FAQs
Seeing a psychologist can feel like stepping out of your comfort zone.
We get it and we’re here to give you the information you need.
Take a look through our FAQs.
Telehealth (Online Counselling)
Click here to find common questions about Telehealth therapy.
Fees, Medicare and Private Health Insurance
Our fees vary from approximately $220 to $320 depending on the therapist. If you have a Mental Health Treatment Plan from a GP, you are eligible for Medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions per year. These rebates range from approximately $90 to $150, depending on the therapist.
Medicare
If you have a referral from a GP or a psychiatrist for a Mental Health Treatment Plan you will be eligible to receive a Medicare rebate of $149.05 (for a clinical psychologist) and $101.55 (for a general psychologist) per individual session for up to 10 sessions per calendar year.
After we have processed your payment we can process your rebate for you via our online system. Medicare advises us that these funds will appear in your bank account within 2-3 business days.
Private Health Insurance
If you have private health insurance that includes psychological counselling as extras cover you may be eligible for a partial rebate. It is recommended that you contact your individual insurance provider for further information about your individual coverage.
You will need to make an appointment with your GP who will assess whether you are eligible for a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
Click here for more answers to common questions about Medicare rebates for therapy.
No, you do not need a referral. You can make an appointment with our psychologists without a referral from your GP or a psychiatrist. If you decide to do this you will need to pay the full amount for your sessions out of your own pocket.
If would like to see whether you are eligible for referral under a Mental Health Treatment Plan you will need to speak with your GP or a psychiatrist prior to making your first appointment.
No, we don’t see clients through third parties unfortunately.
No, we don’t see clients solely for the purposes of assessment and we also do not do court reports.
We’ve written a blog post about this question, which you can read here.
No. Unfortunately Medicare does not cover sessions for couples, only individuals. If you have private health insurance, it’s worth checking with your provider to see if they offer any form of rebate for couples therapy.
For a more detailed overview of how Medicare rebates work, take a look at our FAQ guide.
Read the guideWhat to expect when seeing a psychologist
After making your first appointment you will be sent an introductory email confirming your appointment date and time. This will also outline information about fees and rebates, and details about the location of Inner Melbourne Clinical Psychology. If you have a Mental Health Treatment Plan you will need to bring along this paperwork to your first appointment.
At the beginning of your first session your psychologist will briefly run through important paperwork with you. This will include completing a form with basic personal information (such as your name, date of birth, address and contact details) and a consent form that cover issues such as confidentiality, fees and other important information about sessions. If you have been referred by a GP or psychiatrist, we will discuss the details of your Mental Health Treatment Plan at this point.
After completing paperwork the remainder of the session is usually spent discussing the issues that have brought you into therapy. As well as developing a thorough understanding of your concerns, your psychologist will explore relevant background history, for example, information about your family, social relationships, work history and any past counselling that you have done. Based on this information we will begin to help you to understand more about what might be triggering and maintaining your current issues. If time allows we will also work with you to develop a collaborative and flexible plan for future therapy sessions.
Sessions at Inner Melbourne Clinical Psychology are approximately 50 minutes.
Every person has a different journey through therapy. This is largely dependent on the nature of why they are coming in and what it is that they are hoping to get out of sessions.
At Inner Melbourne Clinical Psychology we tailor therapy to suit each of our client’s needs and preferences.
Some people come to therapy to develop coping strategies to reduce or manage symptoms of mental illness. This type of work can be short to medium term, but might also involve checking in less frequently over the longer-term to deal with setbacks or prevent relapse.
Other people come to therapy to understand long-standing patterns (such as relationship issues) that stem from experiences during their childhood, or to receive ongoing support. This type of work tends to happen over an extended period of time, although again, this is dependent on client preferences.
Sometimes people come to therapy for a one off session or just a handful of sessions to speak about a specific issue in their life or to talk through a particular concern.
All information that you disclose in your session with a psychologist is confidential. There are three exceptions to this rule. The first exception is if you are at risk of harm to yourself or someone else. The second exception is if we learn about harm to a child or an older person. The third exception is in relation to court orders. If any of these situations become relevant your psychologist will discuss this with you.
You can book an appointment via phone or our online booking form here.
