Frequently Asked Questions
You may have some questions as you look towards finding mental health support for yourself, or a patient. Find the answers to frequently asked questions about our practice below. If your question is not answered here, please contact us.
Referrals & Appointments
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You do not need a referral to see a psychologist privately. You do, however, need a doctor’s referral or Mental Health Care Plan if you wish to claim rebates from Medicare.
Please send through your referral via email at info@lifegrowthpsychology.com.au or ask your GP to fax it to us directly.
Please contact our intake team on 03 9068 5037 to discuss a possible appointment. They are skilled to walk you through what you need and answer any other questions you may have.
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A MHCP or mental healthcare plan is a type of referral written by a doctor that entitles a patient to Medicare rebates on psychology sessions. A MHCP allows patients’ to access 6 psychological therapy sessions subsidised by Medicare. After a patient has used these sessions, they can then visit their GP to obtain a MHCP Review, allowing them to access an additional 4 subsidised sessions. After the patient has finished their 10th session, they can then visit their GP again to obtain an additional referral for a further 10 subsidised psychological therapy sessions. Patients are entitled to receive a total of up to 20 subsidised sessions in a calendar year.
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An individual consultation is approximately 50 minutes in duration
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Yes. We offer after-hours appointments. An after-hours appointment is considered any appointment that commences on or after 4:00pm. There is an additional after-hours fee that applies. Please discuss this at your intake or initial consultation.
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Yes. We offer both face-to-face services as well as Telehealth. Phone calls can also be an option if you prefer, just let our admin team know and this can be arranged for your appointment.
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Yes we absolutely do. Please discuss this at your intake or initial consultation.
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Please be mindful to keep contact, via both phone and email, focused only on scheduling/rescheduling appointments or other administrative needs. If we receive an email or text message from you of personal nature, we will not respond, as we do not believe writing is a therapeutic way of communicating with your Psychologist. As well, we cannot ensure these platforms of communication are confidential. Instead, we recommend organising an appointment with your Psychologist at your earliest convenience to discuss in detail your concerns or ideas.
Fees, Rebates, & Cancellations
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The cost of sessions depends on a number of factors. Please discuss the fees and rebates when you arrange your appointment with us. Generally, fees are set by individual practitioners and will vary according to the services provided.
A referral is not needed in order to book an appointment with our psychologist. However, a referral is required to receive rebates for your session fees through Medicare. A valid referral letter and Mental Health Care Plan will be required from your GP.
If you are choosing to make a claim via your private health extras fund, a referral is not necessary.
1) If you are a Medicare cardholder, you are entitled to receive a rebate of $141.85, which will aid in covering payment for up to 10 individual sessions per calendar year (Jan 1 2024 to Dec 31 2024).
2) Payment for your session fees may be covered by your Private Health Extras Cover and rebates, depending on your level of cover.
3) Clients are unable to receive a rebate from both Medicare and their Private Health cover in a single session.
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You are able to pay via electronic bank transfer (EFT) or opt for us to process your payment via credit/debit card with our secure online payment system, Halaxy. There is a card processing fee that applies to all card payments. It is a requirement when engaging our services to enter your credit card details into our secure online system when you complete your intake form.
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We process the Medicare rebate on behalf of you after the session has ended. You should receive the rebate within 1-3 business days into your nominated bank account.
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No, we do not bulk bill. We are a fee-for-service practice, and therefore gap fees apply.
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By booking an appointment with Life Growth Psychology, you are agreeing to our cancellation policy. The act of booking an appointment with our service means that you agree to this policy in full. Please read this policy carefully. You do not have to agree to this policy, however we will be unable to provide you with the service without your agreement.
Life Growth Psychology provides quality care to all who engage with our practice. Therapy is a commitment that you and your psychologist make together. This requires consistency and engagement. Frequent cancelling and rescheduling is disruptive to your treatment and may result in poorer therapeutic outcomes. Your appointments are scheduled in such a way to reflect your needs/ goals and frequency required to meet them. Your clinician commits to your therapy as much as we ask for you to commit. It is important to prioritise your therapy and attend your sessions.
We understand that sometimes there are reasons for cancelling/rescheduling appointments. However, unlike brief medical appointments, it is often impracticable to fill a psychology appointment that runs for 50 minutes at short notice. If this happens, please contact us as soon as possible, as we require a minimum of 48 hours’ (2 business days) notice in order to organise someone else on our waiting list to take your appointment.
A late cancelled appointment is a loss to three people:
1) The client who is delaying their therapy progress.
2) Another client who has been on the waiting list to see the psychologist urgently.
3) The psychologist who has committed their time, schedule and preparation for sessions.
Life Growth Psychology operates a strict 48 hour cancellation policy for all appointments booked through our practice. This means that fees apply when an appointment is cancelled/rescheduled with less than 2 full business days’ notice*. Cancellations/reschedules made with less than 48 hours (2 business days) notice of the scheduled appointment time will incur the full consultation (100%) fee.
