Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone can call and make an appointment to see one of our Mind & Seek psychologists. Alternatively, you may be referred to us by your GP, paediatrician, school or other health professional. If you choose to call us on 0452 526 463 (0452 52 MIND), your general questions can be answered and you can schedule an initial consultation.

For children under 12 years old, it is recommended that the first 50-minute appointment be a session between the psychologist and parents/guardians. The initial consultation will involve a discussion about your child’s developmental history, current issues, concerns and needs. Attending the session without your child enables you to discuss your concerns without little ears listening. It also provides you with an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the therapeutic or assessment process. Our Mind & Seek psychologists work collaboratively with parents/guardians to plan, review and deliver therapy. For young people over the between the age of 12-16 years, the initial session may be with a parent/guardian or the young person alone.

It is the responsibility of parents and guardians to adhere to the parental responsibility arrangements regarding their child as stipulated by temporary or final court orders. At mind and seek psychology, we have an ethical obligation to request attending parents to inform all parents with shared parental responsibility of scheduled psychology sessions. To make sure mind and seek is the most appropriate service for your circumstances, please inform us of any shared parental responsibility arrangements and send through any relevant orders to reception@mindandseek.com.au as these will need to be reviewed by the psychologist prior to your first appointment. We may contact you for further information. If you are unable to inform the non-attending parent, mediation services may be necessary before commencing sessions at mind and seek. It is also important to note that if we are contacted by a non-attending parent with shared parental responsibility of your child, we have an obligation to involve them in the therapeutic process unless court orders stipulate such restrictions. This can include pausing sessions until written consent is obtained from all parties with parental responsibility. We appreciate that family dynamics can be complex and believe that by being transparent about our processes from the outset we minimise disruption your child's therapeutic experience as much as possible.

Your child's psychologist will help your child build psychological flexibility, resilience and emotional strength. Since children thrive with consistent support from their parents, we'll partner with both of you throughout this process. What to expect: strategies tailored to your child's unique needs suggestions for how you can support your child's growth at home a focus on practical skills your child can use in everyday life A treatment schedule typically involves weekly or fortnightly 50-minute appointments. Treatment goals are devised collaboratively with the psychologist, client and parent / guardians (if appropriate). Treatment goals are reviewed regularly in order to assess / and or modify the focus of the session according to your needs. Typically, individuals require between 5 and 15 therapy sessions. Once initial concerns start to improve, it is common for psychologists to recommend review sessions in order to check-in and see how things are going. Review sessions tend to occur at less frequent intervals than when treatment first started (e.g., monthly or longer).

The psychologist will guide you on whether it is in the best interests of therapeutic goals to remain in the room for the duration of your child's session. Often these decisions are made based on the young person's age, their referral reason and their level of comfort. We often find that children are better able to share their thoughts and feelings in the room with their psychologist one-on-one, as they then do not have to factor in their parents' perceptions when sharing their inner world. In order to successfully establish a therapeutic rapport with a young person, the relationship develops faster and more authentically if the psychologist can be the only person in the room who is curious, explorative, challenging and sitting and holding the feelings that come up during the session. When parents/guardians are present, the dynamic is more complex. If a young person needs a parent/guardian in order to feel safe in the room, then this will always be prioritised.

When our psychologists are treating a young person, it is essential that the child or teen feels comfortable to share their thoughts and feelings in the therapy room, without fear that the content will be shared with others. Whilst the content of child or teen sessions remains confidential, the psychologist will provide updates to parents/guardians (if appropriate) about their observations and impressions. This might be in a discussion with caregivers and the young person or in a parent/guardian session. Psychologists are also mandated to be protective if they believe that your child is experiencing harm or harming others and will notify you to help keep the young person safe.

Our provisional psychologists have studied a minimum of 5 years in tertiary education before undertaking an additional internship year or clinical placement to further develop their professional practice. During this internship or clinical placement, they undertake a higher level of supervision from fully registered senior psychologists. This supervision process ensures that provisional psychologists have additional support in skill development, ethical practice, and reflection to guarantee that their clients receive effective and appropriate treatment. Provisional psychologists have met the registration standards outlined by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and are continually committed to meeting these standards in future practice. They are also required to do extensive professional development in their internship year or whilst completing their clinical masters to learn new ways to support their clients. Once they complete their provisional requirements, they can gain general registration as a psychologist. All provisional psychologists are skilled in providing the services to aid their clients in achieving their therapy goals. Like generally registered psychologists, provisionally registered psychologists can help support clients in a broad range of presenting concerns and regularly report to their governing body, AHPRA. Provisionally registered psychologists cannot offer a Medicare rebate, which means that clients do not need a mental health care plan. However, the prices of a session with a provisional psychologist are lower to reflect this. Additionally, provisional psychologists do not have a maximum number of sessions that you can see them. Our provisional psychologists are eager to help close the gap between clients and the significant wait times that people seeking psychological support experience.

The Australian Psychological Society recommends an hourly rate of $311 per session, However, we aim to keep fees reasonable and rates are set substantially below this. From July 1st 2026, our consultation rates range from $200-$270, depending on your selected psychologist. Our provisional psychologist offers reduced consulting rates. For current assessment fees please click here.

