How do you all afford psychology/psychiatry sessions?

[MisterM]

I know there are 10 sessions covered under Medicare where you only pay a smaller fee but every time I have been the 10 sessions run out so fast. I am unemployed, even recently working casual I wasn't earning much. How do some of you people afford to go weekly/fortnightly. When I was working full time I was going every week/fortnight and spent over $3,000 in a year on seeing my psychologist. It's just too damn expensive, how can sessions cost $200 approx per 50 mins, what justifies such a high fee?
I don't get it.

[Doolhof]

Hi Everyone,

As a person who lives in the country and not even what is classes as remote, I would like to say that accessing mental health assistance can be horrible!

The recent psychologist I was seeing decided to start charging a $100.00 gap on top of a mental health care plan. A counsellor told me she heard of a psychologist who charged over $200.00 even with a mental health care plan in place in a country region.

My Dr recently tried to connect me to a Government service for mental health assistance. It took over a month for the referral to get from the Dr to the service provider. It took me 4 Drs visits, 3 phone calls to the service provider a phone call to the receptionist at the Drs, emails and my husband visiting the medical centre to find out what the heck was going on!

Now I have been told the service provider will call me end of next week for a telephone interview to see if I am suitable for their services! After all of that I may still not be eligible for assistance.

Yes, I can drive almost 2 hours one way to access services at a Uni run psychologist centre where you receive random help for free.

How do people in remote regions get help? Yes there are programs available on the internet, but how helpful are they when you are at the end of your tether?

What about when you are sent to a country hospital due to a failed suicide attempt and you are told no one there has training to help you with mental health issues!

It is no wonder people give up! It is too difficult to get help in some areas.

Cheers from Dools

[White_Rose]

Hello Everyone

Getting mental health care is difficult for everyone especially those who live in the country. Cost is a huge factor and applies in general to everyone. However, for our country cousins access is often very difficult or impossible. Thanks for your breakdown of costs LisaMorris. We do tend to forget these sorts of costs and of course they apply to all medical people.

Ten MH sessions are rarely enough. I know psychologists will often spread them apart, one appointment per month. When you are acutely unwell this is not enough support. The difference in costs between a psychologist and psychiatrist can be significant. The biggest advantage in seeing a psychiatrist is that their fees always have a Medicare rebate even though there is often a significant gap fee which also applies to other specialist doctors.

The Medicare safety net provisions for fees is automatic. In fact I have had them chasing me to produce receipts in order to either be eligible for safety net payments or to be paid an additional payment when the receipt is given to them. These days it's rare for a medical practice not to send your claim directly to Medicare after the fee is paid. Some practices are able to put the refund into your account immediately depending on the link with Medicare and of course subject to Medicare having a record of your bank details.

Safety net provisions vary according to your circumstances. People on a pension or with a health care card are eligible for the safety net after reaching a much lower threshold. It's always useful to look at the Medicare web site as they have this kind of information easily available. Much better than phoning and being told there is a 30 minute wait to talk to someone.

Accessing emergency help can be almost impossible. Dools, thank you for your story about the hospital. The only upside to this is there was a place of safety for you even though you had no psychological help. Even in the cities it can be impossible to be admitted into a public MH hospital. So no hospitals in the country and a huge shortage of beds in the city. Of course you can access private hospitals with the appropriate private health insurance and generally the the hospital cost is covered, otherwise no one could afford it. The difficulty is that psychologists do not have admission rights and must go through a psychiatrist to admit someone to hospital. That's a long story in itself. Beds are becoming less available in the private sector also.

Mary

[AlexC]

Hi All

It’s unfortunate that psychologists are getting the brunt of this anger.

I think we we all need to rally the government to increase the number of sessions available to us when we want to go and see a psychologist, and then the amount of the rebate so that the fees aren’t prohibitive.

I think the the fees we pay psychologists are fair enough since they provide such critical help, give their time to talk to us and help us through the dark thoughts. We need to make sure to get the right psychologist for us in the first place - then the investment in our mental health becomes worth it. How many times have we gone to a GP only to go to a different one because we didn’t feel s/he connected with us. Same same.

let’s rally the government and make it accessible!

Just giving my tupence worth!

[Lumlo]

Hi, I am doing the 10 sessions. My GP did a mental heath care plan that allows the 10 psycologist visit either no cost or a gap depending on who you see. I asked for no gap.

I started weekly then fornightly after a bit monthly etc till used up 10 visits. Till next year. More be better but too costly.

Hope this helps

Lumlo

[Tonyw]

where do i go for a Counsellor for Anxiety & Panic, Depression,

[Sophie_M]

Hi Tonyw, there are links to some practitioner directories on this page here:

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/find-a-professional

You are also welcome to start your own thread to talk about what's happening for you at the moment and get some support from the community here.

[Guest5643]

Psychologists are like veterinarians and prey on the most vulnerable

[smallwolf]

Helium,

I am well aware that if people are struggling financially it can be difficult.

My personal thought is that statement is a bit of a broad sweeping statement. I was referred to a psychologist from my GP for help. So it is not like they sought me me out. In every profession, the people within professions will have different levels of skills and there will be cowboys vs professionals. Half the battle is the client and therapist building a relationship so that I (the client) can open up and get the help required.

Secondly, the cost can be made easier under mental health care plans and similar, plus the medicare safety net.

Outside of the clinical psychologists, or the public/free ones, organisations like Anglicare and UnitingCare also have counsellor services.

Tim

[Guest5643]

Hi Tim. I completely agree with what you've said bout psychologists. I have had some help that has helped from them. I've felt like crap today with a temperature and stupidly wrote it. Lynne

[blondguy]

Hey Lynne

We have spoken before and its great to see you!

It can sometimes take a while for us to heal from our condition(s)

Tim is spot on with his advice as psychologists can sometimes be an important part of our journey to find some peace in our lives

Just for me...I tend to ask my GP for help as they have better training where mental health is concerned nowadays and are a lot cheaper....Yet for a long term condition a psychologist is a good idea

Hope you have been doing reasonably okay Helium

Paul