Whichever way you book, our friendly Support Team will ask you briefly about:
- Some brief information about what’s bringing you in. This helps us to ensure we’re matching you with a psychologist who is experienced in the area you’re seeking assistance with. If there is nobody on our team who is suitable we will provide you with some external recommendations.
- Details like your date of birth and contact information.
- Whether you have a Medicare referral and the details of your GP.
- Any preferences you have around a specific psychologist on our team, location, days or times you’d like to be seen
Once we have found a psychologist who seems like a good fit for you, we will send you a welcome email. This email outlines your appointment time, date and location, as well as a few other useful bits and pieces, like how to find us and what to bring to your first appointment. You will also be sent an SMS reminder 72 hours before your first appointment.
Finding the right psychologist
At Inner Melbourne Clinical Psychology each of our psychologists understands and genuinely values the importance of finding someone you click with. We won’t be offended or defensive if you decide that you would like to try another psychologist. We think these discussions are important and pride ourselves on being open to feedback about the way we work.
If it doesn’t feel like the right match you can speak directly with the psychologist about how you feel and they can make suggestions in terms of who might be a better match (within our practice or at an external practice).
We also understand that sometimes those discussions feel confronting or uncomfortable, so if you don’t want to speak with the psychologist you’ve seen you can instead chat with our Director, Dr Jacqueline Baulch. Jacqueline is a clinical psychologist herself and makes it a priority to ensure that all clients find a psychologist they feel comfortable and confident with.
To read more about how to find the right psychologist for you visit our blog post by clicking here.
Our highly skilled Support Team has an in-depth knowledge of our Melbourne psychologists and couples counsellors’ strengths and therapeutic approaches. They have been trained to make sure that you are paired with a psychologist or couples counsellor that suits your needs.
When matching you with a psychologist or couples counsellor, they take into account:
- Your preferred location, times and days of the week
- Key areas you’re wanting help with
- Our team’s experience, training and treatment modalities
We know that seeking help isn’t always easy and we’re happy to guide you through the process to make it as smooth as possible.
When chatting to or emailing with our Support Team some things you might like to discuss with us include:
- A run-down of which team members have expertise in the areas you are wanting help with
- If there any particular therapeutic approaches, such as Mindfulness or Dialectical Behaviour Therapy that you want your therapist to be experienced with
- If there any therapeutic approaches that don’t resonate with you and you would like to stay away from in sessions
- Gender preferences
- If you’ve seen a psychologist or counsellor before we can help you to nut out what worked well, and what didn’t work so well, so we can use this information to help with matching
- Whether you find particular personality types clash with your personality. For example, you might feel you gel best with people who are gentle, or perhaps you find it helpful to have someone be more direct with you
- Your general availability (days and times) and preference for location
- Any general questions you have about seeing a psychologist, such as what to expect in the first session, fees and Medicare rebates
All of our psychologists are LGBTQIA+ affirmative, but if you would like to work with someone who also has specific training and experience in working with these communities, please let us know and we will make sure you’re matched with someone suitable. When a psychologist has specific training and experience with LGBTQIA+ clients this will also be noted in their bio.
Yes, we have psychologists who speak Serbian and Croatian. If a psychologists speaks a language other than English this will be noted in their bio.
Information about our clinic operations
Our Kensington clinic is not wheelchair accessible. There are 4-5 steps at our entrance and 2-3 steps to access our toilet. We have a gender neutral toilet, which is not wheelchair accessible.
Our CBD clinic is not wheelchair accessible. Our waiting room is on the ground floor and our consulting rooms are accessed via a flight of stairs. We have a gender neutral toilet, which is not wheelchair accessible.
At our Fitzroy North location the consulting rooms are on the second level and only accessible by stairs. We have a gender neutral toilet, which is not wheelchair accessible.
We have detailed information about directions, public transport and parking for each of our locations here.
General questions about psychologists
Psychologists are health professionals who work in a range of areas including clinical, health, neuropsychology, sports, forensic, organisational and community settings. To become a fully registered psychologist you must undertake an undergraduate degree, an Honours degree and and at least two years of practical, supervised experience as a provisional psychologist which may also include postgraduate university education in the field of psychology (either a Masters, Doctorate or PhD degree). All psychologists at Inner Melbourne Clinical Psychology are fully registered psychologists. To check the registrations status of any of our team members visit the Australian Health Practitioner Website here.
