology Clinic Princes Hill

Everyone experiences and interprets life in their own unique way, and the challenges that life presents may affect a person's mental health in a variety of ways.

Seeing a psychologist may be worthwhile if you are:

• Finding it difficult to cope or feeling overwhelmed
• Troubled by a traumatic experience
• Struggling with low mood
• Worrying excessively or experiencing panic attacks
• Experiencing difficulty sleeping
• Struggling with frequent feelings of irritability or anger
• Experiencing feelings of isolation and avoiding social situations
• 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.

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, as part of their professional obligations, clinical psychologists 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 discussed in therapy sessions, along with any related correspondence, remains confidential unless you consent to it being 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 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.

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 your first session, your psychologist will aim to develop an understanding of your difficulties and explore how they may work with you to address them. This process will involve an assessment, during which your psychologist will ask a series of questions and you will have the opportunity to reflect on 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 your GP has provided you with a Mental Health Care Plan, this will entitle you to Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions. Once all 10 sessions have been used, you may continue to attend at our 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 provide telehealth appointments for those who work from home and have the flexibility to see a psychologist 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 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.

The appropriate frequency will depend on each person's individual needs and circumstances, though it is equally important to consider what the available evidence suggests may lead to the most favourable outcomes.

The evidence suggests that clients who attend more frequently, especially at the beginning of treatment, tend to experience the most significant improvements (Bruijniks et al., 2020; Tiemens et al., 2019). For this reason, we initially recommend attending two sessions per week to support 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).

According to Erekson et al. (2015), university students attending therapy for adjustment, anxiety, or depression-related difficulties achieved clinically significant gains at a faster rate when 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 means you may be able to complete all 12 sessions of treatment in under two months. If twice-weekly attendance is not possible, CPT requires a minimum of once-weekly attendance to support the best possible outcomes.

For personality disorder sessions twice a week have 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 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 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 to three years of age. Practitioners in this field are interested in understanding the social and emotional worlds of infants, including their ability to form close and secure relationships, as well as 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 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.

Infants are born with the capacity to communicate their internal states and seek a response from their environment. Infants have the capacity to adapt to their environment; they are not passive recipients of care but active agents capable of 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 and supported, children are more likely to develop resilience, empathy, and the capacity to form healthy relationships. Disruptions to infant mental health, such as trauma, neglect, parental stress, or inconsistent caregiving, may have long-lasting effects, including an increased 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.

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:

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

And more!