Frequently Asked Questions

Counselling is a relatively short-term process (6-12 weeks) and is when a person engages with the Counsellor for the purpose of dealing with a present life situation. For example the following are examples of situations that may require counselling: a bereavement, a relationship breakdown, work stress, anxiety attacks, accident or illness, a depressive episode.

Psychotherapy is a more long-term process whereby the client chooses to deal with issues that have occurred in childhood that have come to significantly impact on their relationships & emotional wellbeing in adulthood.

They may be senior executives, students, homemakers, tradespersons or unemployed.

Clients may be young, elderly, or anywhere in between. They may be physically healthy, or they may be suffering from a debilitating or even terminal illness.

At Norwest Counselling we see men and women from a wide range of cultures and age groups.

Individual Counselling: $140.00 per session. Couples Sessions: $150.00 per session.

We do not offer Medicare Rebates. These rebates are reserved for clients who are assessed by a GP to have a Mental Health condition and are referred to either a Clinical or Registered Psychologist.

However, clients can claim a rebate if they have private health insurance with:  

Medibank Private 

Medibank Private rebates for counselling are available to Medibank Private members with appropriate policies. To make a claim, members must have a policy with the package bonus or membership bonus feature. The following Medibank Private products include package bonuses that can be used for counselling:

• PremierPlus, AdvantagePlus, Smartplus, HealthyPlus or their VIP corporate equivalents. These policies are no longer available for purchase but approximately 1.6 million existing policy holders still have these policies.

The following Medibank Private products include the “membership bonus” are currently available:

• Everyday Comprehensive
• Settled Families Essentials
• Settled Families Comprehensive
• Security Comprehensive

The following products include the “membership bonus” but are no longer available to new members

• New Families Essentials
• New Families Comprehensive

Members will need to check that they have not already used their package bonus for other services. This can be done by asking Medibank Private for a printout of the member’s claim history.

BUPA

As of July 1, 2018, Bupa are offering rebates for counselling.

A counsellor assists people: “to develop understanding about themselves and to make changes in their lives”. It is expected that they ”work within a clearly contracted principled relationship that enables individuals to explore and resolve issues of an interpersonal or intra-personal nature.”
Source: Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia

Psychologists are experts in human behaviour. Clinical psychologists help with the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses. Most psychologists also help mentally healthy people to find ways of functioning better.
Source: Adapted from Australian Psychological Society