Treatment and Assessment

What to expect

During your first session your psychologist will provide you with information about confidentiality and consent. You and your psychologist will discuss your reasons for wanting you (or your child) to attend therapy and then together you will develop goals for treatment. Please allow one and a half hours for the first session and 50 minutes for ongoing sessions.

All clients of NFC undergo an assessment phase to identify the nature of their difficulties, inform the treating therapist’s understanding of the best course of action, and thus ensure that clients receive the most appropriate recommendations. The duration of the assessment phase may vary depending on the presenting problem(s), but usually takes up to three sessions, and is followed by a feedback session where the assessment results are presented to the client(s). During this phase, clients are asked to complete a set of self-report measures that are used to consolidate the treating therapist’s clinical understanding.

Since NFC is also a research facility, you will be informed of specific research projects that might be suitable for you if it arises during your assessment or treatment. Participation in these projects is entirely voluntary and refusal to participate will not affect the services provided to you in any way whatsoever.

For cognitive assessments, the process also generally requires three to four sessions and is conducted over two to four weeks, with a professional report summarising findings and recommendations provided to you at the end of the assessment period. It is our general policy that this report be delivered in a face-to-face or video conferencing appointment so that it can be clearly explained, and we can answer any questions you might have.

We cannot offer service for the following problems:

Emergency or crisis situations: Services at the Clinic are provided by provisional psychologists who are currently not qualified to manage psychiatric crisis situations. Therefore, we do not provide emergency services to clients.
Legal issues and court reports: Due to their provisional registration, our psychologists are not recognised as ‘experts’ by the legal system. As such, reports prepared by our therapists will not be recognised as expert evidence in court proceedings.
Autism Spectrum Disorders: We do not provide assessment for diagnosis of a childhood autistic spectrum disorder, although we do offer treatment.
Complex medical condition diagnoses (e.g. epilepsy, brain injuries, and brain tumours): These services are best conducted by Clinical Neuropsychologists who can be seen at Public health or Private Clinics.

Child
Adult

Treatment

Anxiety, worry, phobias and OCD
Social and behavioural problems associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Bedtime and sleep problems
Bedwetting and soiling
Behaviour problems and parenting
Depression, low mood and self-esteem problems
Feeding problems and restrictive eating
Problems with family or peer relationships

Assessment

Learning problems - If your child is struggling with learning at school, or if you have concerns prior to them starting Kindergarten, we are able to assess their cognitive and functional ability as well as their current levels of academic achievement. This will provide you with information about your child’s relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as identifying if there are specific learning disabilities or other explanations for these concerns.

Behavioural and emotional problems - Children can experience problems with behaviour and emotion for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there are underlying learning or developmental issues that are contributing (e.g. ADHD), and sometimes there are a range of home or school stresses. Behavioural and emotional assessments generally involve interviews with your child and yourself, school contact/observation, and completion of a range of measures.

We do not provide diagnostic assessments for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) but can provide a screening test and then recommend further diagnostic assessment.

Treatment

We offer psychological treatments for the following problems:

ADHD
Anger management
Anxiety, phobias and stress
Chronic pain
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Depression and low mood
Grief and bereavement
Insomnia and other sleep problems
Interpersonal difficulties
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Personality disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Specific phobias
Trauma

Assessment

Learning and attention problems If you have always struggled with learning at school, TAFE, and/or University, or you are finding it hard to get or maintain a job we are able to assess your cognitive, behavioural, and functional ability, as well as, your current levels of academic achievement. This will provide you with information about your relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as identifying if there is an intellectual disability, any specific learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or other explanations for your concerns.
Functional - NDIS / Centrelink eligibility assessments If you have a known diagnosis that impairs your cognitive functioning and need a support letter for your NDIS / Centrelink application we can help you determine your relative strengths and weaknesses and how they impact on your day to day functioning. We will then write a letter of support for your application to NDIS / Centrelink. Please note, if you do not have a diagnosis, this assessment will not provide one.
We do not offer diagnosis of complex medical condition diagnoses (e.g. dementia, epilepsy). Functional assessments for complex medical conditions (e.g. brain tumours, brain injuries) are more appropriate for Public health where they have access to your medical records. We do not provide diagnostic assessments for adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) but can provide a screening test and then recommend further diagnostic assessment.