Subject to eligibility, rebates for psychological services may be claimed through the following means: Medicare: The psychological services at Mind & Seek are registered under Medicare. Clients referred to us under a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan, may receive up to 10 treatment sessions per year subsidised by Medicare. Please ask your GP or Paediatrician for further information regarding Medicare referrals. Click here for up-to-date information on Medicare rebates for psychology. Medicare rebates may be claimed via Medicare Online Claiming for payment direct to your account if your bank details are registered with Medicare. Alternatively, you can claim your rebate by visiting Medicare. Please note that Medicare does not cover psychological assessments (except for autism assessments under the appropriate referral by a paediatrician or psychiatrist) however, you may be eligible for a rebate under your private health care fund.

Yes, we are able to work with self- or plan-managed NDIS clients. Please check your plan to make sure that psychology is funded in your plan. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept NDIA-managed clients as we are currently not NDIS registered.

If a client is unable to keep their scheduled appointment, it is important to please give as much notice as possible, so that the time is available for us to offer that session to a client on our waiting / cancellation list. A cancellation fee applies when you change or cancel an appointment without providing two (2) business days' notice. A business day means a day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday in VIC. The cancellation fee is equal to the scheduled service fee.   Please ensure you record your Mind & Seek appointment in your calendar. Our cancellation policy is crucial for maintaining the smooth operation of our clinic. It enables us to meet our financial obligations, including paying our staff and covering business expenses. Missed appointments or last-minute cancellations directly impact our clinic, which is why this policy will be strictly enforced. A fee will not be charged if you provide at least two business days' notice of a cancellation. For clarity, if your appointment is on a Monday morning, you must notify us by the beginning of the previous Thursday at the latest. Please be aware that a business day does not include Saturdays, Sundays, or public holidays in VIC. Notifications on these days will not be processed. We understand that sometimes, serious and unavoidable circumstances arise. If you cannot provide the required two business days' notice due to a qualifying extenuating circumstance, you may request an exception to our cancellation policy. What We Consider a "Serious Extenuating Circumstance": A serious extenuating circumstance is an event that is: Extremely beyond your control. Unforeseeable and could not have been anticipated. Makes it impossible for you or your child to attend the appointment, even by phone or video. Examples of situations that DO NOT qualify: We are unable to waive the fee for circumstances such as: Forgetting the appointment or double-booking. A vehicle breakdown. An illness of another child or an inability to find a babysitter. Policy Exceptions & Alternatives If you do not qualify for an exception, we offer alternatives to a full cancellation fee. We will first attempt to find a solution that keeps your appointment and will only offer a reduced fee if those options are not available. The alternatives we may offer are: Zoom Consultation: Convert your appointment to a phone or video call. This could be a session with your child or a parent session. Reschedule: We may reschedule your appointment for another time on the same day, provided we have an opening.

Relevant personal information about the current situation will be collected and recorded as part of providing psychological services. The information will assist in providing appropriate and thorough service. The information will be stored in a secure location. Psychologists are required to keep your file for a minimum of 7 years or, if clients are under the age of 18 at the time of treatment, until they are 25 years of age. Files of clients undergoing assessment services are held in a physical filing cabinet at our Aberfeldie or Geelong location until the report is completed and a feedback session is provided. Clinical files for assessment and counselling services are held on the clinic’s practice management software which is secured by 2-factor authorisation. Note that all parents or guardians of child clients would usually have a right to access information that is contained in their file.  You may access the information in your child’s file on request, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A03712/latest/text). If your child is assessed as a mature minor, this may impact what information you are able to access regarding their treatment if they do not consent to this information being shared with you. However, if there are issues of risk, harm, or potential harm to your child, you will be informed.

If information about your child is required from another person, such as a teacher or family member, this will be discussed with you beforehand, and your permission will be sought. Please note that we will not engage with you in public or online in a way that will identify you or your child as a client. This is to protect client privacy and due to the requirements to uphold professional boundaries. Please personally contact your child’s psychologist to engage with them rather than approach them on social media or in public forums. All personal information gathered by the psychologist during the provision of psychological service will remain confidential and secure except when: A court subpoena or other disclosure is required or authorised by law. Psychologists have a mandatory reporting requirement when there is evidence of abuse, neglect or when a child is at risk of such. Your consent cannot be gained due to a requirement to get your child emergency services during a medical crisis If there is unauthorised access to data held by the clinic some limited information may need to be shared with the Office of the Information Ombudsman.  Failure to disclose the information would place your child, or another person at risk of harm. Given your child’s prior approval (if they have the capacity to consent) or consent of a parent or guardian who is legally authorised to act on your child’s behalf to provide a written report to another professional or agency or discuss information with another person, e.g., parent or employer You or your child have provided your consent to share your child’s information for a specific reason and purpose. You would reasonably expect your personal information to be disclosed to another professional or agency, and disclosure is directly related to the primary purpose for which it was collected, such as to inform your GP of treatment and progress, to claim Medicare rebates on your behalf. Clinical consultation with another professional is required to provide better services. If this occurs, identifying details will remain confidential. If, during your child’s treatment, the psychologist becomes aware of a risk to someone’s life, health, or well-being, the psychologist is required to report the matter to the appropriate agencies.

"Mature minor" refers to a young person who, while under 18 demonstrates sufficient understanding and maturity to make their own healthcare decisions, as determined by the treating psychologist in accordance with Australian legal and ethical guidelines. If the psychologist determines your child meets the criteria to be considered a "Mature Minor" and that is in the child's best interest to give their own consent, parental consent is not required.