Guide

How to choose a counsellor

Finding a counsellor can feel like one more thing to work out at a moment when you already have plenty to carry. In Australia, counselling is not a single regulated profession, so the practical questions below matter more than the marketing on any website.

Training, registration and accountability

Ask what training the person has completed and whether they belong to a professional body. Membership of a peak counselling body, such as the Australian Counselling Association, means the practitioner has met a minimum training standard, works to a code of ethics and has access to a complaints process. A counsellor who is also a registered psychologist, social worker or occupational therapist will usually hold a Medicare provider number; counsellors outside those professions generally cannot offer Medicare rebates, which is worth knowing before you assume a referral will lower the cost.

Cost, length and cancellation terms

Good practitioners publish their fees plainly, including how long a session runs and what happens if you need to cancel. Two services charging the same hourly rate can end up costing very different amounts if one offers 50 minute sessions and the other offers 60, or if one charges the full fee for a late cancellation and the other holds a partial credit. It is reasonable to ask these questions before your first appointment.

Fit matters more than modality

Every counsellor has an approach — person-centred, narrative, trauma-informed, systemic — and each has evidence behind it, but the strongest predictor of whether therapy helps is the working relationship. You should feel able to say when something is not landing. If a counsellor cannot hear that, the method will not save the work. It is also fine to have one or two sessions and decide the fit is not right; a practitioner who reacts badly to that has told you something useful.

Practicality, privacy and access

Check how sessions are delivered, where the practice stores notes, and who else may be told what you discuss. Confidentiality has limits around serious risk, child protection and legal obligations, and a practitioner should be able to explain those limits in plain language rather than in policy jargon. If you are a young person, ask directly how privacy works and whether a parent or caregiver needs to be involved. If video sessions are offered, think about whether you have somewhere private enough to speak freely.

What qualifications and registration does this person hold?
How long are sessions, and what do they cost?
Is there a cancellation policy, and what does it mean in practice?
How does confidentiality work, and what are its limits?
Is the counsellor experienced with what you are bringing?
How will you know whether it is working?

Notes from this practice

Getting started

What a first counselling session is actually like

The first appointment is often the one people feel most uncertain about. Here is what actually happens in it, and what you are not expected to bring.

A first session is not an assessment you can fail. Most people arrive without a tidy summary of why they are there, and that is fine. The work of the first appointment is mostly figuring out what has been happening and what you would like to be different.

In this practice the first session runs 90 minutes, at the same fee as an ongoing session, so there is room to talk properly rather than spend the hour on an intake form. It usually starts with what brought you in, moves through some history and context, and finishes with a shared sense of whether meeting again makes sense and how often.

You can ask questions at any point, including about confidentiality, notes, fees and cancellation terms. You are also allowed to decide the fit is not right. Nothing is locked in after a first session, and you will not be asked to commit to a fixed number of appointments.

Practicalities

Do you need a referral, a diagnosis or a plan?

You do not need a GP referral or a mental health treatment plan to book with a counsellor. Here is what that means for cost and access.

No referral is needed to make an appointment here, and you do not need a diagnosis or a documented reason to seek counselling. You can book directly into the online calendar.

The trade-off is that Medicare rebates are generally not available for counselling outside the registered health professions, so sessions are paid for privately. Fees are published on this site, payment is due 24 hours before each appointment, and a prepay by instalments option exists if it helps to spread the cost.

If you do have a mental health treatment plan, it is still worth mentioning, because a plan may make a different service or clinician more affordable, and that comparison is yours to make with full information.

Still weighing it up? Ask a question.

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