Questions, answered honestly

A relaxed conversation by phone or video. You share what's been bringing you to therapy, as much or as little as feels right. I listen and ask a few clarifying questions. You ask anything you'd like to ask of me. By the end we both have a sense of whether the work is a fit. Nothing to prepare, nothing you have to say.

No referral is needed. You can self-refer directly by booking a discovery call. GPs and other healthcare providers are welcome to refer patients directly but it isn't required.

Not for therapy — that's what the 50-minute sessions are for. The discovery call is a different thing: a low-stakes first contact, enough to get a feel for me, ask the questions on your mind, and decide whether you'd like to book a first session. If you do, we go from there.

That's completely fine. Most people don't, especially the first time. I'll ask. We'll find a way in. You don't need to have your story prepared, and you don't need to know what you're hoping for. Often the not-knowing is part of why you're reaching out.

The first session is 50 minutes and is more spacious than the discovery call. I'll want to understand the nature of what's bringing you, and a bit about who you are and where you've been. You'll get a fuller feel for how I work. By the end we'll have a sense of where to go next and how often we might meet.

Ongoing 50-minute sessions are $150. A small number of reduced-fee places are held for clients for whom cost is a real barrier — feel free to mention this on the discovery call if it applies to you. Payment is by bank transfer, card, or cash.

No. I'm a PACFA-registered psychotherapist rather than a psychologist, so Medicare's Better Access scheme doesn't apply to sessions with me. This is a gap in the scheme, not a reflection of the depth or quality of the work. If Medicare access is essential for you, I'm happy to point you toward Medicare-eligible practitioners I trust, including Girish Hiremath at Manas Psychology in the same building.

Many private health funds do cover sessions with PACFA-registered psychotherapists under extras cover — typically rebating $50–$80 per session. Funds that usually include PACFA psychotherapists: Bupa, Medibank, ahm, HCF, GMHBA, Westfund, Teachers Health, Doctors' Health Fund, plus most ARHG-cluster funds (Australian Unity, CBHS, Defence Health, Frank, Latrobe, Nurses & Midwives, Peoplecare, Police Health, rt health, St Luke's, Transport Health).

Check your policy's psychology, counselling, or psychotherapy extras category, confirm PACFA is listed, then call your fund to verify the per-session rebate. More on fees and rebates →

Pay the full $150 at or after the session, then claim the rebate through your fund's app or member portal. You'll need the receipt, which includes the session date, fee, and PACFA registration number (#32932). Most funds process claims within 1–3 business days.

Yes. A small number of reduced-fee places are held for people experiencing genuine financial hardship — health care card holders, those on income support, or anyone for whom the full fee is a real barrier. Mention it when you book and we'll work out something that fits. No one should be turned away because of cost.

Yes, if you are NDIS plan-managed or self-managed. Plan-managed participants can use their Improved Daily Living budget for psychotherapy sessions. Agency-managed participants are not currently covered under standard NDIS pricing for psychotherapy. More about NDIS psychotherapy →

Sessions are 50 minutes. Most clients meet weekly, which is what the evidence and my clinical experience both suggest works best for ongoing depth work. Fortnightly is possible after the early stage of work for clients who are settling in well.

It depends on what's bringing you. Symptom relief often happens in 10–20 sessions. Deeper change to long-standing patterns typically takes longer — 50+ sessions is not unusual for work with developmental trauma or attachment patterns. We talk about timeframes openly as we go, and your length of work is yours to decide.

Yes. I offer secure video sessions for clients anywhere in Australia and internationally. I use Signal by default for its privacy protections — it's a free download if you don't already have it. Zoom is also available. The work translates well to online; many clients prefer it for the comfort and reduced travel.

Psychologists are registered with AHPRA, often work within structured short-term protocols like CBT, and are Medicare-rebatable. Psychotherapists train specifically in the therapeutic relationship and tend to specialise in modalities like somatic, attachment, and existential work — depth-oriented and open-ended. Both are qualified mental health professionals. The difference is usually in approach and depth, not in quality. I'm registered with PACFA (Reg. #32932), the peak body for psychotherapists and counsellors in Australia.

A lot of the people I see have done therapy before. They've used their Medicare sessions, found CBT useful up to a point, and come away with the sense that something underneath never quite got reached. My work is somatic and relational — we pay attention to what's happening in your body in the room, not just the story you're telling about it. That tends to be the work that comes after the work. More on how I work →

We talk about this openly — what changes you're noticing, what isn't shifting, what you're hoping for. The shifts often show up first in your body and in your relationships before they show up in the story you tell about yourself. Therapy that's working tends to make life feel more workable, not less complicated. If something doesn't feel like it's moving, we talk about that too.

Somatic psychotherapy is work that includes the body, not just the mind. We pay attention to what's happening in your nervous system, your breath, your sensations, your physical patterns — alongside what you're thinking and saying. Trauma and long-standing patterns are often held more in the body than in language; somatic work meets them where they live. I draw on techniques from Somatic Experiencing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. More on somatic psychotherapy →

The Three Pillars of Integrative Attachment Therapy (Brown & Elliott) is a structured framework for working with the kind of trauma that lives in the attachment system — disorganised attachment, complex relational trauma, the patterns we developed early to survive. The three pillars are collaboration, metacognition, and Ideal Parent Figures. I'm trained in Level 1. This pairs naturally with body-aware work, since attachment trauma is held in the nervous system as much as in our stories. More on attachment therapy →

Yes. Much of my work is with people carrying complex or developmental trauma — the kind of trauma that comes from repeated, prolonged, or early-life adversity rather than a single event. The work is gentle, paced, and body-aware. We don't re-live the past; we work with how it's living in you now. More on trauma therapy →

Yes. I see male clients of all ages and welcome this work — men in midlife, men navigating relationship breakdown, men carrying trauma or grief, men working with identity. It's one of several areas I work in, alongside trauma, anxiety, depression, and integrative depth work more broadly. More on men's therapy →

Yes. I have a particular interest in working with adults in later life — the existential transitions that come with ageing, end-of-life reflection, grief and loss, identity questions, and the longer arc of what a life has meant. Depth therapy at this stage of life is something I welcome and have time for.

In Bendigo, I see clients at the Depth Psychotherapy Collective, 3 Lansell Street, Kangaroo Flat VIC 3555 — about 10 minutes south of Bendigo CBD via the Calder Highway. Off-street parking is available. Kangaroo Flat station is a short walk from the practice. More on the Bendigo practice →

In Kyneton, I see clients at 29 High Street — inside 29 twentynine Collaborative Allied Health, in the heart of town. Free street parking is available. Easily reached from Woodend, Gisborne, Mount Macedon, Castlemaine, Malmsbury, Trentham, Riddells Creek, and surrounding areas. More on the Kyneton practice →

What you share in therapy is confidential. I'm bound by PACFA's professional ethics and by Australian law to keep what we discuss private. The narrow exceptions are if there's serious risk of harm to you or someone else, if notes are subpoenaed by a court, or if there are legal concerns about child or elder abuse. I'll always talk through these openly if they ever come up.

I ask for 48 hours notice to reschedule. Cancellations within 24 hours of the session incur the full fee. If something genuinely unexpected comes up, get in touch — there's always room for a conversation.

Sometimes the fit isn't right, or it's right at first and then it isn't. That's normal — and naming it openly is part of how good therapy works. If you'd like to move on, we can talk about it, and I'll help you find someone who might suit better. There's no judgement either way.

Bank transfer (invoiced after sessions), card, or cash. Bank transfer is the most common. Invoices are sent by email and can be used for private health claims — they include the session date, fee, and PACFA registration number (#32932).