If we haven’t managed to answer your questions below, or if you hate reading through FAQ’s, please contact us with your specific questions.
Young People under 18 years of age
What is a referral? Do I need one?
- A referral is a request for the delivery of services given to Brave HQ, usually through a letter or by calling and making a booking over the phone. You can request us to provide services to you, or a GP or other person that has legal obligations to care for you such as parents can do this for you. A referral from a GP, paediatrician, or psychiatrist is needed when you are wanting to use Medicare rebates, or meet the requirements set by some private health funds.
- Anyone considered legally capable of making their own medical decisions (typically 16 and over) can see a psychologist without the permission of their parents or guardians, and without a referral. That same person is also able to refuse to consent to services at Brave HQ even if their parents want them to.
- If you do not have your parents support to see us, or cannot afford to pay for services yourself, we offer to ‘bulk bill’ you for our services when possible. This means with a referral from your GP, we will provide 10 individual counselling sessions per calendar year at no cost to you. If you are not able to get a referral or afford to see us privately, we suggest you contact your local headspace to see how they can help you.
Where does my information go? How is it kept safe?
- At a certain legally defined level of maturity, a person is entitled to have their health information kept private and confidential from their parents or guardians. This right to privacy and confidentiality can be broken if any of the following three situations happen:
- We become reasonably convinced you are at risk of harm or others, OR
- We become reasonably convinced another person is at risk of harm, OR
- A court order or subpoena requests information.
- You can request that we share some information with other health professionals or supportive adults, it is up to you.
- We keep your paper and electronic information safe from access by people who are not authorised to access it by using locked filing cabinets to store paper copies of your files, that are only accessible by psychologists at Brave HQ. Digital files are kept on secure servers protected by the highest levels of encryption and password protected computers.
Parents
Do I need a referral?
Parents, teachers, paediatricians, GP’s, psychiatrists can make a referral of a child with the consent of the guardian. Young Adults and Adults may self-refer. Once you have contacted Brave HQ, we will send out initial forms to gain a better understanding of the referral, and to start our thinking process about your needs.
How do I prepare my child? What do I tell them?
Counselling
We encourage parents to have a chat with their child expressing why they would like them to see our psychologists at Brave HQ. During the first session depending on the age of the child, we will play a couple of games, draw and have a casual chat. During this time, we explain what our role as a psychologist is and confidentiality with your child.
Assessments
Before your first visit with us, let your child know a psychologist can help understand more about emotions, behaviour, and learning. You may mention the things you have noticed that are difficult or easy, and that a psychologist is a person who can explain if those things are important to give more attention to. Help your child understand they will be coming to the centre and doing some puzzles and games with a grown- up who is interested in how they best like to learn.
Tutoring
Teenagers can be initially distressed or resistant to the idea of ‘getting help’ with their studies. They may feel like they are stupid, or dumber than their peers. In fact, we tutor a huge range of people, from those entering medicine, to young people experiencing problems associated with ADHD or a learning disability like dyslexia. Tutoring can be like having a cool older sibling that knows lots of interesting stuff, and who focuses on your enjoyment of learning rather than just your grades. It can be a huge relief to know that there are many students who need more one on one attention to do as well as they would like. The benefits of tutoring could be compared to the differences between going to a gym and seeing a personal trainer. They may feel bad about their current levels of achievement, but you can let them know we are working hard to direct them towards where they would like to be.
What happens in an assessment session?
A psychologist will interact with the child one on one to complete the psychometric assessments, usually over a number of sessions. Although assessment sessions are not physically exhausting they are mentally, so they are typically scheduled in the morning. Once the session is complete the psychologist will update you on the progress of the assessment, but will not mention any results unless they feel it is extremely important to do so.
What do I need to bring to the assessment session?
Please bring the completed forms and questionnaires. If you have been referred by a health professional (Psychiatrist, Paediatrician, Neurologist, Doctor, Psychologist, Speech or Occupational Therapist, Optometrist, or Audiologist) please bring along the referral letter and any reports. Any school information that you think will help us i.e. school reports for the last couple of years, example of child’s written work, NAPLAN reports, and academic transcript if at university. It is important that if your child wears glasses to bring them along. If your child is taking any prescribed medication, please discuss this with your psychologist prior to your appointment. Children are allowed to bring a snack and drink bottle if they like, otherwise we have water available.
How much does everything cost?
Please see the fees page for further information, or find and click the service you are seeking from the shelf at the top of the page.
How do I access Medicare and private health insurance rebates?
Medicare rebates are available for selected services. You are welcome to call us and discuss this, otherwise have a chat with your GP to discuss your eligibility. Each Private Health Fund differs in the rebates and service coverage available. Some specify your psychologist must be clinically endorsed. You will need to speak to your Private Health Fund directly to discuss your specific policy.
What are your payment terms?
- Fees can be paid by EFTPOS or credit card at the end of the session through our HICAPS terminal. The HICAPS terminal supports gap payments through your Private Health Fund (please check with your provider regarding your level of cover).
- Bills paid by third parties such as Workcover or employers will incur additional GST.
What is your cancellation policy?
When you make an appointment, we reserve that time for you and spend time preparing and planning for the session. In the case of assessments, we reserve use of our equipment from other psychologists and set up the room and testing materials. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to fill appointments vacated due to cancellation or rebooking at the last minute, and to cover the costs of staff.
If you need to cancel an appointment, please call us at (03) 9772 4772 by 2pm two business days prior to your scheduled appointment to notify us of any changes or cancellations. To cancel a Monday appointment, please call our office by 2pm on Thursday.
Appointment reminders are sent 3 days before your appointment, and so you have 24 hours to make changes if needed. Cancellations made within two business days will attract a charge equal to 50% of the appointment cost. You cannot claim any rebates on services that have not been delivered.
