A course of therapy

Prior to seeing a psychologist there are some key pieces of information that it is good to know.

First and foremost, psychology should ALWAYS be collaborative. When developing a plan for your therapy this should be discussed with both yourself and your psychologist, plans should be based on YOUR goals and should be regularly reviewed together.

Starting Point

The best place to start is going to be with your GP. Whether you are looking at getting a mental health care plan or attending sessions privately, speaking with your GP is always advised. They will help you know where to go next, and will likely have some excellent recommendations for a good psychologist.

At this stage, you have a number of options with how to proceed, you can get a mental health care plan (this will subsidize some of the cost of your psychological therapy), you can pay privately, you can use your private health care (always check with them about your level of coverage first) or you can use an alternative funding source (such as NDIS or your workplace employee assistance).

From here, it is always good to do some of your own research into psychologists near you. Most psychologists will have a profile which lets you know a little about them, the areas that they work in most commonly and the ways in which they practice. You can see the profiles for the whole team at Prosper Health Collective here: https://prosperhealthcollective.com.au/our-team/

Once you have decided, make a call to the practice. Many practices, Prosper included, will provide a free intake call, during which our intake coordinators have the opportunity to learn more about you and place you with the most appropriate psychologist.

Number of Sessions

This is not a straight forward question. What any one person needs depends on their individual circumstances and goals. In general, however, research tells us that the average

number of sessions used by clients in psychology is between 12 and 20 sessions. This can give you an approximation.

However, it is important to note that if you are using Medicare, they will now subsidize 10 sessions per year.

An important part of treatment planning with your psychologist will include discussing how many sessions would be most appropriate (this is very subject to change).

A Psychology Session

Most psychologists work on a 50 minute session. A general structure for a session may look like:

Recap from previous session and between sessions

Review of action plans

Education and skill development

Action planning

Preparation for next session

This can vary depending on your personal goals and the therapeutic style being utilized by your therapist. Remember that all psychology should be collaborative, make sure to discuss with your psychologist what would work best for you.

A course of therapy

There are many different types of psychological intervention, for example Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Schema Therapy, EMDR, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Play Therapy, just to name a few.

Depending on the intervention, each course of therapy will look different.

How do you know which will suit you best? The Treatment Plan

During your first session with a psychologist, you will likely discuss what is bringing you in to therapy, your psychologist will ask you a whole lot of questions to get to know you, the presenting difficulties you are facing, what you have already tried, when things are better and when things are worse. They will also ask you about your history and get to know more about where the difficulties may have arisen from, in psychology we call this a Case Formulation. It can be important to work on this case formulation with your psychologist, this way you both have all the information to work on together.

Finally, you will set some goals with your therapist. These goals aim to know what you want to work on and when you will know that you have reached them. Your goals will help to dictate the mode of therapy that will be most effective.

Throughout your therapy, it is recommended to regularly review your goals and to take regular screening assessment to track your progress. Here at Prosper, we also use a tool called FIT (Feedback Informed Therapy) to track your progress and to track the effectiveness of your therapy sessions.

Collaboratively you and your psychologist should decide on a treatment plan, regularly

reviewing this to make sure it is always the best fit for you.

Whilst your sessions of therapy are designed to introduce skills and strategies, it is vital that you practice these outside of sessions- remember you don’t become a body builder by going to the gym once, its an ongoing process with regular practice to get the most benefit.

Finishing Therapy

This is a decision best to be made between you and your therapist. Generally, I find that as you start to reach your goals in therapy, it becomes helpful to start spacing your sessions further apart, giving you more time between each session to practice skills and strategies. For example, you may move to monthly, then six-weekly, then every couple of months.

Once you and your therapist agree that the course of therapy has been effective it is useful to complete a discharge plan. A discharge plan addresses any possible triggers and how you will cope with these in the future.

Even once you have finished therapy, if you ever need additional support you are ALWAYS welcome to return to therapy.

If you want to know more about how to get the most from your service, or more about treatment planning in psychology, please contact Prosper Health Collective an arrange a free consultation with one of our intake coordinators.