Counselling Services in Neutral Bay

If you would like to claim for Medicare rebates YES you will need a doctor’s referral.

If you would like to claim for Private Health rebates NO you do not need a referral.

If you are not seeking claims for rebates NO you do not need a referral.

If you are seeking services through Victim Services NO referral is required however you will need to provide a Victims of Crime reference number for your approved hours.

Life is not always straightforward, and we understand that sometimes plans change.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you need to reschedule or cancel your appointment. 

Please read our Cancellation Policy for further information and before making changes to booked appointments.

Counselling generally tends to be short to medium term therapeutic interventions that focus on applying focused psychological strategies to reduce occurrence of mental health issues.

Focused psychological strategies include: Interpersonal Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Skills Training, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness, Narrative Therapy and EMDR.

Psychotherapy is typically medium to long term therapeutic interventions that involves the strengthening of a secure and safe therapeutic relationship to allow for deeper exploration and understanding of experiences and their impacts identity and relationships with others and your environment.   

Psychotherapy models include Internal Family Systems (Parts), Gestalt, Jungian, Psychodynamic, Existentialism, Eriksonian and Adlerian.

Psychotherapy models enable elements of counselling strategies to be practiced throughout the therapeutic process.  

The time limitations within counselling do not typically allow for psychotherapy models to be applied.

Both Psychotherapy and Counselling can support individuals, couples and families.

Psychologists have completed university qualifications in Psychology which are focused primarily on mental and emotional health, including diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions. Psychologists can assess, diagnose and treat mental health conditions.  Psychologists are accredited and regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

Accredited Mental Health Social Workers (AMHSW) have completed university qualifications in Social Work which are focused on a wholistic approach encompassing social, mental and emotional well-being, addressing both psychological factors and external stressors and social determinants of health.  AMHSW can provide assessment, intervention and treatment for mental health conditions.  AMHSW are accredited and regulated by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Both Clinical Psychologists and AMHSW use evidence-based psychological frameworks and can complete Mental Health assessments and diagnostic screening can diagnose mental illness can refer you to a relevant specialist for formal diagnosis following assessment can be registered for rebates from Medicare, Private Health, Work Cover and NDIS.

Most Psychologists are accredited to administer formal Developmental and Functioning assessments for diagnosis.

Some AMHSW may be accredited to administer formal Cognitive and Functioning assessments for diagnosis.

Neither Clinical Psychologists nor AMHSW can prescribe medication.

Fees vary depending on the service provided, please contact us to discuss your needs and learn about fees. Counselling and Psychotherapy Services for individuals are claimable through Medicare and Private Health Fund however out of pocket expenses vary. It is recommended you contact your referrer or provider to determine eligibility and rebate entitlement. Contact us for more information.

Counselling and Psychotherapy sessions are typically known as a 50 minute hour. The hour (60 minutes) is divided into 50 minutes of time with your therapist and the remaining 10 minutes used by the therapist to complete professional administrative tasks as a relevant and standardised.

For new clients the first session is recommended to be booked for 1.5 hours (90 minutes) to allow for introductions, sharing purpose for seeking therapy and information about the therapeutic process. The 90 minutes is typically split into 75 minutes of time with your therapist and the remaining 15 minutes used by the therapist to complete professional tasks as relevant.

The frequency of sessions (e.g. bi-weekly, weekly, fortnightly, monthly etc) is determined by your needs and in discussion with your therapist. Frequency is regularly reviewed and is open to changing over time where needed.

Duration of therapy is similarly determined by your needs and in discussion with your therapist. Some clients may continue with weekly sessions for over a year. For others it may be that they dip in and out of therapy for much longer coming for a few months and having a break before returning for another period of support. Similarly, others may progress from weekly to monthly sessions and continue therapy for many years following.

Essentially frequency is determined by you, your needs and in discussion with your therapist and always open to review and change as required.

There are three (3) modality options for attending therapy.  You can choose to attend in-person, online (via telehealth) or on the phone.  Our recommendation is to attend in-person however, each modality has its benefits and aims to support increased accessibility for attending sessions.

Therapy is constantly reviewed to seek understanding of what is working well and what might need to change to ensure your needs, expectations and goals are being fulfilled.

It is your choice to attend sessions the same way each time or to mix it up by using a hybrid of modalities.  Changes to the modality by which you attend sessions can be pre-planned in discussion with your therapist or may happen on the day of your appointment due to unexpected circumstances.

Dr Herbie is available for all in-person appointments; however it is not an expectation that he be present.  If you are uncomfortable about meeting or having Dr Herbie present during your appointment for any reason, please let us know before your appointment time so we can work with you to plan how to best meet your needs. 

At My Place Counselling and Psychotherapy is not a crisis service and only operates during certain trading hours as listed at the end of this page.

If this is an Emergency or you are seeking crisis support please refer to our Resources List for specific contact numbers and appropriate help.

If your question has not been answered by the FAQs, please get in touch through the online form. We will respond as soon as possible.