FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Getting Started
The booking process involves the following simple steps:
- Contact our friendly reception team and they will get a brief understanding of your treatment needs and match you with a therapist who has experience in those areas and who has current availability.
- Our admin team will book your first appointment and send you a confirmation email. Following this, you will be sent a couple of Intake forms for you to complete which gives us your contact details. We will also provide you with and ask you to sign our Client Agreement.
- Following this, we will set up your billing information. If you have a GP referral and Mental Health Care Plan, you can send this through or bring it along to your first session. Other types of funding will need to be set up prior to the first session.
Our reception team are very experienced at matching people to a suitable therapist. Upon initial contact, our Admin team will ask you about your needs and preferences. This will include questions such as:
- A brief description of what you are seeking therapy for?
- Any specific treatments that you are particularly interested in or have been suggested to you?
- Any factors that you really do or really don’t want in your therapist?
- What days / times you are available for appointments?
They will then be able to link you with the most suitable therapist.
Of course, we cannot guarantee that you will feel your therapist is the right fit for you. If this is an issue, we encourage you to discuss this with your therapist or go back to our Admin team, and we can help you to resolve this. It is important to be able to develop a good therapeutic alliance with your psychologist and if that doesn’t happen, it can be detrimental to your treatment progress.
In your first session, your therapist will explore what has brought you to therapy, your current situation, as well as a history of the issues you are wanting to address. The initial stages of therapy are sometimes referred to as a “psychological assessment” and will generally carry over at least the first two sessions. This process ensures your therapist has a good understanding of your experiences, enabling you and your therapist to create a treatment plan which is tailored to you.
Sessions will typically last for 50 minutes.
In your first session, your therapist will explore what has brought you to therapy, your current situation, as well as a history of the issues you are wanting to address. The initial stages of therapy are sometimes referred to as a “psychological assessment” and will generally carry over at least the first two sessions. This process ensures your therapist has a good understanding of your experiences, enabling you and your therapist to create a treatment plan which is tailored to you.
Sessions will typically last for 50 minutes.
This is difficult to predict, but is something that you and your therapist will start to discuss from the first session. The number of sessions required is influenced by many variables including the complexity and the history of the issues being treated.
We typically see clients and couples aged over 18. We have some limited availability for clients between the age of 13-18 years.
Costs/Funding
Please contact our reception for our fee schedule
Please contact our reception for our fee schedule
You don’t need a referral. However if you do obtain a GP referral and Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP), this will allow you to access Medicare rebates which will make your psychology appointments more cost effective.
To be eligible for a Medicare rebate you will need to book a long consultation with your GP or psychiatrist, who can provide you with both a referral and Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP). Your doctor may arrange for these documents to be sent directly to Cova, or you may bring them along with you to your first appointment.
Your Mental Health Care Plan will entitle you to rebates on your psychology sessions for up to 10 sessions per calendar year. The rebates reduce your out-of-pocket expenses, though will not cover the full cost of your appointments.
If you have your bank account details linked with Medicare, we can process your Medicare rebate at the same time you pay your fee. Rebates typically take 24-48 hours to show up in your bank account.
Many health insurance providers cover a portion of psychology sessions under Extras cover. The coverage will depend on your insurer and your individual plan. Contact your health insurance provider direct to discuss their coverage of psychology sessions.
Many health insurance providers cover a portion of psychology sessions under Extras cover. The coverage will depend on your insurer and your individual plan. Contact your health insurance provider direct to discuss their coverage of psychology sessions.
At Cova Psychology, most of our therapists are able to provide services funded by a range of third parties including NDIS, WorkCover, TAC, DVA, Victims of Crime and Melbourne City Mission.
No. Cova Psychology is not a bulk billing practice and we do not offer concession prices.
Telehealth/Online Sessions
“Telehealth” refers to health services being provided via communication with an audio and visual connection. At Cova, sessions are held through video conferencing (Zoom) or by phone. Aside from the format, telehealth sessions are the same as in-person sessions – the sessions last 50 minutes, the cost is the same and we will provide the same high quality psychological care to clients.
“Telehealth” refers to health services being provided via communication with an audio and visual connection. At Cova, sessions are held through video conferencing (Zoom) or by phone. Aside from the format, telehealth sessions are the same as in-person sessions – the sessions last 50 minutes, the cost is the same and we will provide the same high quality psychological care to clients.
Yes. Telehealth sessions can be accessed by all Australians, irrespective of where they are living (previously it was restricted to people living in rural and regional areas). As with face-to-face sessions, you can access Medicare rebates with a referral and Mental Health Care Plan. The referral/MHCP is exactly the same, does not need to specify telehealth, and can be used for in-person or telehealth sessions at your discretion.
