During your initial 60-minute appointment, your child’s counsellor will discuss your areas of concern and goals during a parent-only telehealth session. Over the first couple of sessions with your child, they’ll conduct an informal, play-based assessment so they can offer some recommendations (which may include a written report).
This report can be used to provide families, care providers, and educators with insights they can put into practice in any environment, whether at home, at school, or in the community. Plus, your written report can also be valuable evidence for NDIS meetings and plan reviews.
Most of our counselling clients attend regular appointments at the same time every week or fortnight. This consistency is helpful for all our clients, but especially our autistic kids, as it helps them integrate therapy sessions into their routine, while making steady progress towards their goals. Plus, regular counselling sessions can make a real difference to young people struggling with mental health, relationships, communication, emotional regulation, and more.
A regular counselling session runs for 50 minutes and involves engaging your child in conversation and play-based activities as we work on specific goals. Every counselling session takes place in a fun, safe, and supportive environment that allows kids to be themselves and build a collaborative relationship with our counsellors. We use evidence-based practices, as well as a person-centred, strengths-based approach to set and achieve goals together with your child.
We offer a range of funding options. Many of our clients have NDIS funding (we accept self-managed or plan-managed funding only). If you do not have an NDIS plan, you may be able to get a GP referral to help cover the cost of therapy through a Mental Health Care Plan which can attract a Medicare rebate for up to 5-10 sessions per year. We also accept GP Medicare Plans (often known as Team Care Arrangements), as long as your plan has at least three sessions nominated to one of our therapists. You may also be entitled to rebates on your Health Fund. All of our fees are in line with the current NDIS pricing guide. We welcome all enquiries about pricing.
Please note: We no longer accept Chronic Disease Management Plans.
A counsellor is someone who offers support with things like social challenges, emotional difficulties, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, and grief. Their approach tends to be very person-centred, using listening and discussion to help support clients.
Yes. Aside from holding different qualifications, psychologists and counsellors typically take a different approach to therapy. Psychologists may work through similar challenges to counsellors, but tend to do more diagnosis and assessment, with a focus on more severe mental health issues.
Although counsellors in Australia are not required to have completed specific training or qualifications, Inside Out Therapy’s counsellor holds a dual degree in Psychology and Counselling.
Our youth/child counsellors can work with children of all ages, but most of our clients are aged 6-17. We can work with a range of challenges and conditions, but we’re particularly focused on supporting neurodivergent kids with autism, ADHD, and trauma.
A typical counselling session will last for around 50-55 minutes. We usually run 1-on-1 sessions with your child, but often touch base with a quick parent consult at the beginning or end. Using a play-based approach, we create an environment where children are free to express, explore, and resolve troubling thoughts and feelings through their natural language of play.
Whatever challenges your child is experiencing, we always work to affirm their unique strengths, helping them to discover those strengths, and find ways to communicate them to the outside world. This often involves diving into their unique special interests to create activities and tools that allow ust to work on challenges, such as increasing emotional literacy or building resources for emotional regulation. Most importantly we aim to provide a safe and nurturing space for your children to relax and feel free to be themselves.
Most of our counselling appointments are held in one of our two north Brisbane clinics (Kallangur for ages 0-9; Burpengary for ages 0-17), but where appropriate, we may also offer mobile visits to your school or home, or telehealth parent sessions.
