Very broadly, psychology is the study and understanding of the way that people behave, think, and how they feel, and considers the impact of people’s personal history, current situation, and also the impact of their biology. A psychologist is trained and skilled in the assessment and psychological treatment of mental health difficulties, emotional and behavioural problems, and psychological disorders.
At Foresight Psychology, all our psychologists have completed at least 6 years of tertiary education in the area of psychology, the brain, and human behaviour, and have specialised postgraduate training in psychological assessment, diagnosis and evidence-based psychological treatment.
A clinical psychologist is a psychologist who is an expert in mental health, having undertaken highly specialised training in the assessment, diagnosis, formulation, and psychological treatment of mental health, behavioural, and emotional disorders across the lifespan, ranging from mild to severe and complex conditions.
Education and training of clinical psychologists takes at least 8 years.
A clinical psychology registrar is a psychologist who has completed at least 6 years of tertiary education in the area of psychology including at least 2 years in clinical psychology, and is currently undergoing a period of supervised practice prior to becoming a clinical psychologist.
‘Psychologist’ and ‘clinical psychologist’ are protected terms meaning that only people who have suitable qualifications and certified skills can call themselves a psychologist. Anyone can call themselves a ‘counsellor’ or ‘therapist’, so when choosing a mental health professional its helpful to check that they are suitably trained and qualified.
If you are experiencing anxiety, stress, low mood, depression, sleeping difficulties, low self-esteem, interpersonal difficulties, having trouble breaking bad habits, procrastination, low motivation, or poor body image: seeing a psychologist will help you to develop important skills to overcome or better manage these difficulties.
If you have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (such as generalised anxiety disorder or social anxiety disorder), a depressive disorder, an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), chronic pain, complex trauma, childhood trauma, a personality disorder, or an eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: seeing a psychologist will help you develop a greater understanding of your disorder and to gain skills to better manage your symptoms with the overall aim of helping you to enhance your quality of life and functioning. Your psychologist will work in consultation with your GP and/or psychiatrist.
If you are a parent of child or adolescent who is struggling or is experiencing mental health or behavioural difficulties; seeing a psychologist for parenting support, parent/child therapy or adolescent therapy will help improve communication skills within the family and aim to assist in reducing any unhelpful behaviours occurring at home.
No, anyone can book in to see a psychologist, and no referral is needed. However, if you wish to receive Medicare rebates you will need a referral and appropriate plan from your GP.
No, you can use your GP’s referral letter to see any psychologist you choose. This is also the case if your GP has referred you to a specific psychologist at Foresight, you may wish to see a different team member due to preference or availability.
If you have been referred to see a psychologist by your GP you may be eligible for Medicare rebates under the Better Access to Mental Health Scheme. Clients who have been referred by their GP under Mental Health Care Plan are eligible for a rebate of between $96.65 and $141.85 for up to 10 sessions per calendar year. Clients may also be eligible for Medicare rebates if referred by their GP under other eligible plans such as the GP Management Plan (Chronic Disease Management Plan) or an Eating Disorder Treatment Plan.
International students who have been referred by their GP under Mental Health Care Plan are also usually eligible for the equivalent of Medicare refunds from their OSHC insurers. Ask your individual insurer for more details.
Many Private Health Funds offer some refunds for psychological services, including OSHC insurance for international students. The amounts vary depending on your plan, check with your individual insurer for more details.
Treatment time will vary depending on a number of factors. For many, six to ten psychology sessions will be enough to build up skills to manage or overcome your mental health symptoms. For longer-term or more complex difficulties, your treatment may take more than 10 sessions.
In your first appointment you will fill in forms and questionnaires (the reason that we ask you to arrive 15 minutes early), you will meet your psychologist who will ensure you have completed your forms and will answer any questions you have about confidentiality, treatment, or any of our practice policies. In your first session, your psychologist will ask a lot of questions to get to understand your situation, your reasons for starting treatment and your life history. This ‘information gathering’ allows your psychologist to get an understanding of your current symptoms in the context of your individual experience which will allow your psychologist to come up with an individualised treatment plan to address your concerns.