Psychologists assist people with everyday concerns such as stress and relationship difficulties, as well as mental health issues. Psychologists use “talk therapies” to help people to develop skills to cope with difficulties and to prevent on-going issues. There are a large number of research studies supporting the effectiveness of psychological therapy.
Psychiatrists have completed a medical degree and further training and study related to the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Psychiatrists specialise in the medical treatment of mental illness and can prescribe medication. Some psychiatrists combine medication with therapy.
Counsellors can come from a broad range of training and backgrounds. Currently in Australia the term “counsellor” is not protected. This means that anyone can refer to themselves as a counsellor. Having said this many counsellors have undertaken training and education in educational settings, ranging from a Diploma up to a Masters degree. An organisation called the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) has also been set up to protect the standards and ethical training of the counselling profession.
To become a fully registered psychologist you must undertake an undergraduate degree, an Honours degree and and at least two years of practical, supervised experience as a provisional psychologist which may also include postgraduate university education in the field of psychology (either a Masters, Doctorate or PhD degree). All psychologists at Inner Melbourne Clinical Psychology are fully registered psychologists. To check the registrations status of any of our team members visit the Australian Health Practitioner Website here. You can also read more about each of our psychologist’s university qualifications and workplace experience on our Meet the Team page here.
Accredited mental health social workers have completed a masters degree in social work, followed by at least two years of supervised clinical experience in a mental health specific social work role. They then go on to complete a thorough accreditation process. Only after successful completion of this accreditation process, can a social worker be known as an accredited mental health social worker (AMHSW) and be able to register to provide services through Medicare. Like psychologists, accredited mental health social workers have ongoing professional development requirements, to ensure their skills are up-to-date.
Eating disorder support through Medicare FAQs
With an Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plan, within a 12 month period you may be eligible for:
- Up to 40 sessions with a mental health clinician, such as a psychologist or accredited mental health social worker
- Up to 20 sessions with a dietitian
An Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plan is a Medicare plan developed with your GP.
It allows access to extended, coordinated care for eating disorders, often involving a small team of clinicians such as a GP, psychologist and dietitian.
Your GP will assess whether you meet the criteria for an eating disorder plan.
You do not need to have everything figured out before your appointment. The GP will help determine whether this type of support is appropriate for you.
Yes. Medicare funding is designed to support care across a team. This often includes both a mental health clinician and a dietitian, as well as GP involvement to monitor physical health.
The first step is booking a longer appointment with your GP.
They will:
- Talk through what has been happening
- Assess your physical and mental health
- Determine whether an Eating Disorder Plan is appropriate
- Provide referrals to relevant clinicians
While sessions are not always evenly spaced, having access to up to 40 therapy sessions means that at times, support may be more frequent, including more than once per week if clinically appropriate.
It is very common to feel unsure. You can speak with a GP or psychologist to explore what is going on and what support options may be available.
Yes. Ongoing GP involvement is an important part of eating disorder care. This helps ensure both physical and psychological wellbeing are monitored over time.
If you would like a more detailed explanation of how eating disorder support through Medicare works, including what support can look like and how care is structured, you can read our full guide here.
Mental health waiting period exemption FAQs
The mental health waiting period exemption is a once in a lifetime provision available through private health insurers in Australia.
It may allow eligible people to upgrade their hospital cover to include inpatient psychiatric treatment without serving the usual waiting period.
You may be eligible if:
- You have held private hospital cover for at least two continuous months
- Your current policy does not include inpatient psychiatric treatment
- You are upgrading an existing hospital policy
The exemption does not apply if you are taking out hospital cover for the first time.
The mental health waiting period exemption can generally only be used once in a person’s lifetime.
You need to contact your private health insurer and request to use the mental health waiting period exemption when upgrading your cover.
Timing varies depending on your insurer and the hospital.
Possibly. Excess payments, co payments or other costs may apply depending on your policy.
Often, yes. Coverage depends on the insurer and the specific program.
If you’d like a more detailed explanation, you can read our full guide here.
