Fees and Rebates

We offer sessions in person at our office in Embleton, and via telehealth videoconferencing for those is rural or remote areas.

Telehealth consults are offered via Zoom (not Skype).  Zoom is free, easy to use and encrypted, so meets the Medicare guidelines.  To claim a Medicare rebate for these sessions you must have a care plan referral from your GP, and must live in a rural or remote area, defined as being in the Modified Monash Model regions 4,5,6 and 7.

A standard session is 50 minutes.

An emergency session means a session time which is outside of our standard hours,  so we are coming in just to see you.

Current Fees to April 2020 (fees will be increasing by $10 from 01/04/2020)

Payment

We ask you to pay the full session fee at the conclusion of your appointment.  We accept payment by cash or EFTPOS .

If you are eligible for a Medicare or health fund rebate you then claim the rebate from those services yourself, online.

Cancellation  or Non – Attendance Fee

We usually have a waiting list, so we ask you to be considerate of others and give us  24 hours notice if you wish to reschedule or cancel your appointment, so that we can offer this time to someone else.  If we receive less than 24 hours notice we usually can’t fill that appointment time, so we don’t get paid. You will also be charged if you fail to attend the appointment, for the same reason. We may waive this fee on a case-by-case basis in the event of a medical emergency or other unpredictable crisis.

Medicare rebate for general psychological therapy sessions

You will be able to claim a rebate from Medicare for individual therapy if your doctor has referred you with a Mental Health Care Plan, or if you are referred by a Psychiatrist or Paediatrician. The current rebate (2019) is approximately $86.15 each session, for up to 10 sessions per calendar year. If the referral is for a child or teen the rebate will only apply to sessions attended by the child/teen (not the parent only sessions).

You can process your Medicare claim using the free Medicare app or online.

Medicare rebate for eating disorder treatment

On 1st November 2019, changes were introduced to the Medicare Better Access scheme so that people with severe eating disorders are able to access a more specific treatment plan, called an Eating Disorder Treatment Plan (EDTP).  The benefit of an EDTP is that is allows people to access up to 40 sessions of psychological treatment for an eating disorder per 12 months, rather than the 10 sessions allowed under a mental health care plan, and 20 dietetic sessions.   Although this is a very positive step, the eligibility criteria for an EDTP are quite high. People with a diagnosis of Anorexia will be eligible, but those with a diagnosis of Bulimia, Binge -Eating or OSFED will need to meet further criteria.  In addition, while a GP can authorize the first 20 sessions of an EDTP, to access the remaining sessions the person will need to be reviewed by a psychiatrist or paediatrician, and they must agree with the GP that further sessions are needed.  The rebate is $86.15 per session.

Private health insurance rebates

As each health fund varies, please check with your individual provider as to whether they cover services by a Registered Psychologist or Clinical Psychology Registrar, which is not the same as a Clinical Psychologist.

You cannot claim from both Medicare and your private health fund for the same session.

Eligible concession cards

We offer the concessional rate to people who have one of the following current concession cards: Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, or a Department of Veteran’s Affairs Pensioner Concession Card or Veteran’s Repatriation Health Card.  We will also offer the concessional rate to full time TAFE/ uni students who are living independently of their parents, ie no longer living at home and not financially supported by parents.

Low cost or free psychological therapy services in Perth – online and in person.

Free psychological therapy services are provided by the Centre for Clinical Interventions in Northbridge for people with eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, and biploar disorder.  You will need a GP referral for CCI services, however they also have a range of self-help resources which you can access yourself

Mindspot is a free, online therapy service for anxiety and depression, which combines online learning with phone contact from a mental health professional.

Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Curtin University in Bentley, Murdoch University in Murdoch and The University of Western Australia in Nedlands offer very low cost psychology clinics open to the public.  These are the training clinics for the postgraduate Psychology students (eg Masters or Doctoral students).