Fees and What to Expect

Initial Session

The aim of the initial session is to get to know you and to get an understanding of your current concerns. A brief family, developmental and mental health history will be taken. You will be guided through this process however so no need to overplan for this session. You will be encouraged to reflect in between session about “the life that you want” in order that we can assist you towards making movements in that direction. At the end of the session you will be given treatment options (e.g. therapuetic appraoch and recommended frequency of sessions moving forward) will be discussed. You will be offered some reading and resources to be emailed to you in relation to the treatment or your condition which is always an “invitation” rather than a requirement.

Subsequent Sessions

Subsequent sessions aim to help you develop further insight into your difficulties as well as skills to help you shift what has brought you to this place (whether this be situational, relational or intra psychic). Therapy tends to be structured rather than free flowing (though some clients may prefer to “just roll” within session). An agenda (or plan) is set down at the start of each session. Whilst this is directed by your therapist (and often involves a check in and at least one brief skills practice) you are invited to contribute to this in order to feel a greater sense of being in charge of the session and your mental health in general. Most clients find between 6 to 14 sessions sufficient to make significant moves towards “the life that they want”. Usually these happen weekly to fortnightly to start with and then move out to monthly in order for in between skills development to occur.

Fees

Initial sessions incur a cost of $300 and may extend slightly longer than the usual 50 minutes

Subsequent sessions are $250 and run for 50 minutes.

After hours sessions (5pm onwards) are charged at a higher rate of $300.

The Medicare rebate for each session is $136.35.

Case management (e.g. phone calls and emails requiring more than 15 minutes admin time) are billed at $55 per 15 minutes. This is not claimable through Medicare and as such tend to be kept rather brief. Reports are available upon request. A letter will be sent to your referring doctor (if under a MHCP) after your initial assessment, 6th session and 10th session - none of which require payment.

Referrals and Medicare Rebates

You do not require a referral to be seen at the Mindful Well (either online or in person). However, most clients are eligible to receive a Medicare rebate.

To receive this rebate, a referral letter and Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) from your General Practitioner or Psychiatrist is required. With a MHCP, you can claim a Medicare rebate of $136.35 per session with a Clinical Psychologist for up to 10 sessions per calendar year.

Medicare rebates are processed by the Mindful Well at the same time as session fees. The rebate is paid directly into the bank account that you have provided Medicare.

Private Health Funds

If you are covered for psychological services under your private health insurance, you are entitled to claim your services at the Mindful Well. The amount claimable per session as well as the number of sessions claimable varies between health funds. Please check with your health fund regarding your exact coverage.