FAQs
Practice Information and Policies
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Our office is located at:
Room 12A
Riverview Business Park
36 Darling Street
Dubbo NSWThe office is in the main building between Wellways and Life Without Barriers. There is a waiting room within Suite 12 where you can wait for your appointment.
This document provides pictures and instructions to help you find us.
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Cup of Tea Psychology is a phone-free practice. You can contact us by filling in this enquiry form or at hello@cupofteapsychology.com.au.
Our standard business hours are 9am to 5pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As we are often busy with client sessions and do not have dedicated admin staff, we may not be able to respond immediately to your enquiries. We aim to respond within 1-2 weeks and regularly monitor the inbox for priority communication.
For current clients, we utilise an SMS-only mobile number to provide appointment reminders and brief communication. You are not able to call us on this number, but you can send SMS messages for things like cancelling or rescheduling an appointment.
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For private therapy services (including Medicare eligible services) and NDIS services paid directly by the client, payment is due within one business day of your appointment.
For private assessment services, a deposit is required prior to the first session of the assessment, and complete payment is required before the report is returned.For NDIS services paid by a third party (plan manager), payment is due within 2 weeks of the appointment. For assessment services, complete payment is required before the report is returned.
We accept payments via direct deposit and online card payments through a secure third-party service (Stripe).
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When you make an appointment that time is reserved for you, and your session fee is payable whether you choose to attend your appointment or not.
We require 48 hours notice to cancel a session, otherwise a cancellation fee is charged.
Private Clients:
For cancellations made with less than 48 hours but over 24 hours' notice, a fee equalling 50% of the session fee is payable.
For cancellations made with less than 24 hours' notice or appointments that are not attended, the full fee is payable.
NDIS Participants:
For cancellations made with less than 48 hours' notice or appointments that are not attended, the full fee is payable.
If we are able to fill the appointment time with another booking, you will not be charged the cancellation fee.
Please note that Medicare rebates are not able to be claimed on cancellation/missed appointment fees, so you will be responsible for the full cost of the appointment.
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As part of providing a psychological service to you, our practice and your psychologist will need to collect and record personal information from you that is relevant to your current situation. This is a necessary part of providing psychological assessment and treatment. You do not have to provide all personal information, but this may mean that we cannot provide psychological services to you, or that the provided services are of reduced benefit.
All personal information gathered by the psychologist during the provision of psychological service will remain confidential and secure except when:
It is subpoenaed by a court; or
Failure to disclose the information would place you or another person at risk of harm; or
Prior approval has been obtained from you (or your parent/a legally authorised representative) to:
a. provide a written report to another professional or agency e.g. a GP, caseworker, lawyer; or
b. disclose the information to another person e.g. a parent, employer, partner; or
Disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
It is standard practice that a letter is provided to your referring doctor/other referrer to provide progress reports and notify of closure. Please inform your clinician if you would prefer for these letters not to be exchanged. This reporting is legally required when referred under Medicare.
Information is securely stored in a digital format in line with legislative requirements. Paper and hard copy files (assessment materials, questionnaires, etc.) are regularly digitised and the hard copies are destroyed.
Your file is legally required to be kept for 7 years from the last date of contact, or until the age of 25 for clients who are under 18 at the time the psychological service is provided.
You may access the information in your file on request, subject to the exceptions in the Australian Privacy Principles.
Medicare and Rebates
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Better Access (Mental Health Treatment Plan)
You are likely eligible for rebates under Better Access if you have a mental health disorder that is likely to benefit from structured treatment. This includes things like depression and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, psychotic disorders, substance use disorders and more.Better Access/MHTP allows you to access 10 rebated sessions per calendar year. The current rebate amount is $96.65 for a 50 minute session.
Eating Disorder Management Plan
You may be eligible for an EDP if you have a diagnosed eating disorder. Under an EDP, you can access up to 40 rebated psychology sessions in a 12 month period, starting from the date of the EDP (as well as up to 20 rebated sessions with a dietician). The current rebate amount is $96.65 for a 50 minute session.Complex Neurodevelopmental Assessment and Treatment
If you are under 25 and have a suspected or diagnosed complex neurodevelopmental disorder, you may be eligible for rebates. This can include up to 8 rebates for assessment, and up to 20 rebates for treatment services. These are only available once in an individuals lifetime, and are shared across all allied health providers. The current rebate amount is $96.65, and up to 4 services can be claimed at one time.Eligible complex neurodevelopmental disorders are not clearly defined by Medicare, but are described as conditions where individuals require support across multiple domains. That means that diagnosis of a complex Neurodevelopmental disorder requires evidence of impairment and support needs across two or more of the following domains:
Cognition
Language
Social-emotional development
Motor skills
Adaptive behaviour: conceptual skills, practical skills, social skills, or social communication skills
Examples that would meet this criteria are things like autism and intellectual disabilities. Conditions like ADHD may or may not meet criteria independently, but would do so when co-occurring with other neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.
