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Sydney Emotional Fitness - Counselling, Psychologist and Coaching Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Under what circumstances do I need to see a Psychologist?

People seek psychologist/counselling services for various reasons, when they are feeling stressed, low in mood, are having difficulty coping with life stressors, or are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness. Professional psychologists at Sydney Emotional Fitness are available to help assist all of the manifestations of anxiety, depression, stress, relationship issues, grief and loss, low self- esteem/confidence, anger management, weight loss, drug and alcohol issues, and chronic pain management.

Other times someone may want employ the professional services of counselling in Sydney are for assistance in achieving their goals or improving some aspect of their life, such as work performance, or to develop particular skills such as public speaking or leadership.

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Do I require a referral from my Doctor when engaging in counselling in Sydney?

When considering psychologist/counselling services, the simple answer is – no you do not require a referral from your Doctor to see a psychologist. However, it may be more convenient when working with a psychologist in Sydney, if you do have a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP or Psychiatrist you can apply to claim a rebate for a portion of your fees from Medicare.

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Am I entitled to a rebate from my Private Health Fund or Medicare?

In accordance with the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), you are entitled to a maximum of 12 individual sessions per calendar year with a referral from a GP or Psychiatrist. Psychologists at Sydney Emotional Fitness are registered providers with Medicare and many Private Health Funds.

Private Health Funds offer rebates for psychological services. You may be eligible for rebates if you have cover for ancillary benefits. Since the amount you can claim back varies for each fund, and from cover to cover, it is suggested that you check your entitlements with your health fund.

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What should I expect from a Consultation with a Sydney Emotional Fitness Psychologist?

Prior to commencement of your first therapy session we will discuss privacy and confidentiality and ask you to complete certain forms to assess your personal situation. The early psychologist/counselling service sessions focus on understanding your particular circumstances, difficulties and challenges prior to establishing a clear treatment plan which may be most helpful for your situation.

In subsequent sessions, our psychologists will focus on providing the treatments and strategies identified in the plan to help you achieve your preferred outcome. There is ongoing review of the treatment effectiveness and changes are made where necessary to ensure you achieve the best outcome. In addition, At Sydney Emotional Fitness we see a vital element of the counselling process as creating a lasting result through building emotional resilience.

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What are your treatment methods?

At Sydney Emotional Fitness, we consider that psychological counselling methods should be evidence base – they have been scientifically research and found to be effective.

Our psychologist/counselling services include the use of a wide range of theoretical frameworks and therapeutic methods including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), and Mindfulness Based Therapies.

The psychological treatments and strategies that are offered through our counselling services depend on the individual’s circumstances and presenting problem/s. The main focus is to help you understand your experiences or difficulties, and then to assist in developing strategies and techniques to create your preferred life with enduring results.

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How many sessions will I need?

There is no encompassing answer to this question. The number of sessions will vary with each client depending on their unique problem area(s) and personal circumstances.

We will generally have an idea after the first couple of sessions as to how long it might take for you to reach the goals set in the initial sessions. Our psychologist/counselling services vary in time with some clients requiring only a few sessions whilst others may need longer-term assistance, lasting many months. Please note your Sydney Emotional Fitness psychologist will discuss this with you at the start of treatment.

Initially, we see clients once a week, unless they are in crisis. Counselling frequency might change in frequency depending on the client and their progress. Later sessions are recommended three, six and twelve months after therapy has ended.

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How do I know if your psychologist/counselling service is working for me?

As mentioned above, each patient is unique, and requires an individualised treatment plan. It is common for patients to notice a decrease in their symptoms within three to four weeks of commencing therapy if they have been diligently attending sessions and applying the treatment techniques, discussed in therapy, between sessions on a regular basis.

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What degree of Privacy and confidentiality is offered?

It is a strict policy that any information disclosed to us (including files, notes and test results) is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. If there is any need to disclose information from files with another professional (for example a medical doctor, lawyer, pastor or third party billing source), the client will be consulted first and asked to provide consent for the release of information. There are some legal limitations to confidentiality, however, which your psychologist will discuss with you during your first session.

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What is the difference between a Psychologist and a Counsellor?

The core role of Sydney Emotional Fitness Psychologist is to provide counselling therapies, however, to become a psychologist a person must have successfully completed an accredited sequence of university psychology studies and gained significant levels of supervised practical experience. Only registered psychologists can use the title “psychologist”. A psychologist must also be registered with the Psychologist Registration Board in their state or territory and abide by registration and practice guidelines. Whilst a counsellor does valuable work, there are no regulations, restrictions or minimum study or qualification requirements required in relation to the use of the ‘counsellor’ title.

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How are your Psychologist/Counselling services Regulated?

