Counselling is a confidential and professional service that helps a person become more self-aware and emotionally healthy. Individuals, couples or families may seek help on a range of issues within their personal or work lives. During counselling, you gain a greater understanding of yourself and your behaviours, leading you to a more positive and fulfilled life.

Psychologists are professionally trained to assist clients to deal more effectively with life issues and mental health problems. Counselling psychologists provide a variety of techniques and therapeutic approaches that meet the specific needs and circumstances of clients.

A counsellor is a professionally trained to assist clients to deal more effectively with life issues and mental health problems. They are trained to offer different types of assistance; most frequently talk-based styles of therapy.

Although counselling and psychotherapy overlap considerably, there are also recognised differences. While the work of both Counsellors and Psychotherapists with clients may be of considerable depth and length, the focus of Counselling is more likely to be on specific problems, changes in life adjustments and fostering the client’s wellbeing. Psychotherapy is more concerned with the restructuring of the personality or self and the development of insight.

Yes. Every counselling session is private and confidential. The information shared during your sessions is for the purpose of assessment, diagnosis and treatment and helps us provide you with the best possible support. Confidentiality will be discussed during your first session and an information handout with be provided. As set out in the Psychology Board of Australia’s Code of Ethics, limitations to this confidentiality apply if there is an immediate or specified risk of harm to an identifiable person’s safety, or if a client’s file is subpoenaed by law. Our counsellors adhere to the same Code of Ethics set out by the Psychology Board of Australia.

Yes, you can access a Medicare rebate with some of our practitioners.

You must be referred by your GP, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician. Your referring doctor will complete a detailed mental health assessment and prepare a Mental Health Care Plan before referring you to a psychologist. Once we have this, we will put the Medicare rebate through for you. Medicare Rebates – Your session is paid for in full and the information is then sent to Medicare with the rebate coming back into your account overnight.

Yes, our practice is an NDIS registered provider and can see NDIA, plan managed and self-managed participants.

Yes, we do, however only certain staff members are able to provide these services, therefore it is best to mention this during your initial phone call. Funding for psychological treatment can be approved by The Transport Accident Commission, Workcover and The Department of Veterans Affairs, but like with Medicare Rebates you will need to see your GP to obtain a referral before treatment to ensure funding is approved.

EAP sessions do not require the client to be verbal about their thoughts and feelings. EAP allows the client to try out new behaviours and get feedback from an unbiased source: the horse or small animals (Majority of our work is done with horses). The experiential aspect of Equine Assisted Therapy allows the client to address verbal and non-verbal communication as behaviours and emotions surface during the work with horses. If the client’s behaviour is not working in the relationship with the horse, it is probably not working in other relationships. The outcomes of Equine Assisted Therapy are measured by the insights developed over the course of the therapy.

Horses are large, powerful animals and in the wild, they live in herds with defined roles. Horses function together because cooperating means their survival. Herd leaders create this cooperation and harmony by establishing boundaries based on respect, trust and discipline. Horses are social animals and primarily use non-verbal communication to interact. Each horse brings its own personality to a therapy session, therefore clients may find that an approach they use with one horse many not work for another and this creates an opportunity for clients to reflect and modify their behaviour.

Young people, adults, couples, families, and anyone who would like to develop better verbal and non verbal communication skills. EAP increases confidence, self esteem, general health and well-being. Research has shown EAP can enable people to better manage their experience with Anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders, Relationship and Marriage Difficulties, Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Observation and activities with Horses -The focus is on the process that unfolds through the activity, and this provides opportunities for “real life” or metaphorical learning. The response of the client is a fundamental part of EAP. Through carefully planned activities, clients tend to project their thoughts, beliefs and feelings onto horses. For example: a horse may turn and walk away from a client. This action can be interpreted any number of ways by the client, and it is through this interpretation that the clinical team understand how the client perceives their world. Actively involved in the therapy - EAP is experiential therapy, and the process of learning occurs through engaging in activities with horses and making meaning from experience. The activities promote reflection, analysis and therefore, a client is engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically. Through the process, the client derives meaning to explore and examine their values. The result of the learning is personal. It forms awareness from which future learning can lead to changing attitudes and perceptions that improve well-being. EAP is primarily Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) - SFBT is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on current problems and solutions. The goal of EAP is to not to pathologize but build on client strengths and beliefs, and using horses creates a context in which this can occur. EAP as a Family Systems Theory Approach - Working with horses enables a Family Systems theory approach to be applied as the client becomes part of the herd, and therefore their behaviours for coping and responding to challenges become evident. It is from here that the work begins for the client.

No, anyone can access animal assisted therapy. To receive a government rebate (such as Medicare or funded by TAC, DVA or Work Cover) you will need a referral from your GP and will need to be seen by our counselling psychologist. Clients can also undertake animal assisted therapy if they are private, funded by an organisation such as Anglicare or Berry Street as well as the NDIS.