Accessing a psychologist via telehealth has become much more common since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth sessions obviously allow people to access therapy with much greater ease and convenience, allow people to seek out therapists with greater expertise or earlier availability that might not live geographically close to them, and enable sessions to be held in the comfort and safety of your own environment.
Understandably though, there have been questions asked about the relative efficacy of telehealth vs face-to-face therapy. Reassuringly, a recent meta-analysis (where you group together lots of separate studies) showed that telehealth was as effective or better! [Snoswell, et al., 2021]
Accessing a psychologist via telehealth has become much more common since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth sessions obviously allow people to access therapy with much greater ease and convenience, allow people to seek out therapists with greater expertise or earlier availability that might not live geographically close to them, and enable sessions to be held in the comfort and safety of your own environment.
Understandably though, there have been questions asked about the relative efficacy of telehealth vs face-to-face therapy. Reassuringly, a recent meta-analysis (where you group together lots of separate studies) showed that telehealth was as effective or better! [Snoswell, et al., 2021]
There are some points to keep in mind when setting up a telehealth session:
- Technology – It goes without saying that a telehealth session can really suffer if your internet/device is struggling! Try and test this out before the session to have this working optimally.
- Privacy – Obviously confidentiality is important, so make sure you can be in a space where you know that no one can hear (and maybe see) you. Sometimes earphones can help with this, but again test it out first! There is nothing worse than worrying that your housemates/parents/work colleagues are privy to your therapy session!
- Distractions – You will need a quiet, uninterrupted space to really focus. Make sure you are off the work meeting, that someone else is looking after the kids/energetic puppy and the TV/phone/etc is off!
- Camera – Set up your camera so that your therapist can see your face and the level of light allows them to see your expression. Whilst therapy sessions can be done on the phone, the communication is much better if you can both see as well as hear each other!
To learn more about telehealth please click here.
EMDR
Yes we do. Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a type of psychological treatment offered by virtually all therapists at Cova.
Yes we do. Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a type of psychological treatment offered by virtually all therapists at Cova.
If you are interested in EMDR, please let our Admin team when making your first booking.
The initial phases of EMDR start like most other therapies – with a full psychological assessment – and this is completed before commencing any trauma processing. As is standard in all sessions, you and your therapist will then develop a treatment plan, and decide whether it is appropriate to engage in other therapeutic work first and at what stage to commence trauma processing.
Once you begin trauma processing, you and your therapist may choose to move to 80-min sessions. The possibility and rational for this will be discussed with you by your therapist. It should be noted that the Medicare rebate is capped and does not increase for the longer sessions. This means that the gap between the Medicare rebate and the overall cost of the appointment will be higher if you choose this option.
To learn more about EMDR please click here.
If you are interested in EMDR, please let our Admin team when making your first booking.
The initial phases of EMDR start like most other therapies – with a full psychological assessment – and this is completed before commencing any trauma processing. As is standard in all sessions, you and your therapist will then develop a treatment plan, and decide whether it is appropriate to engage in other therapeutic work first and at what stage to commence trauma processing.
Once you begin trauma processing, you and your therapist may choose to move to 80-min sessions. The possibility and rational for this will be discussed with you by your therapist. It should be noted that the Medicare rebate is capped and does not increase for the longer sessions. This means that the gap between the Medicare rebate and the overall cost of the appointment will be higher if you choose this option.
To learn more about EMDR please click here.
Couples Therapy
Couples therapy or relationship counselling has a slightly different process to individual therapy at Cova. For couples therapy, the first session runs for 80 minutes and both people attend together. This is then followed by two individual assessment sessions which each member of the couple will attend separately (for 50 minutes). These initial three sessions are for your therapist to assess you as a couple & then individually. Following this, you will meet and discuss the next stages of therapy.
Unfortunately couples therapy sessions are not eligible for Medicare rebates. Sometimes though, private health insurance can be used to help cover the cost of sessions.
To learn more about Couples Therapy please click here.
Couples therapy or relationship counselling has a slightly different process to individual therapy at Cova. For couples therapy, the first session runs for 80 minutes and both people attend together. This is then followed by two individual assessment sessions which each member of the couple will attend separately (for 50 minutes). These initial three sessions are for your therapist to assess you as a couple & then individually. Following this, you will meet and discuss the next stages of therapy.
Unfortunately couples therapy sessions are not eligible for Medicare rebates. Sometimes though, private health insurance can be used to help cover the cost of sessions.
To learn more about Couples Therapy please click here.
