FAQ

Typically, sessions are 50 minutes long, unless agreed upon otherwise. Your therapist will collect you from the waiting room at your appointment time. Please let them know if you would like tea/coffee/water.

The number and frequency of sessions depends on the issues being addressed, and on how willing you are to practice strategies discussed in between sessions. You are invited to discuss with your therapist any questions about session focus, frequency and duration. Therapy is a collaborative process, it is something done ‘with you’ rather than ‘to you’ and so your feedback about how you are finding therapy is welcome and necessary.

Yes – you can access up to 10 sessions per calendar year for services provided by a psychologist (you can attend more sessions than this without the rebate).

You will need to provide a valid referral from your doctor to be eligible for Medicare rebates.

Please note: Medicare rebates are not available for relationship therapy or services provided by a Counsellor/Psychotherapist.

After attending the first six sessions under a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan, you are required to attend a session with your referring doctor to be re-referred for an additional four sessions. Currently the same rebates apply for telehealth sessions as for in-person sessions. The rebate you will receive for your psychology session will be $96.65 (higher if you have reached the Safety Net).

If you intend to claim a rebate via Medicare, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have a valid referral before you attend.

Medicare rebates can be processed online for you if accounts are paid on the day, or you can use your receipt to claim the rebate later.

Each individual session can only be claimed on either Medicare or private health cover, not both.

Depends – Most private health funds offer rebates for Psychology sessions, and or Cunselling sessions and usually no referral is required. However, please check with your health fund to determine your level of cover.

Private health rebates are not processed onsite, so a receipt will be issued for you to claim directly from your fund.

Each individual session can only be claimed on either Medicare or private health cover, not both.

Federica Zamboni’s provider number is 5643218A.

The session fee will be charged automatically during your appointment.

When you make an appointment, an intake form will be emailed to you to enter some details and to (securely) store a credit card on file for secure automatic processing. If you require or prefer to pay by bank transfer, please let us know. Please note, if paying by bank transfer, we will need to have received the cleared funds by the day prior to your session, or the payment will be automatically deducted from the card on file.

The session cost is reviewed periodically, and you will be advised of any changes to the fees via email. Occasionally sessions need to be longer, such as for relationship therapy assessment sessions, or certain treatment modalities, and these are negotiated with you in advance.

Therapy sessions do not attract GST.

We are not available to provide support between sessions or after hours. We will endeavour to return emails within 48 hours during the week, but our therapists do not access their work phone/email on the weekends or evenings. Email or phone call is the best way to reach our admin team, for anything you may need.

If you require urgent psychological support, please use a phone crisis service such as Lifeline 13 11 14.

We are located at Unit 6, 69 Hay Street in Subiaco. Please come up the stairs as you enter the sliding doors and we are the first door on the left.

If you are attending an appointment after hours or on a Saturday, please note that the door downstairs does not open automatically during these times. Please wait downstairs and your therapist will come to collect you at the time of your session.

Parking is available on the main street and some of the side roads. There is also a Wilson parking 150 mt down the road, if you require parking for longer than 1 hour.

Please check street signs regarding payment for parking. Public access toilets are located right next to the practice.

No, psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists are not medical doctors and do not prescribe medication. If you have questions about medication, this is something you should discuss with your GP or Psychiatrist.

Cancellation Notice: Cancellations or rescheduling requests must be made at least 2 business days within business hours prior to the scheduled appointment date. The date and time of your email will be used to determine if the cancellation policy applies. Please DO NOT notify cancellations or reschedules via text messages or voicemail.

Cancellation Fees:

• If an appointment is cancelled or rescheduled with less than 2 business days' notice, a cancellation fee will apply as follows:

  • $85 for each hour of individual therapy booked.

  • $120 for each hour of couples therapy booked.

• For appointments cancelled or rescheduled on the day or for no-shows, the full fee will apply.

Examples:

1. Individual Therapy:

   • If you have a one-hour individual therapy session booked for Tuesday at 10:00 AM, you must cancel or reschedule by the previous Friday at 10:00 AM to avoid the cancellation fee. If you cancel on Friday after 10:00 AM or later, an $85 cancellation fee will apply.