Psychology sessions typically last for 50 minutes and usually involve the discussion of pertinent issues and life events, the teaching and practicing of skills, collaborative problem solving for any difficulties in your life or in treatment, encouraging and promoting more flexible and helpful thinking, and the setting of goals or tasks to be worked on between psychology sessions. The specific nature and structure of your sessions will depend upon the treatment approach used by your psychologist and what stage in your treatment you are up to.
Foresight Psychology strongly believes in making quality psychological treatment affordable and accessible to all, no matter your background or situation. Rates vary depending on a number of factors so please contact us directly for more specific information and to discuss your needs. Generally our fees are $240 for an initial session and $210 for subsequent sessions with our psychologists (Medicare rebate, if seen under a Mental Health Care Plan: $96.65) and $280 for an initial session and $250 for subsequent sessions with our senior clinical psychologists (Medicare rebate: $141.85). We also offer special reduced rates for some circumstances (see ‘Do you offer discounts for students or concession card holders’).
Yes – if you are a self-supporting full-time student or a holder of a concession card (Centrelink Low-Income Health Care Card) we do offer reduced rates on selected appointment times with Foresight Psychology team members.
Our practice is located at 22-36 Mountain Street, Ultimo. Our practice rooms are located on Level 2 of this building (Suite 2.12). We have chosen this location in Ultimo as it is conveniently located close to public transport, making our practice more accessible and affordable for our clients. The building is also close to Broadway Shopping Centre, which offers parking options.
When you arrive, please take a seat in the waiting area and your psychologist will come to collect you at the time of your appointment. If your appointment takes place after-hours or on Saturday, the doors may be locked, in which case please ring the doorbell at the building entrance and your psychologist will meet you at the door and grant you access at the time of your appointment.
We are proud of our therapy rooms which are set up for comfort and privacy, making them the perfect space for effective psychological therapy to take place.
We also offer psychological support and evidence-based treatments via telehealth for those who are unwell, or unable to make it into our practice.
Based on your individual presenting concerns, your psychologist will select an evidence-based treatment. If you have a preference for a particular treatment approach you can discuss this with your psychologist who will consider that approach should it be an appropriate, evidence-based treatment for your presenting issues. Your treatment will be individualised to meet your specific needs. All of our psychologists have a strong foundation in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) as the treatment approach with the best evidence-base for most common disorders. Our psychologists also have training in the delivery of specialised treatments such as Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema Therapy, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Metacognitive Therapy (MCT), Trauma-informed care, Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Mindfulness-integrated CBT (MiCBT), Parent-Child Interaction Training (PCIT), systemic psychotherapy, narrative therapy and psychodynamic-informed psychotherapy, and other treatment approaches.
Telehealth means sessions delivered remotely over video conferencing (e.g. Skype or Zoom) or telephone call. See our Telehealth information page for more details.
Foresight Psychology now offers both in-person sessions and telehealth (video or telephone) sessions.
- All clinicians providing treatment in-person agree to follow NSW Health guidelines for COVID-19 safety and abide by any applicable public health orders.
- To protect the safety of our psychologists, it will be up to the clinician’s discretion whether they offer in-person or telehealth appointments.
- It will be up to the clinician to communicate with their patients regarding their plans to offer in-person sessions or not.
- We have added hand sanitisers into our offices and we are asking our clinicians and clients to follow good hygiene standards.
- If our psychologists feel unwell, they will not be holding an in-person clinic. This will mean that they may either be required to reschedule the sessions held on the day, or may be able to provide telehealth sessions.
- If you feel unwell (e.g. fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting) please do not come into the clinic for a face-to-face appointment. Please contact us as soon as you can, either to reschedule your sessions, or to change to a telehealth session.