Other
Confidentiality is a key part of our service. Our confidentiality terms will typically be sent to you, in writing, prior to your first appointment (as part of the Client Agreement) and these will be discussed with you in your first session. As a general rule, your information is kept completely private unless:
- Your therapist is worried about the safety of either you or other people
- Feedback is being provided to a referring party (for example, your GP)
- It is subpoenaed by a court or otherwise required/authorised by law.
- You have provided consent for your information to be shared with a third party.
Please talk to your therapist if you have questions/concerns regarding any of this.
Confidentiality is a key part of our service. Our confidentiality terms will typically be sent to you, in writing, prior to your first appointment (as part of the Client Agreement) and these will be discussed with you in your first session. As a general rule, your information is kept completely private unless:
- Your therapist is worried about the safety of either you or other people
- Feedback is being provided to a referring party (for example, your GP)
- It is subpoenaed by a court or otherwise required/authorised by law.
- You have provided consent for your information to be shared with a third party.
Please talk to your therapist if you have questions/concerns regarding any of this.
Our cancellation terms will also be provided to you prior to your first attendance at the clinic. Our cancellation policy is that we ask that you to give us at least 48 hours notice if you wish to change or cancel your appointment. The primary reason we charge a fee for late cancellations is to value the time of the psychologist which has been booked, as well as being able to service other clients in need. At late notice, it is unlikely that the appointment time can be filled with another client.
Unfortunately, Medicare rebates cannot be claimed on cancellation fees. If you wish to discuss a cancellation fee that has been applied to you or our cancellation policy in general, please get in touch with Cova’s reception.
At Cova, we highly value your feedback! We want to run the best practice possible and your feedback is such important information for us to be able to do this! We strive for all of our clients to experience the highest quality care, from their first interaction with our reception staff, to their psychological treatment with their therapist. Please feel free to share your experience with us at any time. At certain time points during your therapy, we will seek out your feedback. This is so that we can ensure that we are meeting our standards of care, as well as bringing our attention to any areas that could be tweaked or improved.
If you’re not satisfied with your experience at Cova, we definitely want to hear about it! We would encourage you to raise issues with your therapist directly, or alternatively, you can contact our reception if you would like to share your feedback with our directors.
At Cova, we highly value your feedback! We want to run the best practice possible and your feedback is such important information for us to be able to do this! We strive for all of our clients to experience the highest quality care, from their first interaction with our reception staff, to their psychological treatment with their therapist. Please feel free to share your experience with us at any time. At certain time points during your therapy, we will seek out your feedback. This is so that we can ensure that we are meeting our standards of care, as well as bringing our attention to any areas that could be tweaked or improved.
If you’re not satisfied with your experience at Cova, we definitely want to hear about it! We would encourage you to raise issues with your therapist directly, or alternatively, you can contact our reception if you would like to share your feedback with our directors.
Getting To Us
We are located at Suite 19, 12 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000. We are located on the first floor. You will need to go up the stairs/lift and then keep walking around until you reach Suite 19.
We are located at Suite 19, 12 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000. We are located on the first floor. You will need to go up the stairs/lift and then keep walking around until you reach Suite 19.
The clinic is very close to Parliament station and there are many nearby tram stops (the building entrance is directly opposite the trams that run along Collins St – Tram Stop #8 Spring St/Collins St).
In terms of driving, nearby off-street parking can be found in the surrounding streets of the CBD, or in East Melbourne (along Macarthur St, Gisborne St, St Andrews Pl, Cathedral Pl or Albert St). There also a number of parking building nearby such as First Parking (34-60 Little Collins St) or Secure Parking (12-20 Flinders Lane). Allow extra time to find a car park, especially for your first appointment.
We do have wheelchair access to our building. You will need to let us know if you require this as we will be letting you in a separate door at the back of the building (which can only be opened with a key). Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access to the toilets in our building.
We do have wheelchair access to our building. You will need to let us know if you require this as we will be letting you in a separate door at the back of the building (which can only be opened with a key). Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access to the toilets in our building.
Crisis Lines
If you are requiring more urgent/emergency help (for example, you or another person is in crisis or considering acting upon suicidal or homicidal thoughts), it may be more appropriate to call 000 or one of the numbers below:
Lifeline Australia – 13 11 14
A 24-hour/7 days telephone service providing crisis support and suicide prevention services.
Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
A 24-hour/7 days phone and online counselling to people affected by suicide.
If you are located in Victoria, you can also contact the Crisis Assessment and Treatment Teams (CAT Teams) in an emergency. These are accessed based on your geographical area so you will need to go to the following website and click on the link for your region to determine which number to call.
