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What to expect in therapy
You don’t need a referral to book an appointment. However, if you’d like to access Medicare rebates, you’ll need a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP. This involves a brief appointment with your GP to discuss your mental health and obtain a referral.
Referrals may also come from other health professionals, such as psychiatrists or specialists. These referrals can help with coordination of care, but they’re not required to begin therapy. If you’re unsure what applies to your situation, please get in contact with us and we can talk it through.
The first one or two sessions are usually focused on building a clear understanding of what’s been happening for you. This involves a detailed assessment where we explore your background, current concerns, relevant history, and what you would like to be different. The pace of this depends on complexity, some people feel comfortable covering a lot early on, while others need more time.
These early sessions are also about developing rapport. Therapy works best when you feel understood and comfortable enough to speak openly, so we take time to establish a working relationship that feels safe and respectful.
Based on what we discuss, I’ll work with you to develop an initial therapy plan. This plan outlines areas of focus and possible strategies, drawing from evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness-based approaches, and other frameworks where relevant.
The plan is collaborative and flexible. It’s not a rigid manual. If your priorities change, a crisis arises, or we discover other factors that feel more important to address, we can adapt the focus. Therapy often evolves as new insights emerge, and the approach is adjusted accordingly.
At different points, I may suggest brief questionnaires or rating scales. These are used to help:
• Clarify patterns or symptom severity
• Track changes over time
• Inform clinical decision-making
They’re not about labelling or reducing your experience to numbers. Instead, they offer another perspective that can support reflection and guide the work. You’re always welcome to ask why a particular measure is being used or to decline if it doesn’t feel helpful.
Therapy is a collaborative process, shaped around your needs, goals, and readiness for change.
Sessions are usually conversational and collaborative, though at times they may feel challenging. This is because I may ask questions that invite reflection on patterns, assumptions, and emotional responses that aren’t always obvious. These questions are designed to support self-understanding and to help me better understand your values, perspectives, and underlying beliefs, without making assumptions.
At times, this may involve gently testing perspectives to ensure beliefs are explored rather than taken for granted. These conversations are approached with care and respect, and we move at a pace that feels manageable. If something feels uncomfortable or unclear, we can pause and talk about it. Therapy isn’t about pushing through at all costs, it’s about understanding what’s happening and responding thoughtfully.
At times, therapy may include reflection or small tasks between sessions. This might involve noticing patterns, practising new skills, or responding differently in everyday situations. Therapy isn’t just about talking through difficulties, it often involves learning and strengthening skills that help shift entrenched patterns over time.
Between-session work is always discussed collaboratively. Its purpose is to support change in real life, not to add pressure or create a sense of homework for its own sake.
There’s no fixed number of sessions that suits everyone. Some people attend therapy for a short period to work through a specific concern, while others choose longer-term support to address more complex or longstanding patterns.
Progress in therapy also isn’t always linear. While some sessions may feel clarifying or relieving, others can feel slower or more challenging. This doesn’t necessarily mean therapy isn’t working. If doubts or frustration arise, we can talk about them openly and adjust the focus as needed.
Throughout the process, we’ll review progress together and have ongoing conversations about what feels helpful, what’s changing, and whether continuing, pausing, or shifting the direction of therapy makes sense for you.
Therapy isn’t something done to you. It’s a collaborative process where we work together to understand what’s going on and develop ways of responding that support your wellbeing and values. My role is to bring clinical expertise and perspective, while respecting your autonomy, preferences, and lived experience.
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