Do I need a referral?
You do not need a referral to make and attend an appointment. However, without a referral under a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP or Psychiatrist, you will be responsible for paying the full fee for each consultation, without receiving a Medicare rebate.
If you would like to claim a Medicare rebate, please make an appointment to see your GP and ask them to write a referral under a Mental Health Care Plan. To read a factsheet on how the Mental Health Care Plan and Better Access Scheme works click on this link from the Department of Health.
What are your fees?
The Australian Psychological Society recommended hourly fee for psychologists in 2021 is $260. Our standard fee is $200 for the initial meeting of up to 1 hour and then $190 per 50-minute consultations.
If you have a referral or a “mental health care plan” from your General Practitioner (GP) or a Psychiatrist, you can claim the Medicare rebate. Currently, the Medicare rebate is $128.40 per session with a Clinical Psychologist for up to 10 sessions per calendar year. Due to COVID-19, Medicare has approved an additional 10 sessions per calendar year for 2021, which means clients can potentially access up to 20 sessions per calendar year. Therefore with the rebate, your out of pocket expense or “gap payment” for the initial consultation is $71.60 and then $61.60 per subsequent consultations.
How long are the sessions?
Each session goes for approximately 50 minutes, except the first consultation which goes for around 1 hour.
What do I need to bring to my first session?
You should bring a copy of your referral from your Health Professional if you want to claim the Medicare rebate. The referral can be a copy of your existing Mental Health Care Plan if you have one, or a referral letter from your General Practitioner (GP) or Psychiatrist. You need to also bring your Medicare card.
Services we don’t provide
My Healthy Mind Psychology does not provide Psychological reports for court, legal, insurance or Centrelink purposes. We do not work with forensic clients and do not work with clients who require mandated counselling (e.g clients on parole or probation). We do not provide ongoing emergency or crisis management. If you are experiencing an acute crisis and feel you may be at risk of harming yourself, please see the crisis numbers listed on our Contact page. We are not registered to provide Psychological services for Workers Compensation claims, under the NDIS or under the the DVA scheme.
What is the difference between a Clinical Psychologist and a Psychiatrist?
A Clinical Psychologist studies an Undergraduate degree with a major in psychology (the study of human behaviour), an Honours degree, followed by a 2-year Postgraduate Master’s degree specialising in Clinical Psychology. To gain full registration as a Clinical Psychologist, they then undergo a further 2 years of supervised practice to gain full endorsement as a Clinical Psychologist. In total this equates to at least 8 years of training. Clinical Psychologists use “talk therapies” to help people to develop skills to better manage 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 model” treatment of mental illness and prescribe medications as their main form of treatment. Some psychiatrists combine medication with therapy.
Cancellation Policy
Please contact us ASAP if you need to change your appointment time. Cancellations within 24 hours of your appointment may incur a cancellation fee up to the full session fee. Unfortunately cancellation fees are not Medicare claimable.
Do you provide Online Consultations or Phone Consultations?
Yes we provide online therapy using video conferencing as well as phone consultations. The cost for these services are the same as our normal fees listed above.
In November 2017, Medicare introduced a new scheme for Psychologist known as Better Access to Telehealth Services which allows people in rural areas to claim the Medicare rebate for online or phone consultations. For example, people living in Port Stephens, Hunter Valley and rural NSW would qualify. Please visit this site to read more about the scheme and how to be referred. If you want to check whether your address is classified as “rural” for the scheme, click here and type your address in. It needs to be within the “Modified Monash Model regions 4 to 7”, which cover smaller country towns and remote locations.