Where to get mental health services on weekends

[Guest_69643663]

Hi, my partner is struggling with his mental health but is extremely reluctant to take time off work to see a professional. We have the weekends off, but I can’t find access to really anything psychology wise in Sydney to sign him up to. The solution is not to convince him to take time off, it won’t help. If anyone knows anything that would be really helpful. We are going to go on a mental health care plan soon. 

[Sophie_M]

Hi there,   

Welcome to the forums and thank you for sharing with us. It sounds like a difficult time for your partner, please know that our counsellors are here if you’d like to talk this through on 1300 22 4636, or webchat: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/  

Due to the anonymous nature of the forums, our community is unable to provide specific service reccomendations based on location. We wanted to provide some options that may be able to help: You can find links to practitioner directories in our Find a professional section: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/find-a-professional   There’s also some great information on support groups from Black Dog Institute here: https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/support-groups  

We know you mentioned getting a mental health plan, which is super helpful. Often your GP will have some good suggestions based on what they've heard from other patients, many clinics now offer after hours appointments at night or on the weekend.

Thank you again for posting, please look after yourself at this time. We are always here to listen and we wish you and your partner good luck in finding a therapist that works for you.

Kind regards,    

Sophie M

[Willow Jude]

Hi Guest_69643663,

I can definitely relate to your partner's struggle, as I used to have a lot of trouble finding a psychologist who I could see outside of my work hours. If you haven't already, I would recommend reaching out to as many psychologists and counsellors in your area as you can to see if any are able to offer appointments on the weekends or later in the evenings. I've come across a few in my area who have over the years, so hopefully you may be able to find the same thing in your area. If there's no luck with this and your partner is open to doing sessions over video (e.g. Zoom), you could expand your search to practices outside your local area to see if there's anyone nation-wide who does Telehealth appointments at times that might work. 

Wishing you and your partner luck in the search 🙂 

[Willow Jude]

Hi Guest_69643663,

I also wanted to add that you may be able to find practices that list weekend availability on their websites by googling 'Sydney Psychologist Weekend' and 'Sydney Counsellor Weekend', or something similar 🙂 

[P12]

My experience is similar to Willow Jude's comments. I believe there are definitely some practitioners who see clients on weekends, but just fewer than on weekdays. You will probably need to be more open in choosing a practitioner. Positively I found that a practitioner's qualifications and titles do not necessarily relate to their effectiveness. I found it helpful to try to find someone with whom I can relate. I also found that although there are generally longer waiting times for weekend meetings, a quality meeting can give me enough guidance for a few months. Meeting online is also a positive. I believe you would be able to visit any practitioner in Australia who offers online meetings on weekends. Another strategy which I did not appreciate fully until recently is that it is legitimate to use Personal Leave to visit a mental health practitioner, even only one or two hours at a time. As a full time employee I am entitled to ten days Personal Leave per year. However, I realise that not everyone is entitled to Personal Leave and there are some circumstances where I feel discouraged from using it.