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Better Access (Mental Health Treatment Plan)
To receive rebates under better access, you can get a referral from your GP, psychiatrist, or paediatrician. If the referral is from your GP (the most common pathway), they will need to complete a MHTP with you.
To obtain a MHTP, book an appointment with your GP. You may need to book a long appointment for this, so let the reception staff know when booking.
Your GP will develop the MHTP with you which will likely involve discussing your current concerns, gathering background information, and some screening questionnaires. They will then write you a referral letter for psychological services. A referral can be valid for up to 6 sessions.Once you have obtained your MHTP and referral, you or your GP can provide us a copy via email or in person.
Please ensure that we receive a copy of the referral letter, as this is needed to process the Medicare rebate. Once you have completed the sessions from that referral, if you plan to continue sessions you will need to return to your GP/referrer for review and to receive a new referral. You do not need a new MHTP for this.Eating Disorder Treatment Plan
To receive these rebates, your GP, psychiatrist, or paediatrician needs to develop an EDP. Your EDP is valid for 12 months.
You will need to see your managing practitioner (GP, psychiatrist, or paediatrician) after every 10 sessions, and will need to see a psychiatrist or paediatrician specifically before attending more than 20 sessions. That is, if you have been referred and managed by your GP, you will need to connect with a psychiatrist or paediatrician after 20 sessions to continue using the plan.
At the end of the 12 month period if you continue to meet criteria, a new EDP can be developed and you will be eligible to receive another 40 sessions in that 12 months period.
Complex Neurodevelopmental Assessment/Treatment
To access rebates for assessment and diagnosis of a complex neurodevelopmental disorder (e.g. autism), a referral from a paediatrician or psychiatrist is required. Referrals from GP’s are not valid for this.
Referrals can be made for up to 4 services at a time, so a review is required by your referrer to receive the total of 8 available services (across the client’s life). Up to 4 services of at least 50 minutes each can be claimed on one day, so you can complete a block of assessment in one day.
Once a diagnosis is confirmed, your paediatrician or psychiatrist can develop a treatment and management plan. This allows them to provide a referral for up to 10 sessions at a time, with a total of 20 available across the client’s life.
Please note that the totals of 8 assessment and 20 treatment sessions are shared across any allied health professionals involved in your care (psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, etc.)
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Providing we have all required documentation (e.g. a valid referral, any relevant plans, your Medicare card details), we will lodge your rebate online once your session has been paid for. If you have given your bank details to Medicare the funds will be deposited into that account, otherwise they will contact you.
If we do not have the necessary information, we are unable to lodge the claim online for you, but we can give you a copy of the invoice for you to lodge it yourself. You can do this online through Medicare/MyGov/Service NSW.
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If you have private health insurance, you may be able to claim for your psychology sessions. Contact your insurer directly to confirm whether you are covered.
We do not use HICAPS, so you will need to contact your insurer after your appointment to claim any benefits. We can provide you with an invoice for this purpose.
Please note that if you are receiving a Medicare rebate, you will not be able to claim under private health insurance for the same session.
Other Queries
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Don’t worry - you can still bring your phone with you!
Being phone-free means Cup of Tea Psychology doesn’t have a dedicated phone for communication with clients.
Your psychologist spends most of their work hours in sessions with clients, and we don’t have dedicated admin staff to answer phones. By keeping our communication to written formats, this prevents us from missing your messages or the hassle of playing phone tag.
As a neurodivergent-run and -focused practice, it also aligns with the communication preferences of many of our clients.
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Everyone’s experience may be different depending on their individual circumstances, but this is a broad idea of what you can expect when coming to your sessions.
Initial Sessions
Our first session(s) together will usually involve a few different things like:
Going over some general ‘housekeeping’ like confidentiality and consent forms,
You and your psychologist getting to know each other briefly,
Gathering information on your current concerns, personal history, and what you want to get out of seeing a psychologist, and
Working out a plan of how we can achieve those goals for you.
Your psychologist will probably ask a lot of questions during this process, and may have you fill out some questionnaires.
Therapy Sessions
After your initial sessions, we can start digging into the concerns that brought you to see us and finding solutions. The structure of this can be very variable depending on your concerns and personal preferences.
Therapy sessions will generally start with a brief catch up on how things have been going since your last appointment, then continuing on with our therapeutic work, and often making a plan or setting some ‘homework’ for you to work on between sessions.
The most important thing is how you feel about your sessions. If you would like things done differently, you’re always welcome to let your psychologist know.
Assessments
Depending on your circumstances and what we’re assessing, these sessions may involve an interview-style conversation, playing with toys and sensory objects, solving puzzles, and more. Your psychologist can give you a clear idea of what to expect when planning your individual assessment.
If you’d like to know more, you can always contact us.
