Psychologist Adelaide

For the first of our frequently asked questions, we can tell you Attuned Psychology has two locations in Adelaide.

We have a heritage listed building in North Adelaide with a discreet entrance and exit. The building provides a comfortable, relaxing environment with a welcoming and homely waiting room.

Our other location, at Glenelg South, is situated in quiet premises on Brighton Road, away from shops and other commercial enterprises, colocated with Adelaide Night And Day Therapy.

Our consulting rooms feature comfortable chairs and South Australian artwork providing a pleasant atmosphere more like the home of a trusted friend than a medical practice.

You will be sent an email in advance of your initial appointment with lots of information about our practice and what to expect. You will also be asked to complete a personal details form in advance of your session online to ensure we have all the information we need .

If you are attending face to face you will also be sent a one question COVID 19 Declaration form to screen for symptoms and illness. You will be able to find this link in your welcome email but you will also have the opportunity of filling it in when you arrive or answering the question with our staff . Please do not attend our practice in person if you have symptoms and also request a change of your session to telehealth in these circumstances to protect our clients and staff and to reduce community spread of the virus. 

If you are completing your session via Telehealth you will also be asked to complete a consent form on the day of your appointment including details of your location at the time of your appointment, contact details and including a couple of emergency contacts. This is to ensure we have your details in the case of any emergency .

You will have the opportunity to discuss with the practitioner any questions you may have about the forms filled in and about your therapy process at your initial appointment.

It’s easy for you to get fixed in certain ways of thinking, behaving, feeling, performing and relating to others. At Attuned Psychology we provide you with an objective sounding board, support, resources and techniques so you can see your way through these blocks and achieve your desired outcomes.

We also have a neuropsychologist who conducts assessments to support you with evaluating your brain functioning, understanding your strengths and weaknesses and supporting you or your health professionals to understand what is needed to maximise your functioning or improve learning.

If you come individually for therapy, 50 minutes is allocated for an initial consultation for all practitioners with the exception of the Director, Alexandra Frost who provides longer initial consultations of 90 minutes which is her preference.

This initial consultation establish some initial history of your problems,  some goals for your therapy and outline a plan as to what might be possible for subsequent sessions to work towards achieving the goals you set for therapy. 

Subsequent consultations are generally 50 minutes in duration, unless you require more time which may be negotiated in specific circumstances. Alexandra Frost prefers 60 minute sessions for all subsequent consultations for individuals with the exception of couple and family therapy.

If you are coming for relationship counselling or family therapy, both initial and subsequent consultations will usually be up to  80 or 90 minutes (Alexandra Frost)  depending on the practitioner. This ensures that everyone has the opportunity to participate and address the issues fairly.

For child and adolescent therapy, both initial and subsequent consultations will usually be 50 minutes in duration unless there are times where the practitioner believes that a longer session is required to address your needs and request.

Many of our practitioners prefer to have an initial consultation with the parents alone for children  under 14 to ensure a confidential space to hear the parent’s concerns and perspective and to ensure that you may speak freely without the child present while protecting the child at the same time. 

Currently, this parent only session may be claimed under your Private health insurance only . In the future two parent only sessions will be available under a mental health care plan for a child or adolescent under their Mental Health Care Plan but this is not in place as yet. Please discuss this with our staff who will explain the practitioner’s preference and explore your preferences to work out the best practice for the initial consultation.

Subsequent sessions may be conducted with the child/adolescent alone depending on the age of the child and what is essential for the process or may include the parents during the entire session, or at the beginning and/or end of the session.

Every effort will be made to collaborate to accommodate everyone’s needs within the context of our ethical guidelines and limits of confidentiality. 

Most people see a psychologist or therapist for between one to twelve sessions, however this will depend on the complexity and the nature of the issues.

Some clients benefit from longer term regular support where this is beneficial for their presenting concerns. Others may have an initial course of therapy and then come back to us for additional sessions from time to time, seeing us as a trusted source of support whenever they need it. 

Sometimes you may just need a couple of sessions to address a very specific concern. 

For those requiring therapy or coaching for performance you may have a number of sessions leading up to an important performance or exam or see Alexandra Frost on a more regular basis to support you through your career professionally as a creative or executive. 

The psychologist you are seeing will be able to give you a clearer idea once they have developed a good understanding of what you require. This may take one or two sessions.

