top of page
Counselling
&
 Family Therapy Services
DRL_Facebook_Shared Image_1200x630px2.jp

Counselling and family therapy for individuals, couples and families:

I love all things wellbeing and family.  

This means I love to support individuals, couples, and families of all constellations.

 

As a Clinical Family Therapist and Psychologist, I work with a range of clients and situations:

  • Stress 

  • Coping with Challenges in Life e.g., Bullying, Peer Relationships

  • Coping with Changes in Life e.g., developmental transitions (becoming a couple, starting a family, young children, teenage years), family transitions (separation, blended families)

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Trauma experiences and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

  • Grief and Loss

  • Relationship Difficulties - Couples, Parent-Child, and Families

  • Self Esteem & Self Worth

  • Parenting

  • Behavioural Difficulties with children and teenagers

Everyone deserves the chance to focus on their wellbeing, as well as any challenges they may be facing.  Sometimes people like to do this individually, sometimes as a couple and sometimes as a family.

 

Helping individuals – children, teenagers, adults – supports their wellbeing and also the wellbeing of the family.  Relationships are so important and valuable…and also tricky at times so as a Family Therapist I also like to support couples and families.  Whether I am seeing an individual, couple or family, I am always thinking about people as belonging somewhere and as having strengths, resources and capacities that can be accessed on life's journey.

I am a registered practitioner with Medicare Australia and accept Better Access to Mental Health Care referrals from your General Practitioner (GP).  Under this initiative your doctor can create a treatment plan and you can claim for up to 10 sessions each calendar year with a mental health professional. 

 

 

 

Fees:

1 hour consultation: $200.00

​Medicare rebate if eligible: $87.45

For couple and family consultations a 1 1/2 hour initial consultation may be recommended $300.00

Your private health fund may also give a rebate - please check with your private health fund prior to booking a consultation.

​​​​​​Cancellation of appointments require 24 hours notice.  Without 24 hours notice a fee of 50% of the booked consultation will be incurred.

Single Session Therapy:

Since the start of the pandemic, the need for support has significantly increased and it has also become increasingly difficult for individuals, couples, and families to access support.  In 2022 the Australian Psychological Society reported that on average the wait for services was 3 to 6 months, that waitlists were growing and that 1 in 3 Psychologists were unable to take on new clients.

 

Given this current context one option for support that I offer to increase accessibility of service is Single Session Therapy.  Research studies have shown that most people (70 -  80%) who attend one counselling or psychotherapy session report that a single session was sufficient in helping with the problem they brought in. And, at follow-up, the majority of people also reported “ripple effects” occurred with other aspects of life that weren’t directly worked on in the session.

 

Single session therapy (SST) is an evidence-based approach to help identify and address challenges in a brief way, usually from one to three sessions (so not necessarily a “single” session).  In the single session therapy approach the focus is to prioritise a person, couple, or family’s needs within the time limitations.  Single Session Therapy approaches each session as if it were the last and seeks the maximize the time available.

 

The SST approach can be helpful to address specific issues, and to shift any "stuck" patterns in life and relationships, improve communication, create a more hopeful outlook, and identify next steps that may or may not involve more counselling. This happens via a focus on your most immediate issue, defining a clear, specific goal to work towards, focusing on your strengths and skills, and helping you to identify and practice things to become “unstuck”. 

 

Sessions are 90-minute consultations, of focused, solution-oriented support, including the identification of a forward plan and any relevant resources.  

 

For more detailed easy to read information about the Single Session Therapy approach:

https://www.oprah.com/health_wellness/what-is-single-session-therapy

Single Session Consultation Fee (90 minutes): $300

Medicare rebate if eligible: $87.45

​Your private health fund may also give a rebate - please check with your private health fund prior to booking a consultation.

​​​​​​Cancellation of appointments require 24 hours notice.  Without 24 hours notice a fee of 50% of the booked consultation will be incurred.

Dr Leonie White Services.png
bottom of page