Counselling  
 

The Centre for Psychological & Relationship Counselling was established in 1998.  It  provides a counselling service which offers experience in an extensive array of psychological problems for individuals (adults, adolescents and children), couples and families.  It operates in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and currently has five sites, including Doctors of Northcote.

 Our practice aims to help people in a respectful and meaningful manner. The therapeutic techniques are tailored to the client and their needs, but predominantly we use Cognitive Behavioural techniques that address the impact of a person's thoughts on their feelings and behaviour.

 We can help with:

·        Panic & Anxiety Disorders

·        Depression & Post-Natal Depression

·        Nervous breakdowns

·        Relationship difficulties, family problems

·        Issues related to physical assault, sexual assault, domestic violence and other criminal acts

·        Childhood sexual abuse issues

·        Life crises

·        Stress

·        Post Traumatic Stress problems

·        Pain management

·        Workplace injuries, return to work issues

·        Vocational assessments

·        Sleep problems

·        Eating disorders

·        Assertiveness problems

·        Difficulties with self esteem and self confidence, including Social Phobia & Social Anxiety

·        Grief and loss issues

·        Drug and alcohol problems

·        We provide support to employees of local businesses.         

On November 1st 2006 the Better Access to Mental Health Care scheme became available. Under this scheme people with a GP Mental Health Care Plan can be referred to a psychologist (who is registered with Medicare Australia) for 12 sessions in a calendar year, and the person can claim a rebate for these sessions. All our psychologists are registered with Medicare Australia.

There is a different fee for sessions under this scheme:

  • As a practice we have decided to bulk bill people who have a Health Care Card therefore they will not have any out of pocket expense for the sessions.
  • For people who do not have a Health Care Card the fee varies depending on whether the psychologist is a clinical psychologist or a generally registered psychologist:
    • For clinical psychologists the fee is $140 with a rebate of $117.65 meaning that the out of pocket expense is $22.35.
    • For generally registered psychologists the scheduled fee is $105 with a rebate of $80.20 meaning the out of pocket expense is $24.80.
  • Please check with us as to whether our psychologists are recognised as clinical or generally registered psychologists for the purposes of this scheme.

The information regarding our fees below remains correct for people who do not have a GP Mental Health Care Plan.

This is a private practice. We keep our fees as low as possible to enable us to provide a service to a wide population. Our fee is $105 per session, sessions are 50 minutes long. Clients with the appropriate level of private health insurance may be entitled to a rebate on this fee.

We are providers for a wide range of health insurance funds including:

  • Medibank Private
  • HBA
  • Australian Unity
  • MBF
  • LaTrobe Health Services.

We also provide help for people eligible under the:

  • Victims Referral & Assistance Service
  • Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal
  • Victorian Workcover Authority
  • Transport Accident Commission
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Initiative

Our Psychologists are registered with the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) to provide services for people with an Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) Multidisciplinary Care Plan.

Referral from a General Practitioner is only required for VWA, TAC Department of Veteran’s Affairs clients, under the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Initiative and under the EPC scheme.

 For further information please see our website www.psychcentre.org