If you are willing to have information about you shared with others (e.g., your family, key support people, school, etc), we will talk about it with you and get your written permission to do so.

In these instances, we might share information with relevant people including, but not limited to, your parent or guardian, significant other, doctor, nurse, teacher, or the police.

In these instances, we might share information with relevant people including, but not limited to, your parent or guardian, significant other, doctor, nurse, teacher, or the police.

Supervision is something that all psychologists should have and is when a psychologist meets with another psychologist to discuss the work they are doing with clients. This is important because it checks the work that we are doing with you, and helps us to learn new skills. Supervision itself is confidential, and in most circumstances the supervisor will not be given any information that will specifically identify you.

Sometimes we might need to get some extra information about you from other people or agencies so that we can understand you, your history and your needs better. If this is necessary we will get your written permission to do so.

Complete the referral form on the referrals page with as much relevant information as you can.

We will be in touch as soon as possible with a cost estimate, or to gather more information if we need to develop an individualised quote. Please follow all instructions we give you and supply as much of the information we ask for as possible in a timely manner.

Once we have sent you a price estimate or quote, contact us as soon as you decide to go ahead our services. We often receive lots of referrals and being prompt in your communication with us will decrease the likelihood of you having to wait for a long time before accessing our services.

Read through the Tips for Preparation and Tips for Success for information that will help to make our services more effective for you.

After our quote is approved, and order for services received, we will make contact with you. We will request information about the individual being referred, such as a case summary and historical documentation. We will also request contact information for the individual and their support people, and other people it may be necessary to make contact with or involve in the assessment or intervention.

Please inform us of the reporting requirements of your agency/organisation, for example, whether we are required to send assessment results to you directly, or whether we are required to send regular progress reports.

When we have all of the background and contact information we require, we will make contact with the client and/or their support people to arrange an appointment.

During our first meeting with the client, we will explain our therapy agreement, and obtain consent from the client to fulfil the reporting requirements of the agency and to involve all of the necessary people.

Try to identify or eliminate any possible physical or medical causes of your concern by arranging for assessment by health professionals such as your doctor or dentist.

Make notes about developmental milestones such as pregnancy and birth details, when first crawled, walked, first words and sentences, diagnoses, and key life events like significant periods of illness, moving houses/schools, bereavements.
Gather historical reports, letters and documents that may be useful, from relevant parties such as psychologists, doctors, school, preschool, support agencies.

Write down descriptions of any relevant behaviour, in enough detail that someone could visualise it happening. Alternatively, video the behaviour. Specify how often the behaviour you are concerned about happens by marking instances in a diary or calendar.
Make notes about any strategies that have been used to manage the behaviour and how effective the strategies were.

Prepare the people involved for the likelihood of therapy or an intervention, as it may be that their behaviour, routines and environments have to change in order to best help the person needing support.

We need lots of information to get an accurate picture of what is going on. Sometimes we will need you to share information that can be uncomfortable to talk about, we will take time with you to make sure that we minimise any distress in giving us the information we need.

If you are ever confused or need clarification about something that comes up in an appointment, please feel free to ask us in person or contact us after a session.

If we develop a targeted support plan around a specific behaviour of concern, follow all of the steps we set. If you are accessing broad therapeutic support, we will sometimes set homework tasks designed to help you develop your thinking and practice strategies. Make an effort to complete any tasks we set for you outside of the session, and enlist the aid of any significant support people who can help you to do so.

A good psychologist will generally take some time to integrate all of the assessment findings, and determine the underlying cause of the the behaviour of concern. We do this so that we can make sure we clearly understand what is going on, and that any support plans we develop or advice we give is appropriate and effective.

If you are enlisting our help, it is likely that the concerns you have are making a significant impact on your life. It will take time for us to understand the problem of concern, to develop an intervention, and then to manage the problem, especially if it has been ongoing.

Sometimes feedback can be hard to hear and making changes can be quite daunting. Take time to think about what feedback and advice we have given you, and talk to us about how to implement it if you are unsure.

Fees are charged for all contact time, including assessment and support sessions, and time needed to contact key others, for the reading of historical information, writing of reports/letters, and development of therapy/intervention resources. The minimum charge-out time is 0.1 of an hour (i.e. 6 minutes).

GST will be added to all fees and costs, and will be included in all quotes and invoices.

Travel time is charged at 50% of the hourly rate for all time travelled (plus GST), and the distance travelled is charged at the rate specified by the Inland Revenue Department for the current financial year.

On occasions when psychological tests are administered, there may be an additional charge to cover test use and replacement of test forms. We will inform you of these costs in advance of test administration.

Additional costs for resources may occur when required for particular interventions. These may include, but are not limited to items such as timers, toys, photocopying, laminating, rewards, and binders or books. We will inform you of likely costs, and/or give you a list of items to purchase.

If you cannot make your appointment, please advise us as soon as possible so we can reschedule. You will be charged for 50% of the full fee for the appointment if you do not provide us with at least 24 hours notice of your cancellation.

All invoices are due in full by the 20th of the month following invoice. If you or your agency do not pay your invoice on time, you may be charged interest. If we need to use a debt recovery agency, any other fees incurred will be added.

We prefer payment by direct debit, however we also accept cheques or cash. We do not have the facilities to accept payment by EFTPOS or credit card.