Take reasonable precautions
Health Direct (the national public health information service) recommends a number of protective measures against COVID-19, including:
- practise good hygiene (wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser, cover your cough and sneeze, dispose of tissues and wash your hands immediately after, regularly clean and disinfect surfaces you use often, avoid touching your face)
- stay at home if you begin to feel unwell until you fully recover (i.e. until no longer symptomatic)
- wear a mask
- practice physical distancing
- get vaccinated (including staying up to date with available boosters).
Review
These policies and procedures have been drafted with the intention of protecting the health and safety of the clinicians who work at Foresight Psychology, the clients of Foresight Psychology, and the community, and in order for Foresight Psychology to comply with its work health and safety obligations. This policy will be reviewed as necessary as circumstances change.
At Foresight Psychology, we need to have a cancellation policy in order to ensure that any appointments that aren’t going ahead can be offered to other clients who are waiting to see their psychologist. In order to provide us enough time to offer your booked time to another client we need at least 1- 2 full business days (Mon – Fri).
We ask that you please give us as much notice as possible if you need to cancel your appointment. There is no fee for cancelling or rescheduling with more than 48 hours or 2 full business days notice. There is also no fee associated with changing your appointment time or day to another slot within the same week (where these are available). However, for any cancellations with less than 2 business days notice will incur a cancellation fee, as follows:
Cancellation or reschedule within 24-48 hours of your appointment time will incur 50% of the appointment fee .
Cancellation or reschedule within 24 hours of your appointment time will incur the full appointment fee.
Failure to attend an appointment will incur the full appointment fee.
If it assists, you can opt to change your in-clinic appointment to a telehealth (video or phone session) and request to change to another time or day (subject to appointment availability).
In exceptional circumstances the cancellation fee may be waived. Please discuss the reasons with your psychologist or our admin team at the time of cancellation.
If an invoice becomes overdue, a late fee of $10 may also be applied each month the full or partial debt remains outstanding. Should Foresight need to engage a debt collection or legal agency to recover any/all monies outstanding, all costs associated with this service will be added to the original debt, and will be due and payable by the client.
Confidentiality: What is discussed in session is private and confidential (with limited exceptions) and permission will be sought before speaking to third parties. The exceptions to confidentiality include: (1) if there is a serious and immediate risk of harm to yourself or others; (2) if a court of law were to subpoena documentation; or (3) if you intend to claim rebates from Medicare or another organisation (such as WorkCover) then your psychologist must provide progress reports to your referring doctor or the WorkCover insurance agency.
Your case may also be discussed within clinical supervision, to ensure you receive the highest standard of care. All supervisors are held to the highest possible standards in privacy and confidentiality, as expected by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
Privacy Policy: Foresight needs to collect personal information about you for the primary purpose of providing a quality service to you, to thoroughly assess, diagnose, and provide therapy. This information will also be used for: (1) The administrative purpose of running the practice; (2) Billing either directly or through an insurer or compensation agency; (3) Use within the practice if handing over your case to another Foresight practitioner for ongoing care; (4) Disclosure of information to your other health professionals (with your permission or in line with our confidentiality policy) to provide the best possible care for you.
Your information at Foresight is stored securely and only practice staff have access to it. Foresight takes all reasonable steps to ensure that information collected about you is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. You also have the right to access your personal information held by Foresight. If this is needed at any time, discuss this with your therapist and send a written request letter addressed to your therapist at Foresight Psychology, Suite 2.12, 22-36 Mountain Street, Ultimo, NSW, 2007.
Foresight stores your personal information through a practice management software system. This system uses 256bit SSL encryption for all authentication and transmission of sensitive data. The content of all client files and file names are encrypted. There is no clear text data that links files to a particular client. Security systems monitor and identify any patterns that indicate possible security threats, and suspicious or unusual activity is immediately review by the specialised technical team.
If you are concerned, have questions, or have grounds to suspect a breach has occurred with your private information, please call us immediately (02 8380 8855). If you or your therapist suspects an information breach, your therapist will carry out a thorough investigation (with specialised help if needed) to determine if a breach has occurred, and if is has, will take immediate steps to rectify this, contain the breach, notify you, and notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), who will offer investigation, regulatory action, guidance, and information in such an occurrence.
