I do not currently have capacity for new clients; my wait list is closed until 2025.

In November I will be celebrating 7 years in my current private practice. It has been the most enriching chapter in my career thus far, and .. +++ (something positive)

A small number of clients have been here since the beginning and others have begun sessions more recently (is this necessary? the main point is the number has been growing). Some people have completed a discrete piece of therapy and then finished, others have come and gone around major events and others have incorporated therapy into an ongoing pattern of life.

I have tended to have an open door policy, with past clients welcome to return when needed and have allowed a fair amount of flexibility in how frequently people attend. I don’t know by what magic, but it somehow just always evened out.

Until….. The winter of 2024! The wheels of this flexible system have well and truly fallen off. The number of clients who currently want an appointment doesn’t fit into the space I have, and so people have been waiting longer than usual for available spaces. The maths doesn’t add-up if too many people return after a gap or shift from monthly to fortnightly and so on.

So… I am introducing a more structured approach. I’m aiming for this system to be fully in-place by the start of 2025, with a likely adjustment process over the next few months.

I am trusting the magic of 7 year cycles, that this is a natural point of change and transformation. I appreciate that this new approach may not suit everyone, and am happy to discuss concerns, and other services available to best meet your needs. The clarity for me is that like all organic systems, there comes points where current patterns cease to work and new

 

Cancelations

A cancellation fee of $60 applies if less than 48 hours notice given. The full fee of the session will be charged for less than 2 hours notice including missed appointments.

New - If there is a pattern of regular cancellations and missed appointments I will initiate a review and possible end of sessions.

Some outcomes might be:
Referral to an occupational therapists to help with time-management and life organisation skills, referral to a service that offers drop-in/outreach appointments, review of current commitment to therapy, and reviewing the rightness-of-fit with this style of therapy.

I will close your file if the review session itself is missed or the pattern can’t be resolved. You will be welcome to re-contact in future, at which point we will review if this is a good fit and likely to be fruitful.

 

Open and closed

I am going to be clearer about clients either being open (currently attending regular sessions) or closed. ‘Closed’ may mean we have had an active ending session, or if I haven’t not heard from in over a month. It may also apply after multiple missed appointments.

‘Closed clients’ will still be welcome to re-contact me for sessions in future, and will join a waitlist at this time. On re-contact I will check that my service is currently a good fit for the person’s goals and capacity.

This is a shift away from previous flexibility to drift away from sessions and communication and then re-book out of the blue, as this is quite tricky to plan around or predict.

Session fees for 2024

No changes here. This will be reviewed annually at the end of financial year.

Initial session 75min: $200
60min session: $160
75min session: $180

The current Medicare rebate for a mental health care plan is $85.20, for up to 10 sessions/year. Other rebate types exist, speak with your GP.

 



Sessions will now fall into 3 categories

Regular: 1-3 weekly, on a consistent basis.
Monthly: Once/month. Booking at the time of the last appointment, or earlier (ie not ‘drop-in’).
Quarterly: Available on-review. Only available for previously regular, long-term clients. Booking at the time of the last appointment (ie not ‘drop-in’).
Closed: See below

There will no longer be the flexibility to drift in and out, between these frequencies. Which will be a bit of change for some people.

If you are seeking to change how regularly you attend, I will check my current availability and we can do this in a plan-ful way.

As per the notes above, the idea is to pre-book appointments and plan around them,

The aim at my end is to have more consistent availability in my calendar, more realistically assess the number of clients I can see; and when I am able to invite people from the waitlist.

My aim for clients is to offer a more regulating pattern of engagement, move away from crisis-response and towards deeper therapies,


 

The next 7 year cycle

Once my calendar settles down, I look forward to having the space to dream into the next 7 years. Some of the seeds hoping to germinate are:

  • Nature-based art therapy workshops

  • Using art to help/heal the natural environment

  • Creative art therapy workshops

  • Long format, single-session somatic art therapy sessions (for one-off and current clients)

  • Hakomi ‘come try’ days

  • Professional supervision

  • Peer-supervision groups



If you are at-risk or need immediate assistance please call:

Medicare Provider No: 5411355Y. ABN: 63 436 856 792