   • If you have a one-hour individual therapy session booked for Tuesday at 6:00 PM, you must cancel or reschedule by the previous Friday at 5:00 PM. Any cancellation notified after this timeframe will count as the following business day.

2. Couples Therapy:

   • If you have a one-hour couples therapy session booked for Friday at 2:00 PM, you must cancel or reschedule by the previous Wednesday at 2:00 PM to avoid the cancellation fee. If you cancel on Wednesday after 2:00 PM or later, a $120 cancellation fee will apply.

   • For a two-hour couple’s therapy session booked on the same day, the cancellation fee will be $240 if not cancelled within the required notice period.

Any cancellation and/or rescheduling request notified outside of business hours will be considered as notified on the following business day. Please note that weekends are not considered business hours.

Non-attendance without notifying of cancellation will incur the full fee. Please note that there is no Medicare rebate for missed appointments.

Please note: in-person appointments can be changed to telehealth appointment if enough notice is provided. Again, 2 business days notice is preferred however, please notify us as soon as you become aware so we can plan accordingly. Please note this will only be possible if the other requirements for telehealth can also be met.

We offer sessions via Zoom (not via FaceTime or WhatsApp), for specific circumstances. Please note that in-person sessions are always preferred however, feel free to discuss with us the options around telehealth.

If you are meeting your therapist via Zoom we will email you a link prior to your session. We apologise in advance for any technical/teething errors or if your therapist is running slightly late. If the video drops out, you will likely complete the session via telephone.

Whilst every reasonable effort is made to ensure security of data (unique meeting ID and passcode, ‘waiting room’ function, no recording), this cannot ever be guaranteed. You can also take precautions to ensure security of data and connection e.g. log out after session, ensure software up to date, etc.

As an additional safety precaution, if the Zoom session is disconnected and your therapist is unable to get back in contact with you, they will contact the next of kin/emergency contact person you nominated on your online intake form.

For a telehealth session to be most useful you need to treat it as if you were attending the office. Therefore, the following requirements apply:

1. Sessions need to be held in a comfortable, private and quiet room, with water or tea/coffee and pen/paper available for notes during session. Your therapist will be in their usual office, unless required to be at home, and will continue to assure you of privacy during the session.

2. No other people should be present in the room with you, including little children;

Telehealth cannot be conducted if the below applies:

1. If you are so unwell it is hard for you to concentrate;

2. If you are carrying out another activity at the same time;

3. If you are required to care for someone else at the same time;

If you are unable to meet the above requirements for telehealth and do not reschedule your appointment, the session will be terminated and the full fee will be charged.

Telehealth can feel different at first, but it does generally work well, and you and your therapist will figure it out together. It can be helpful to schedule a little bit of ‘buffer’ time after the session to take notes or have some time to relax before returning to other tasks.

At Tailoring Therapy we take the health of our patients and staff very seriously. In the event that another lockdown is announced, and we have a session scheduled, the session will be automatically offered via telehealth and you will be notified via email regarding this. If you prefer to reschedule your session, please respond to the email so this can be arranged. Please note that standard cancellation fees apply if you don’t notify us that you wish to reschedule.

When attending your session in person it is a requirement to wear a mask whilst in the waiting area, even if there are no other people waiting with you. Our therapy rooms are large enough to meet the square metres requirements whilst in session, and the office is cleaned regularly. Hand sanitiser is available, with cleaning practices updated as per guidelines.

If you are unwell and prefer to shift your session to telehealth rather than cancel, please contact us as soon as you become aware of this. Similarly, if your therapist needs to self-isolate or is feeling unwell, you will be given the option of rescheduling or attending a telehealth session. We appreciate your patience and will endeavour to be as flexible as possible to meet your needs and mine, and to keep continuity of service, while following relevant requirements to protect the community from COVID19.

At present the Medicare and private health rebates are still available for telehealth sessions. We will do our best to stay up to date if and when the rules change, as they did a number of times during 2020.