Helpful Information

Booking an Appointment

The process at Ocean Blue Psychology is simple.

Appointments can be held in person, by telehealth or with an after hours psychologist.

You can self-refer, or be referred by a parent/guardian, GP, or specialist. Of course, if someone else is referring you, it must be with your consent! A referral can be made by completing the Enquiries Form, emailing us directly on admin@oceanbluepsychology.com.au, by phone (02) 4063 2075 or by fax (02) 8016 0849. If we do not receive sufficient information, we may send out our ‘Brief Intake’ form to ensure we are the right service for you!

If we seem like a good fit for your needs, our amazing Office Manager Julia will call you directly to offer you an appointment time and date. We will also email our ‘Full Intake’ form for you to complete (& our Welcome Pack). This is as easy as clicking on the link, answering the questions, and pressing send. This can even be done on your mobile phone or device in a few minutes! When we receive your completed Intake Form we are all good to go.

During your first session your clinician will work to understand the issues at hand and your goals for treatment. We will negotiate a treatment package tailored to your needs. This means that we will endeavour to offer you weekly or fortnightly appointments for the duration of your treatment, as per evidenced based practice. The treatment package may involve up to 20 sessions (or more if clinically indicated). We will review treatment progress with you regularly, which is also a great way to let us know how we are going!

*Also note that when at our premises, we will kindly ask you to adhere to any current COVID-19 health recommendations.

If you are attending via Telehealth, we will send your Telehealth Link for your appointment the day before via email. To attend the online session, it is a matter of clicking on the Telehealth Link and waiting for your Clinician to join. You will need a laptop, computer, smartphone or tablet with a camera and a microphone and good internet connection.

Fees & Rebates

 Standard session with one of our Clinical Psychologists (50+ mins)

Private Clients

$230 Clinical Psychologist
$200 Psychologist

Mental Health Care Plan

$88.15 Clinical Psychologist – Out of Pocket ($230 upfront payment)
$103.35 Psychologist – Out of Pocket ($200 upfront payment)

Please Note: In order to claim the Medicare rebate each session, you will need to claim this online through your personal MyGov /Medicare account. We will provide you with a Payment Receipt so that you can make the claim with Medicare directly. The rebate typically takes between 1-3 business days.

Private Health Insurance

As per normal rates – Upfront Fee

We will provide you with a Payment Receipt so that you can make the claim directly with your Private Health Fund.

NDIS – Self Managed Fund

As per normal rates

NDIS – Plan Managed Fund

$222.99

You will need to provide us with your Plan Manager’s details prior to your first appointment.

Couples and Families

$230 per hour or part thereof

DCJ (formerly FaCS/DOCs) or OOHC (Out of Home Care)

$250

Additional fees for case management, if indicated (fees by negotiation).

FAQ’s

Firstly, you can contact us directly on (02) 4063 2075 or email us via admin@oceanbluepsychology.com.au. Additionally you can submit an enquiry via our enquiries form. You can also have your GP, specialist, school counsellor or parent/guardian refer to us, with your consent.

We will send you an Intake Form (Brief or Full). This will help us to understand what service you require and if we are the best fit for your needs. If we are not the best service for you, we will redirect you to a service better positioned to help. If, however, we are a good fit, we will be in contact to schedule an appointment.

No, you can refer yourself or a parent/guardian can refer for you. However, if you want to access the Medicare rebate, you will need to see your GP, or Specialist to request a mental health care plan (MHCP).

To ensure your MHCP is valid, check to see if it includes the following information:

  1. It mentions “Mental Health Care Plan” or “Review of Mental Health Care Plan” or MHCP.
  2. Presenting concerns are noted (i.e. mental health issues).
  3. The number of sessions the referrer has recommended.
  4. The Referrer Provider number.
  5. If you are using your MHCP with another service provider at the same time, it is advisable that you track your remaining sessions, as this will impact how many rebated sessions you can have with us.
  6. Log on to MyGov > Medicare and check available sessions, discuss your concerns with us, or call the referrer to confirm.

A clinical psychologist must complete 6 years of university education, which includes a 2-year Master’s degree, followed by 2 years of supervised clinical practice in the workplace. A clinical psychologist must be registered with AHPRA and be endorsed by them as a clinical psychologist.

Also, Medicare offers a rebate of $131.65 to see a clinical psychologist.

Yes, you can. The relationship with your psychologist is paramount to great outcomes. We recommend that you find a clinician that you feel comfortable with. It is important to remember that if you change clinicians, you inform your next clinician of how many sessions you have used on your current MHCP. 

Our patient management system Power Diary has telehealth capacity that is secure and compliant. Power Diary uses end-to-end encryption with peer-to-peer connections. The call does not pass through any third-party servers. Power Diary’s Telehealth functionality has been designed and built to comply with the privacy and security requirements of the primary jurisdictions that they operate in, including Australia. Power Diary’s Telehealth solution complies with ‘No vendor access’ privacy requirements.

The set-up is simple.

  1. You need a laptop, smartphone or tablet with a camera, microphone, and good internet connection.
  2. Click on the link that we email to you.
  3. Click on the link “Start Telehealth Session” and wait for your psychologist to join.

We know that life happens, and we are happy to reschedule but we need 48 hours’ notice. We understand it can feel uncomfortable to be charged a cancellation fee, and please know that it is not our preference to charge it. However, it’s important to consider that the time set aside for you cannot be filled if we are not given notice. Knowing our cancellation policy upfront will likely help you consider advance planning.

Resources

If you or someone you are with is in immediate danger, please call 000 or go to your nearest hospital emergency department.

Alternatively, for non life-threatening matters between sessions, please consider looking through the many Resources on the Support Links

Support Links

Documents

Contact Us

Ocean Blue Psychology

“Sometimes in the waves of change we find our true direction.”

Enquiries & Feedback Form

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