COMMON QUESTIONS

Do psychologists prescribe medication?

 

Psychologist can not prescribe medication. If during your therapy or assessment you wish to pursue medication you will need to make an appointment with a paediatrician or psychiatrist to discuss pros and cons of medication.

 

Can I contact my therapist between sessions?

 

It is common for clients (or parents/caregivers) to want to contact their therapist between sessions for a variety of reasons, including (but not limited to): scheduling, requesting support letters, providing updates, and seeking advice/support. Based on clinic boundaries and capacity, we have outlined how best to manage/communicate these common requests:

 

I need to reschedule my appointment

 

 You will receive a reminder text for your appointment, to which you can respond 'no' immediately or call our client care team to reschedule. If you are cancelling/rescheduling an appointment with less than 48 business hours notice, you will need to contact our client care team. Please be aware that if the cancellation is within 48 hours you will be changed a cancellation fee as per our counellation policy.

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I need a support letter for school/university/work

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You can make this request directly during a session or via email, however your therapist cannot provide a letter unless and until you have had an appointment to discuss it; They will need to speak to you/your young person about the request to:

• ensure it is appropriate for them to provide a letter

• check they have all the information they need

• confirm with you/your young person exactly what information they have consent to share.

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Please be aware that your therapist  require at least 2 weeks notice to provide a letter of support, and cannot provide letters to clients who are not currently engaged in therapy (i.e. past/discharged clients). 

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Our therapists want to help their clients as best as they can, and that means dedicating the necessary time and thought to writing a letter that is not only supportive, but also meets ethical, legal, and professional standards.

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I want to give you an update about me/my partner/my young person

 

Any emails you send will not be read or responded to by your therapist until our next appointment; our client care team will upload any correspondence to your file. Email is not recommended to convey sensitive information as it is not confidential.  Also see below "Can I communicate with my young partner/person’s therapist without them knowing?".

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I need support

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If you need non-emergency support (i.e. there are no risk concerns), you can:

• call to schedule an earlier appointment

• call/email our client services team and ask to be put on your therapists's cancellation list in case an earlier appointment becomes available

• check if your workplace has an employee assistance program you can access

• contact your school wellbeing team

• consider documenting any events and your thoughts and feelings, and bringing any notes to your next appointment. 

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I need urgent support

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As therapist's in private practice we cannot provide crisis/emergency support. If you are in need of immediate help, please reach out to an emergency service or helpline such as:

 

 Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800

Qlife - 1800 184 527

MensLine 1300 78 99 78 

Sexual Assault Crisis Line 1800 806 292

Family Violence 1800 015 188

Lifeline 13 11 14

Suicide Line 1300 651 251 

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732

13 YARN (support for First Nations people) 13 92 76

 

Why can't my therapist give support via email/between sessions?

 

There are several reasons your therapist cannot provide support via email/between sessions, including (but not limited to):

• A great deal of time is needed to read, reflect and respond sensitively. On work days they spend the majority of their time in sessions with clients, writing notes, corresponding with other health professionals, and preparing for sessions. This leaves little to no time to monitor (let alone respond to) emails; hence one of the many reasons for our wonderful client care team.

• Written communication is prone to misinterpretation.

• Emails do not include sufficient information/context for our therapists to provide support; they= will not be able to assess the mental state of the writer, nor will they have the information required to give appropriate psychological support.

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Can I communicate with my partner/young person’s therapist without them knowing?

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Sometimes partners/parents want to give out therapists information, but don’t want their partner or young person to know the information has been shared. This often comes up when partners/parents aren’t sure how to talk to the person about something or are worried it will lead to an argument.

 

While this is understandable, receiving information in this way prevents the therapist from being able to act on or use this information in therapy with your partner/young person. It can also undermine the trust between you and your partner/young person, and your partner/young person and me.

 

Your therapist can help you to discuss the issue/information openly with your partner/young person in a therapy session. They can scaffold the discussion to support you and your partner/young person, and offer ideas and suggestions for how you might resolve the issue or move forwards. 

 

While it may sound daunting, this can give you and your partner/young person a more positive experience of having a tough conversation; bringing these discussions to therapy can actually strengthen your relationship.

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I’m worried my young person isn’t telling their therapist everything that’s going on - what do I do?

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There may be things going on for your young person that are really difficult to talk about, even with their therapist. Your young person may also be worried that if they do talk about these things in therapy, it will become the only focus and they won’t get to talk about other things that are important. If you’re not sure if your young person has raised an issue in therapy, your therapist will recommend starting by (gently) asking them, e.g. “I know you really don’t like talking about X with me, and I was wondering if it’s something you have felt able to tell your therapist?”. 

 

If your young person says no, it’s important to stay calm and not push them. For example, you might respond “Ok thanks for letting me know. I’m not trying to pressure you, and I wanted to check if there’s anything I can do to help if you do decide to talk to your therapist about it? I really care about you and you deserve to have someone to talk to”. Sometimes even just agreeing to let your therapist know there is something they’re not ready to talk about can be helpful, as your therapist can also validate this and demonstrate that they will go at your young person’s pace.

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