what is expensive, what is not.

[bluemariner]

Hi Everyone...have just looked at cost of psychologists in the Sydney area. Wow! 220 per session minus 124 medicare rebate means im up for $96 gap to pay. I am self employed and last year earned 40K of which only 28K was taxable. This year looking similiar. I live on the Central Coast. advice or experience in what is expensive and what is not?

Thanks!

[Ggrand]

Hello bluemarina,

Welcome to the BB Forums...

If you live in nsw which you do, you can go to your gp and tell him/her how your feeling with your mental health , your feelings, fears, your emotions and if your gp can see that you are struggling with depressions/anxiety or another mental heath issue, he/she will probably give you some meds and refer you to a psychologist, you get 10 free visits per year once the gp and psychologist sets you up with a mental health care plan .

I hope I have been of some help to you...come back and talk whenever your feeling up to doing so...

Grandy..

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Bluemariner,

Welcome to the forums!

It's a bit tricky to give you a good answer to this question because it varies so so much as to where you live, who you see and what they specialise in or have a niche in.

For me personally, the most expensive session I have seen is over 300$. The APS (Australian Psychological Society) sets a recommended consultation fee at 251$ From what I understand, the psychologist has the freedom to set their own fees (although I could be wrong).

The cheapest session I have seen is, well, free. There are psychologists who bulk bill or work for community centres and choose not to charge, even with mental health care plans.

It's important to know that mental health care plans don't always give you the sessions for free. The rebate depends on the individual psychologist and their own fee policies.

The difficulty is that finding out what psychologists charge and their medicare gap is not easy. This website may list some bulk billing psychologists if you enter your location and filter by 'bulk billing' on the left hand side. - https://www.psychology.org.au/Find-a-Psychologist

Hope this helps,

[james1]

Hello bluemariner,

my own experience is that the going rate in Sydney is about 220 for clinical psychologists 😞 i really struggled to find something less than that, who was available and who i trusted.

that said, some psychologists will be able to negotiate a bit and i am paying 180 which is still very expensive. others may bulk bill as well, so while it can be quite difficult to get someone who is more affordable and who you are able to work with, it's definitely possible

the other thing you may want to consider is whether you need a clinical psychologist, or if you could go with a regular psychologist, a counsellor or even the gp. the prices are much more affordable that way, and depending on your needs, the additional qualifications may not be necessary