For those requiring an assessment you will generally be seen on one or two occasions for your assessment and then have a subsequent follow up session where the results and recommendations are discussed. 

To make an appointment, please contact our office phone on 08 8361 7008,  email your enquiry or register for our online booking service. In any of these circumstances we will attempt to contact you by phone within 24 hours and email you some further  information if we can’t reach you. If the office is unattended, please leave a message on the answering machine, we will return your call as soon as possible. Alternatively you can click here to make an appointment.

Appointments are available Monday to Friday during business hours and after hours. Appointments after hours are available on Monday-Thursday evenings, early mornings at 8.30am on some days and with one or two practitioners on Saturdays to ensure that you may access our services at times that are most convenient for you.

We are not a crisis service and provide assessment and therapeutic services during scheduled times, however we do understand that during difficult periods you may require a more urgent appointment to support you. We will do our best to accommodate this if at all possible. Please notify us when you call to make an appointment that you would like to see someone urgently or that you need to see your current practitioner earlier than your scheduled appointment. We will then do our best to book you in at an earlier time to better meet your needs or put you on a waiting list to book you in as soon as we have a cancellation.

In the case of an emergency where you or someone you are with are at immediate risk, please ring 000 or present to your local hospital emergency department. If you feel you need to speak to someone outside of office hours call Mental Health Triage on 131465 who are available 24 hours per day in South Australia. If you are in another state call Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or the Suicide Callback Service on 1300 659 467

A doctor’s referral is not required if you wish to access the service.

Clients wishing to refer through the Medicare’s Better Access to Allied Health Scheme, do require a written referral from their general practitioner, paediatrician or psychiatrist. Please note that if it is referred to Attuned Psychology we can easily move you to another practitioner if this is requested at any point but a referral to a specific practitioner is also appopriate and valid. 

If you have been referred to Attuned Psychology by your GP, you’ll need to have a Mental Health plan and accompanying letter completed at a consultation prior to your first appointment. We will need a copy of this to be able to claim any rebate for that session. Alternatively you may be able to access private cover for your initial consultation if you have not been able to organise a plan yet.

Although we will do our best to remind you that your plan needs renewing, it is your responsibility to also keep track of your sessions under Medicare given there is a limit per calendar year and to know when to refer to your GP to get a rereferral or review completed. We will ensure we report back to the GP as we are required to do so that this referral may be supported. 

Attuned Psychology abides by a strict Code of Ethics and guidelines that are set by law for psychologists regarding confidentiality, ethics, privacy, professional conduct and responsibility to clients.

All information that you disclose to a psychologist is confidential and will not be revealed to any other person without your written permission to do so. The only exceptions to this general rule are when:

• The file is subpoenaed by a court of law
• Failure to disclose information would place you or another person at risk
• The psychologist believes a child or adolescent may be or have been subject to some form of abuse. By law, psychologists are mandated to report this information to the appropriate authorities
• You give written consent for written information to be released to a designated agent

This information is part of the legal requirement to document what happens during sessions and enables the psychologist to provide relevant and informed psychological services. At any stage you may request to see the information keep on file.

All Registered Psychologists are bound by their registration to adhere to these prinicples.

Our non-Psychologist Therapists are bound by the same privacy principles:

• Agreement as members of Attuned Psychology
• By these principles found in law and
• the codes of ethics of their professional associations.

Should you wish to obtain a copy of your confidential case notes a request may be lodged in writing. For further information about your privacy, you may obtain a copy of the National Privacy Principles from the office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

Cash, cheque, Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Diners and EFTPOS payments are accepted.

For online bookings we require you to pay for the consultation to book an appointment given that you will not be coming into the practice.

All telehealth consultations must be paid in advance of the appointment commencing to secure the booking and online bookings paid when you make the appointment (unless just registering your interest).

If you are planning to claim via Private cover you will receive a receipt by email for you to claim with your fund.

Medicare claims will be made online by our staff as soon as the appointment is completed provided we have current paperwork for claiming in place. Medicare rebates are available for those who have a current Mental Health Care Plan and a referral from their GP. The rebate is claimed  online (provided you have provided account details to Medicare) or via our HICAPS machine linked to Medicare after your payment is made in full.  

Private Heath Fund rebates are available utilising the TYRO Eftpos facility for most funds. You will need your private health card and savings card to tap on the TYRO machine and then you will be asked to pay the gap. Please check with your health fund about cover for psychological services. Alternatively we will send you a receipt that you can claim on your app on your phone or online. 

