Viviana Jancso - Mindset Psychology Consulting

What is counselling?

A counsellor is a trained, objective professional with whom you can build a healing and trusting relationship. They are trained to offer different types of assistance; most frequently talking-based styles of therapy. 

Counselling is a process of talking about and working through your personal problems with a counsellor. The counsellor helps you to address your problems in a positive way by helping you to clarify the issues, explore options, develop strategies and increase self-awareness. For some people, just the process of telling their story to a counsellor, and being listened to, is helpful.

A counsellor is someone trained to offer a talk-based therapy. There are many different types of talk-based therapy. A counsellor may work in partnership with a medical doctor or other health professional at times to give comprehensive and integrated care.

Counselling provides confidential support. This means that everything you discuss with the counsellor is private, between you and the counsellor. The exception is when a counsellor has a duty of care to report something that threatens your wellbeing or the wellbeing of others. This legal requirement will be explained to you in your first counselling session.

There are many different types of counselling and approaches that counsellors use will vary.

Anyone who is struggling with a personal concern can seek counselling. No issue is too big or too small to ask for support. Common issues that people seek counselling for include:

• grief and loss
• communication and relationships issues
• work and career issues
• stress, anxiety and depression
• life transitions such as the birth of a new baby, separation, divorce or the death of a family member or friend
• parenting
• addiction
• abuse
• trauma
• self-esteem difficulties
• exploring their gender identity and/or sexuality.

Other types of talk-based therapy

Psychotherapy also uses talk-based therapy to treat clients. There can be a lot of overlap between counselling and psychotherapy, depending on the needs of the person. 

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has extra training specialising in mental health. A psychiatrist may offer talk-based therapy and can prescribe mood-altering medications to help manage the symptoms of mental illnesses such as severe depression or anxiety. A counsellor is not a medical doctor and cannot prescribe medication of any kind. 

Professional qualifications of a counsellor

Do not assume that all counsellors are professionally qualified. There is no law in Australia that requires a person who provides a counselling service to have either qualifications or experience. This means that people without training or skills can call themselves counsellors or psychotherapists.

Is counselling covered by Medicare?

Some counsellors are covered under a Medicare rebate and you may get your session covered under Medicare or pay a small gap fee. To be entitled to a Medicare rebate you must get a mental health care plan from your doctor. This means your doctor will assess, through a questionnaire and knowledge of you, whether you would benefit from mental health support.

A mental health care plans provides you with up to 10 sessions of counselling per year with a Medicare rebate. 

Medicare does not provide rebates for all counsellors. You need to ask the individual counsellor. You may be eligible for a partial rebate on your private health insurance, depending on your policy.

Number of counselling sessions

It is reasonable to ask the counsellor at the end of the first session for an estimate of how many sessions they think you will need. However, remember that this is only an estimate. Some problems can be successfully resolved in a few sessions. In other cases, talking about the particular problem with the counsellor may bring up deeper, unresolved issues that need further exploration.

Book an Appointment for Counselling in Perth

We consult patients from all over Perth. To make an appointment please call or email us and we will get back to you as soon as we can.