*Classification of Business days
Business days are classed as Monday to Friday. For example, if your appointment is on Tuesday at 3pm, you will have to cancel on Friday before 3pm, to avoid a fee. Saturday, Sunday and Public holidays are not classed as Business days for cancellations/reschedules as our scheduling admin department is closed, which does not allow any time to fill Monday and Tuesday cancellations.
Failure to give a minimum of 48 hours’ (2 business days’) notice of a cancellation, reschedule, or non-attendance for the appointment will result in you being billed (via credit card or EFT) for your full consultation fee of the designated time slot. Cancellation fees will need to be paid before a new session booking can be made. Please note that Medicare, Private Health Insurance, and 3rd party payers (i.e. Workcover, TAC) do not provide rebates for cancelled or unattended appointments.
Waivers for Cancellation
Waivers for cancellation fees may be considered for emergencies on a case-by-case basis only, and at the discretion of the practitioner. It must be with supporting evidence. Please keep in mind that cancellations/reschedules which are regular and frequent may not be waived.
Please note the following examples which are not considered “emergencies” under this policy:
Work meetings or changes to work rosters
Medical non-emergency
School, sports or extracurricular event
Family activity/holiday/event
Forgetting an appointment
Going on a holiday
Changes to the availability of a babysitter or child care service
Being too busy
Although we accept that such events may be beyond your control and can be genuine reasons for late cancellation, we still require that you take personal responsibility for your personal circumstances and a cancellation fee would still apply.
Session Reminders
Please note that while we endeavour to remind you of your appointments through SMS and or email reminders, these should not be relied upon and it is your responsibility to keep track of any appointments you have made. However, this is a courtesy service only and should we experience staff shortages or technical difficulties this will not occur. As such, it remains your responsibility to attend the session and the absence of an SMS/email reminder will not lead to cancellation fees being waived.
Cancellation FAQs
How to cancel or reschedule an appointment?
You can contact us by phone to leave a voice message. Alternatively, you can email us or send us an SMS. There are multiple options for you to notify us and the responsibility rests on you to ensure contact is made. If you are intending to reschedule an existing appointment, please provide us with suitable dates/time-slots that you would like to be rescheduled to. We endeavour to do our best to find a suitable match to your preferred slot.
What happens if a cancellation fee is not paid promptly?
If an outstanding cancellation fee is not paid promptly on the scheduled therapy day, we will be unable to continue providing you with the service. We also reserve the right to take any further reasonable action necessary to recover any unpaid fees and to bill you for any reasonable additional costs incurred in taking such action. Please note that there will be an administrative fee of $20 for all late payments.
Life Growth Psychology reserves the right to reschedule appointments at any time, without compensation, if it is deemed necessary due to unforeseen circumstances.
Zero Tolerance for Abuse
Another friendly reminder, to treat our team with courtesy, politeness and kindness. We will not tolerate any abuse and threats over our cancellation policy. Please keep all your communications with us respectful.
Thank you for taking the time to review this policy. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Session Outcomes
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Initially, we recommend weekly attendance for at least the first 6 sessions, so you gain momentum in achieving your therapeutic goals. From then on, your psychologist can assess how you are going and make a recommendation about the frequency in which you should attend therapy. Each person's treatment is tailored to their individual presentation, and your psychologist will discuss this with you in your sessions.
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A psychologist will first create a safe and welcoming space. The therapeutic relationship is of utmost importance. A psychologist will seek to connect with you, and try and understand the nature of your problems. A therapist has many roles, some of which is to guide, ask questions, and make observations. While the psychologist will ask questions about you and your life, this is done so with sensitivity and compassion.
The psychologist will collate information learnt about you and reflect back to you their understanding of your difficulties to seek clarification and to ensure that you agree with their interpretations. The process is collaborative. A psychologist will then offer a treatment plan for improving your psychological and emotional wellbeing and life circumstances, which will include forming some goals together to achieve good therapeutic outcomes.
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This depends on the challenges and level of difficulty you are facing in your current life circumstances. However, most people say they start to notice a difference after a few sessions, finding that speaking to someone who understands, offers compassion, is attuned and comforting provides relief to their suffering. Showing improvements in mood and coping with difficulties depends on several factors including: your motivation for change, how much insight and understanding you hold of yourself, the supports around you, your belief and hope that therapy works, how willing you are to open up in therapy, and how regularly you commit to attending sessions.
NDIS/Workcover/TAC
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If you are self-managed, you are able to claim back your payments from the NDIS after paying for your sessions privately with us. You cannot claim through Medicare and NDIS at the same time.
If you are plan managed, please let your NDIS support coordinator or Plan Management Provider know to contact us with your plan details and we will liaise with them to organise your sessions for you.
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We are currently not accepting Worksafe referrals.
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We are currently not accepting TAC referrals.
Legal and/or Support Letters
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No, we do not provide legal assessments or court reports. When you engage our services, we ask that you disclose any upcoming or current legal proceedings. Our psychologist’s reserve the right to discontinue therapy with you if you have purposely held back sharing this information.
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Support letters and reports may be provided at your psychologists' discretion, and are charged at the standard clinical APS fee. There is no Medicare rebate for letters and reports.
Please note that letters and reports cannot be provided at short notice. Therefore, please advice your clinician as soon as possible if you require a report.
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