Therapy Services

Yes. We are a primarily online practice, however have some capacity to offer in-person assessment and therapy in a privately booked clinic room in West Ryde 2114 at Hall Psychology and Coaching. Please be aware that these rooms are not mobility accessible as you would be required to confidently walk up approximately 10 stairs to access the rooms.

In-person booking are not only dependant on our availability, but also the room availability as shared resource with other clinicians. This means there may be times where it is easier and more accessible to book online telehealth appointments. At the moment we are able to offer in-person sessions on Thursdays.

Eccentric Minds is currently able to offer psychological therapy for people aged 16 - 100+, where caregivers and support persons are involved as appropriate regardless of age.

For those under 18, parental consent will be required for engage with services at Eccentric Minds.

Here is a brief summary of the different therapy approaches we use at Eccentric Minds:

1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviours. It emphasises the link between thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, teaching individuals to challenge maladaptive beliefs and replace them with more constructive thoughts. Eccentric Minds also uses models of CBT including CBT-Enhanced for Eating Disorders, CBT-AR for Avoidant-Restrictive Feeding & Intake Disorder, and Transgender Affirmative-CBT
2. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills: DBT is a form of CBT that emphasises emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and mindfulness. It uses a skills-based approach to help individuals, particularly those with borderline personality disorder or emotion regulation difficulties, to manage intense emotions and improve relationships. Typically this approach is implemented in an intensive combination of 1:1 therapy, group skills training and phone coaching. Eccentric Minds is able to offer an adapted low intensity 1:1 skills training approach.
3. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): CPT is primarily used to treat PTSD and involves educating patients about trauma, identifying and challenging dysfunctional thoughts, and enhancing cognitive coping strategies. It helps individuals process traumatic experiences and reduce symptoms. This approach is also known as Trauma-Focused CBT.
4. Motivational Interviewing (MI): MI is a client-centred approach aimed at evaluating and enhancing intrinsic motivation to change. It involves open-ended questions, reflective listening, and helping clients explore their ambivalence about change and commit to it. This approach can be suitable for those wanting to make an important life decision but feeling stuck, domestic violence situations, substance-use, or even deciding whether to commit to therapy.
5. Schema Therapy: This integrative approach combines elements of cognitive, behavioural, and psychodynamic therapies. It focuses on identifying and modifying underlying schemas (deeply held beliefs and patterns) formed in childhood that influence behaviour and emotional responses in adulthood through imagery rescripting, chair-work and attunement. This approach can be suitable for treating longstanding anxiety, depression, trauma, personality disorder and eating disorders.
6. Exposure Response Prevention (ERP): ERP is a specific form of exposure therapy often used for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It involves gradual exposure to feared stimuli while preventing the typical compulsive responses, allowing patients to learn that anxiety diminishes over time without engaging in debilitating rituals.
7. Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET): NET is designed for individuals with trauma exposure, particularly for refugees of conflict regions. It combines elements of exposure therapy and narrative therapy, allowing clients to reconstruct and process their traumatic narratives in a safe environment, leading to emotional processing and integration of experiences.

That is a difficult question because it depends on what your therapy goals are, how achievable they are for you as an individual given your history and personal resources, as well as the complexity of your presenting concerns or diagnosis.

Based on current research and treatment manuals for evidence-based therapy approaches, here are some approximations of how many sessions it might take to complete therapy for certain conditions:

• Anxiety, Depression, Adjustment Disorder: 6-20 sessions using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, starting weekly
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: 18-20 sessions using Cognitive Processing Therapy, starting weekly
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: 16-20 sessions using Exposure Response Prevention, starting weekly and remaining weekly-fortnightly
• Eating Disorders: 20-40 sessions using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Enhanced for Eating Disorders, starting and remaining weekly-fortnightly

For adapted or tailored approaches, there are no specific number of sessions identified to complete treatment as these are based on your individual needs and goals. However, it is important to be aware that all therapy is time-limited, which means you will not be in therapy forever but for a specific period of time to help you build resilience in order to cope with life's challenges independently in future without a therapist.

Overall, what we do recommend is starting with regular weekly-fortnightly sessions to consistently build understanding of your mental health concerns and practical skills to make changes. Depending on your progress, we will either recommend continuing with frequent sessions or spacing them out with the aim of ending therapy within 3-6 months from that point. Please be aware that the number of sessions or rebates provided by referrers is not necessarily the number of sessions needed to reach your mental health goals.

Medicare decides which conditions are eligible for sessions and rebates under the Mental Health Treatment Plan. Information on the Medicare website is somewhat unclear but some conditions based on the ICD-10 include:

• Depression, Bipolar disorder, Other mood disorders
• Anxiety disorders, Panic disorder, Phobic disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder, Adjustment disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Schizophrenia, Other psychotic disorders
• Dissociative disorders
• Eating disorders
• Impulse-control disorders, including ADHD
• Sexual disorders
• Sleep disorders
• Somatoform disorders
• Substance-related disorders
• Personality disorders

This care plan provides access to 10 Medicare rebates per calendar year for 1:1 therapy and 10 rebates for group therapy per calendar year.

This care plan does not provide access to rebates for therapy related to tobacco-use disorder, dementia, delirium and cognitive impairment. It is not 100% clear which other conditions this plan covers but feel free to review the available Medicare information to discuss with your GP.

Medicare has decided which conditions are eligible for sessions and rebates under the Eating Disorder Treatment Plan including:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Binge Eating Disorder
• Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder

This care plan provides access to 40 Medicare rebates per 12-month for 1:1 or group psychological therapy, as well as 20 dietitian sessions in that time period. This plan will require you to see your GP after every 10th session and a Psychiatrist after your 20th session to assess progress and activate the last 20 rebates.

Unfortunately this care plan does not provide access to therapy rebates for disordered eating patterns related to Autism, ADHD or other developmental conditions, or other Eating Disorders such as Pica, Avoidant-Restrictive Feeding and Intake Disorder, Rumination Disorder, Night Eating Syndrome.

Medicare has decided which conditions are eligible for sessions and rebates under this care plan including:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Microcephaly
• Hearing and Vision loss
• Cerebral palsy
• Down syndrome
• Fragile X syndrome
• Prader-Willi syndrome
• Williams syndrome
• Angelman syndrome
• Kabuki syndrome
• Smith-Magenis syndrome
• CHARGE syndrome
• Cri du Chat syndrome
• Cornelia de Lange syndrome
• Rett’s disorder
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
• Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
• 22q deletion syndrome

This care plan provides access to a maximum for 20 session rebates across an a person's lifetime for those under the age of 25, where you are required to see your referrer every 10 sessions. This care plan is used for assessment and allied health treatment services, so it is important to keep track of how many sessions have been used across your lifetimes and for which services.

At Eccentric Minds we are able to use this care plan for assessment, therapy or recommendations related to Autism.