Sydney Emotional Fitness only employs fully registered psychologists. At Sydney Emotional Fitness our psychologists are required to practice in accordance with the professional and ethical codes of conduct outlined by the Psychology Board of Australia and the Australian Psychological Society.

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Common Issues

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders refer to a high prevalence group of problems, which include excessive levels of fear and anxiety. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress, threat, or danger and often serves us well. It enables us to deal with threatening situations by triggering the fight/flight response so that we can take evasive action.

However, it is when this response is persistent, excessive and interferes with our functioning in daily life that it is referred to as an anxiety disorder; at this point a psychologist or counselling service may be required.

Anxiety treatment at Sydney Emotional Fitness consists of counselling in Sydney with methods that are ground breaking and scientifically researched For further information >> Click Here.

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Depression

It is important to understand that depression or low moods can be a part of everyday life and that we all experience periods when we feel sad or upset. However, depression is a very common psychological problem and is significantly different from mere unhappiness or sadness.

Importantly, depression treatment is not a ‘bad’ thing, nor is it something to be ashamed of as a large percentage of the population experience a bout of depression in their lifetime.

We can experience depression in many different ways. It can occur suddenly or gradually, and can vary in severity and types of symptoms. For further information >> Click Here.

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Stress Management

Being over stressed or chronically stressed can interfere with our performance levels, physical health and relationships. We generally experience stress when we feel overwhelmed by, or unable to cope with a particular situation. Stress may occur because of

  • Work or job demands, retrenchment or unemployment, workplace bullying
  • Financial Distress
  • Relationship issues – family and social
  • A traumatic event or loss
  • Illness or disability
  • Significant life changes
  • Perception of unrealistic expectations being placed on you.

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Grief and Loss

You may be experiencing Grief or feelings of loss in response to the loss of something or someone, including loved ones, significant others, family members, friends, colleagues or acquaintances. This can lead to experiencing intense feelings of sadness, anger, disbelief, panic, relief and even numbness.It may be important to allow people to help you through the grieving process to ensure that unhelpful thoughts and feelings are better managed.

Consider engaging a Psychologist in Sydney to assist you

You may think that that it is all too hard and wish you were with the person who died. This type of thinking does not typically mean you will take active steps to end your life but can simply be an expression of the pain and sadness you are currently experiencing. Working with a psychologistcounselling at SydneyEmotional Fitness can be rewarding, can enable you to develop insight and begin working through acceptance to ensure you continue through your life fulfilled and enriched.

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Anger Management

Anger is a powerful emotion and can be experienced in a range of ways. These can range from

  • Mild irritation and frustration
  • Intense rage and violent outbursts which may manifest in verbal abuse such as intense criticism and yelling to physical assaults
  • Withdrawing or suppressing your anger in order to protect others

Anger can mask other feelings and emotional pain such as

  • Fear and Anxiety
  • Trauma
  • Hurt/loss/Sadness

If not managed appropriately anger can impact on your ability to engage in healthy family and social relationships, your work, and on your quality of life in general.

Anger counselling at Sydney Emotional Fitness is also available for Couples in marriage or relationship counselling. We welcome same sex couples.

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Relationship/Marriage/Couples Counselling

Fulfilling and supportive relationships with friends, family, partners and other significant people in our lives are important to our overall health and can have positive effects on our psychological well being.

Relationship problems tend to start with either personality, moral or values conflicts, changes in our lives such as a new child, loss of employment or ill health or the actions of one or both of the partners, such as infidelity, lack of commitment or communication, anger of aggressive behaviour.

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How can Counselling in Sydney assist you

If the capacity for building and or maintaining strong relationships appears elusive, active participation in relationship counselling can help you. Attending counselling either as an individual or a couple you will begin to understand the causes of the problems you are experiencing and gain insight knowledge and skills to engage in more meaningful and fulfilling relationships.

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Self Esteem and Self Confidence

Self Esteem underpins our psychological wellbeing. Many of us experience feelings of low self esteem and confidence at varying points in our lives. We may become overly concerned with our appearance, our successes or lack thereof, and who we think we may be.

Both Low self esteem and low confidence can impact our mood, our thoughts and feelings, how we go about our daily lives and how we participate in our relationships.

Talk to our psychologists in Sydney regarding Low Self Esteem, to see how they can help.

Our psychologists in Sydney will help you understand the experiences from which your negative thoughts and feelings about yourself have developed. We will work with you so that you are able to let go of the struggle and develop the strategies you need to earn the self esteem and confidence you desire.

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Weight Issues

Weight concerns may arise from issues relating to family members, friends, peers, and the rapidly growing attention to the false concept of “perfection” portrayed by the media.