As Registered Psychologists, the services with any of our psychologists qualify for private health insurance or a Medicare rebate, depending on the nature of the issues and the service.

For private health insurance members, the rebate will depend on your insurer and level of health cover. The rebates vary greatly between funds for therapy services so please check with your fund to work out what is possible for you.

If you have been referred with a Mental Health Care plan under Medicare you will be entitled to a rebate. You cannot claim both rebates.

For more information about Medicare rebates click here.

A minimum of 72 hours (excluding Sundays and Public Holidays i.e. 3 Attuned Business Days) is required when cancelling therapy appointments to avoid a charge. The breakdown of charges are as follows:-

• Less than 24 hours notice, 100% of fee
• 24-48 hours notice, 50% of fee
• 48-72 hours notice, 25% of fee

For assessment bookings given the number of hours set aside for an assessment  we ask for more than 14 days notice so that we are able to find someone to fill that time that has been exclusively reserved for you. This notice then allows us to  refund your deposit back which is made at the time of your appointment to secure these hours. 

If you need to cancel a therapy appointment, please notify the office as soon as possible by calling 08 8361 7008.

If the office is unattended, please leave a message on the answering machine, we will return your call as soon as possible. Alternatively you can click here and submit an online enquiry form. Our cancellation policy is in line with the Australian Psychological Society’s guidelines.

Also note that if you or your therapist need to isolate due to Covid-19, other health reasons, or legislative changes, we will seemlessly shift your session to Telehealth (Video or phone) so we can maintain continuity of care and avoid disruption of your treatment goals.

As we have increased demand for our services, it is vital that we receive as much notice as possible to allow us to rebook from our waiting list. Unfortunately, we have had to enforce a Cancellation Policy, (which we provide at initial consult, and again upon request), charging for cancelled and rescheduled appointments that occur with less than 72 hours notice.

Also, please be aware that because we are often fully booked for 3-4 weeks in advance, and as many new and ongoing clients are on a waiting list for appointments, that your next available appointment opportunity may be 2-3 weeks after the cancellation date at least, sometimes longer.

We recommend booking up to 3 appointments in advance to ensure that you maintain continuity of care in the event that illness or other commitments interrupts your treatment process. 

It is important to consider your ongoing treatment needs before making a cancellation.

If you have any difficulty with the cancellation policy, or any related matter, please discuss this immediately with our practice manager or Alexandra Frost, Director.

No. To claim a Medicare rebate with a psychologist or Mental Health Social Worker you must be referred by your general practitioner, psychiatrist or paediatrician.

Your GP will need to complete a detailed mental health assessment and prepare a Mental Health Care Plan and write a referral letter in order to refer you to a psychologist or Accredited Mental Health Social Worker.

Many practices usually ask you to book a longer consultation with your GP to enable time for this assessment and paperwork.

Check with your GP practice as to what is needed by them when planning to return to them for another referral. 

No. You cannot use your private health insurance ancillary cover to top up the Medicare rebates for these services.

You need to decide if you will use Medicare or your private health insurance ancillary cover to pay for psychological services. You can either access rebates from Medicare by following the claiming process or claim where available on your insurer’s ancillary benefits. Speak to your private health fund to find out which option is best for you.

To download a more comprehensive fact sheet about Medicare rebates for psychological services, click here.

Further Information is also available from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing: www.health.gov.au

Psychologists and psychiatrists both work in the area of mental health and often work together to assist people improve their lives.

However; there are significant differences between the two professions in the services they provide, their training and their treatment approach.

Psychologists have extensive University training and experience in the understanding of human behaviour and may have experience focused on various aspects of psychology.

Our psychologists all have postgraduate qualifications and significant experience in mental health, providing them with a thorough understanding of the assessment, treatment and prevention of mental illness and other psychological problems. 

Psychiatrists in contrast have a medical degree and specialist qualifications in psychiatry. Psychiatrists mainly treat people with a mental illness such as schizophrenia, whereas the majority of psychologist clientele are quite healthy people who want to function better in a particular area of their lives. 

Psychologists also treat people with mental health concerns providing scientifically validated psychological treatment that does not include the use of medication.

Psychiatrists are able to prescribe medication and some combine this with other forms of therapy. Psychologists are not able to prescribe medication.