FAQ

If your child is struggling with a difficult emotion that feels overwhelming or presenting with a difficult behaviour they cannot control, or simply needs a safe space to help them work through a difficult situation – then they can benefit from seeing a psychologist.

As psychologists our job is to provide you or your child with a safe, empathetic space to better understand emotions and their causes, to build better-coping skills and to improve quality of life.

Before your first session, you should receive an email with a registration form to complete. If a Mental Health Care Plan is in place then please bring this to your first session along with your Medicare card. If your child has an NDIS plan, please bring details of the plan to the first session.

We can see clients with or without a Mental Health Care Plan. The benefit of getting a Mental Health Care Plan is that Medicare will provide a partial refund of the cost of each session for up to 10 sessions each calendar year.

Under a Mental Health Care Plan, Medicare will provide a partial refund of the cost of each session. The initial plan will cover 6 sessions. After 6 sessions you need to check in with your GP to provide a review. This review will cover a further 4 sessions. A maximum of 10 sessions will be covered by Medicare in a calendar year.

Yes – we can help children with NDIS funding as long as they are either plan managed or self-managed. Our admin team is experienced in liaising with case managers and plan managers to make the process smooth and comfortable for you.

The first session allows the psychologist to gather the information they need to create an accurate treatment plan.

For children, the psychologist will generally check in with the parents first to gather any background information, then spend time getting to know the child and helping them to feel comfortable with the process. At the end of the session, they will discuss with the parents what they would like to do moving forward.

With teenagers the psychologist will usually talk to them first to get to know them and what they are struggling with. As teenagers are entitled to confidentiality parents will usually have more limited involvement, however, with the teenagers’ permission, the psychologist will inform the parent of their treatment plan.

Depending on what your child is struggling with, medication can be a helpful addition to the therapy process. However, this is something that you can discuss with your psychologist in more detail and get advise for from your GP, pediatrician or psychiatrist.

We will always endeavour to provide you with an appointment as soon as possible. If there is a waiting period before the next available appointment, we will always place you on a waitlist and let you know if any cancellations come up. If your appointment is urgent please let our admin staff know.

Our psychologists value any information that you can provide that will help them to better understand your child and create their treatment plan. You can email this information through to info@umbrellalane.com.au