Mental Health Treatment
At Very Helpful Chats, we provide neurodiversity-affirming mental health treatment. You might need mental health treatment if you develop stress, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue that co-occurs with being a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world.
Our practice is designed to make you feel at home. We've created a safe and inclusive environment where you can be yourself, free from judgment.
You are not broken
You do not need to be fixed
We do better with neuro-affirming care
Almost every aspect of our society was created by neurotypical people, for neurotypical people. We know how exhausting it is to exist in a society that undervalues what we are good at and fixates on what we are not good at - because we live it too.
There is a severe mismatch between our neurodivergent needs and the expectations and rules of a neurotypical society. This mismatch will cause high stress, high anxiety, and depressed mood in neurodivergent people. The more time that we spend in unsupportive neurotypical environments, the more 'disordered' or 'deficient' we will appear, and the higher the risk of experiencing burnout and mental illness.
This is still considered a radical idea
You will not find your path back to mental health and wellness by trying to 'correct' or 'fix' what neurotypical people see as 'disordered' or 'deficient' within you. Your path back to mental health and wellness can only happen once you accept yourself and learn to work with your mind instead of against it.
How we help neurodivergent people
We help Autistic, ADHD, Dyslexic and other neurodivergents get themselves out of survival mode by assisting you to:
1) Understand and accept yourself. When you accept your neurodivergency, we can drop the "neurotypical goals" - also known as all those mind rules you have internalised about what you 'should' be doing. When we start working on neurodivergent goals - also known as working out what you actually want and need - and making it happen - then you can start living your best life.
2) Create external support and scaffolding. This means everything we can put around you to take the pressure off you. This might be medication (neurodiversity-affirming does not mean anti-meds!), it might be accommodations and adjustments at work or school (actual accommodations, not the ones that neurotypical people think 'should' work for us), or it might be a network of support from family, friends, community or other agencies.
3) Learn psychological skills and strategies - all the things you can learn to better support yourself and your needs. Tips, tricks and life hacks. All the knowledge we have learnt from working as psychologists and everything we've learnt from being neurodivergent people in a neurotypical world.
Fees
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Appointments with our Registered and Clinical Psychologists range between $220.00 and $270.00 per 50-minute appointment, depending on your clinician.
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Appointments with our Provisional Psychologists are $170.00 per 50-minute appointment.
Medicare Referrals
If you are seeing one of our Registered Psychologists, you may be able to get a referral from your doctor, which would let you obtain a rebate from Medicare that covers some of your session fees. A rebate means that you pay the full fee up front and then receive a portion of the cost back from Medicare.
If you are eligible for a referral under Medicare's Better Access Scheme, you can access Medicare rebates for up to 10 individual sessions per year.
Your GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician can write a referral for you. Ensure to book a "long consultation" with your GP so they have time to prepare a referral letter and mental health care plan for you. You will need a referral letter and a mental health care plan for the referral to be valid under Medicare rules.
You only need a referral from a doctor if you would like Medicare to pay for some of your session fees. If you are paying privately or using your private health insurance, you do not need a referral from your doctor.
You do not need a referral to see one of our Provisional Psychologists.
Rebates
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The Medicare rebate for our registered psychologists is $92.90.
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The Medicare rebate for our clinical psychologists is $136.35
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There are no Medicare rebates for our provisional psychologists. The session fee for our provisional psychologists is lower to reflect this.
Once you've hit your Medicare Safety Net threshold for the year, your Medicare rebate will increase and cover more of your appointment fee. For an appointment that costs $250, you may receive a Medicare rebate of around $214 to $217 after hitting your Safety Net. Read more about the Medicare Safety Net and learn how to register here.