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Your sessions are about you, and it’s important that you feel comfortable and safe. You are welcome to exist in whatever way suits you best.
This is a space where you can ignore social ‘norms’ and expectations that don’t serve you. For example:
Wear whatever you want. From PJ’s to suits to costumes, we don’t care. You do you.
Feel free to bring fidget toys, sensory items, comfort items, or whatever helps you feel best (and please feel free to actually use them).
Snacks, drinks, coffees, meals, lollies, or any other yummy things are most definitely welcome. You don’t need to ask or let us know, you can just tuck in.
Eye contact is not expected - make as much or as little as you like (even if that’s none!)
Communicate in whatever way works for you. If verbal communication isn’t your thing, you can write things down, draw, use a picture system, or develop gestures to communicate with your psychologist. Even if you usually use verbal communication, you can take a break from it whenever you want.
Swearing is absolutely welcome if that’s how you roll.
Feel free to bring notes, lists, memes etc. to help you remember things you wanted to bring up.
Take breaks whenever you need - whether that’s stepping outside for some fresh air, or just a temporary pause on the conversation, you can hit pause anytime.
Ask questions. We get that sometimes the implicit social rules that others are following aren’t always clear, and it sucks feeling confused and anxious when you’re not sure of what’s going on. We are happy to answer any and all questions to help you feel at ease and know what to expect.
There are some basic expectations which are standard things you’d expect, and apply to our staff as well as clients:
We don’t tolerate violence, aggression, threats, or sexually inappropriate behaviour against our staff or other people in the vicinity, including anyone that’s attending with you.
While this is a safe space to express yourself, we don’t support hate speech or harmful rhetoric like racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, or transphobia.
We expect all parties to be respectful of each other in their behaviour and communication. Disagreements are welcomed - they just need to be handled appropriately.
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If you have any sensory or accessibility needs, please let us know so that we can accommodate you as best we can.
Our Dubbo office is wheelchair accessible, though it is around a 50-60m walk from the carpark.
We are happy to adjust our lighting, air conditioning, scent diffusers, etc. for your session, and will do our best to adapt any other environmental factors that impact you.
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Our priority is client comfort, so if having a support person with you will be helpful that is no problem!
If you decide to bring a support person, please notify your psychologist in advance so that they are aware and can plan for the session accordingly. Please also let us know if there is any information that should or should not be addressed in front of that person.
Other things you should consider about bringing a support person are:
Do I feel comfortable speaking about my current therapy topics in front of them?
Do I feel comfortable asking them to leave the room if I want to speak privately?
Are they able to provide support without interfering or ‘taking over’ my session?
Will bringing this person accidentally turn my therapy into relationship counselling, or change the trajectory of my treatment?
If you are ever being pressured into allowing someone into your therapy sessions, please let your psychologist know and they can help you navigate this to protect your privacy and wellbeing.
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Having parents/carers participate in their child’s therapy can often be helpful for consolidating our therapeutic work.
For children 13 and under, we require a parent or caregiver to attend the initial appointment to provide background information and details about any concerns. After this, we generally follow the child’s lead on whether they’d prefer to have their parent/carer in the room or not. If not, we like to allocate 5-10 minutes at the beginning or end of sessions to exchange information with parents.
For adolescents who are 14-17 we recommend that an adult still participates in the initial session, providing the adolescent is comfortable with it, but it is not a requirement. The amount of information exchanged with parents/carers will be at the adolescents’ discretion, except in circumstances where disclosure is required (such as risks to safety).
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Cup of Tea Psychology is not a bulk-billing service. Fees may be paid either privately or by a third party like the NDIS.
Some clients may be eligible for Medicare rebates, however this does not cover the full fee.
Visit our Fees page for more information, or see below for more information about Medicare rebates.
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Not everyone is going to be able to connect with every single person they meet, and the same applies to health professionals.
If you’ve met with your psychologist and you feel like they just aren’t the right one for you, that’s ok!
Even though it might feel weird, we recommend that you let your psychologist know so that they can help refer you on to someone who suits you better. Don’t worry - they won’t be offended!
If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, we totally get it. You can send us an email to hello@cupofteapsychology.com.au and we can navigate the process from there.
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If there are things about your sessions that you find unhelpful or don’t like, we suggest bringing this up with your psychologist so that they can change things up and fix the issue. We are happy to work flexibly with clients and adapt our approaches to best suit each person. You are welcome to communicate via email or other means if this is more comfortable for you.
If you have a serious concern or a complaint we encourage you to let us know in writing by emailing hello@cupofteapsychology.com.au.
If you would like to take the matter further, you can formally report concerns through the relevant governing bodies.
Visit the AHPRA website for more information on reporting concerns here.
Visit the NDIS website for feedback and complaints here.
If your question hasn’t been answered above, please get in touch here and we will do our best to provide an answer.