The emotional baggage we carry as a result may manifest in unhealthy behavioural changes such as:

  • Overeating to manage emotional issues which may lead to obesity
  • Dissatisfaction with the way we look and a distorted body image which may lead to excessive exercise, the use of laxatives and or purging, even starvation, all which may lead to eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia
  • At Sydney Emotional Fitness a psychologist counselling clients with weight issues will work with them to understand from where their particular weight concerns originate and assist with developing their unique set of goals and desired behaviours

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Drug and Alcohol issues

Everybody has habit forming tendencies however some people are more susceptible to developing an addiction due to genetic factors, learned behaviour or personality type.

Discover how a psychologist in Sydney can work through your issues with you

Many people develop an addiction to an activity or substance that allows them to temporarily feel good or escape emotional or physical pain. The most common form of addiction is substance abuse of either alcohol or drugs. However addictions can also be to activities such as gambling, shopping, internet use or sex. Most people with addictions will require some form of treatment to enable them to break the addiction. This is where counselling at Sydney Emotional Fitness can help

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Chronic Pain Management

Many of us can suffer from back pain and or other persistent and impactful injuries or illness that can cause ongoing pain. However, when our experience of pain is chronic, it can have far reaching implications and affect all aspects of our lives.

When our experience of pain is chronic our psychological health tends to deteriorate along with our physical health. We may begin to suffer depression, anxiety or low self worth as the experiences in our lives becomes limited.

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See how Counselling in Sydney can help you

Where we may have started off with just the physical pain, our overall suffering can increase significantly over time. Our Psychologists at Sydney Emotional Fitness work with you to identify and understand the part of suffering that is associated with chronic pain, help you let go of the extra suffering and map out the steps necessary to create a rewarding and fulfilling life.

Our clients engage with us for many reasons including depression treatment,relationship counselling, anxiety treatment, grief counselling and stress. They may also be experiencing symptoms of mental illness.

So when should you seek to work with a Psychologist? Counselling in Sydneymay be beneficial when

  • You feel you do not have someone who will listen to you or care for you
  • You find yourself unable to manage the tasks in your daily life, such as going to work or caring for your children
  • You may be experiencing denial or avoidance of the grieving process
  • Your personal relationships are being affected
  • You have persistent thoughts of harm to yourself or someone else
  • You deal with your emotions with the use of alcohol or drugs
  • You experience panic attacks or other serious anxiety or depression
  • You remain preoccupied and acutely distressed by your grief
  • You need assistance to help you get through a specific experience
  • When there is no sense of security or a better future and in turn these feelings produce intense , emotional and/or physical pain

When working with a psychologist at Sydney Emotional Fitness, we will not only work with you to identify and move through your issues but we can also provide assistance to allow you to reach your full potential. When you work together with a Psychologist, counselling can be rewarding experience in many ways. Counselling can also assist you to develop tools to improve particular aspects of your life such as your performance at work or building and sustaining meaningful relationship. We focus on your individual needs providing you the tools that you need to reach your goals.

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How Sydney Emotional Fitness Can Help You:

At Sydney Emotional Fitness, our qualified psychologists will work with you to create a tailored approach to your individual needs. Our psychologist/counselling services use scientifically researched and ground breaking methods in a safe a confidential environment.

Whether you require depression treatment, anxiety treatment, grief counselling,anger counselling or relationship counselling, Sydney Emotional Fitness provide a professional and collaborative environment to work through your specific needs.

Our Psychologists provide counselling in Sydney through a wide range of therapeutic methods and theoretical frameworks, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy and Mindfulness based therapy. Our psychologists are particularly interested in the benefits of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a current and innovative mindfulness based therapy that has been described as an enhanced CBT.

Why should you contact Sydney Emotional Fitness?

  • Fully qualified psychologists
  • Confidential, safe and supportive environment
  • Innovative, scientifically researched methods
  • Sessions tailored to your individual needs and outcomes
  • Our psychologist/counsellors have a wide range of experience and knowledge
  • We work with you to resolve your current issues as well as providing you the tools that will promote lasting emotional health, resilience and wellbeing in order to adapt to life’s difficulties.

Sydney Emotional Fitness was established to help you overcome and prevent depression, anxiety and low self esteem which are epidemic in today’s society.

Our Psychologist/Counselling services aim to assist you enhance your resilience to life’s difficulties and emotional health for the prevention of issues such as anxiety and depression, and many others, and to assist you in creating a rich and rewarding life.

We understand that it can be difficult to take that first step to engage with a psychologist. Sydney Emotional Fitness psychologists welcome the opportunity to speak with you to answer any questions you may have pertaining to counselling in Sydney. We aim to always offer the very best in service and work diligently to help our clients work effectively to achieve maximum results.

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