A free telephone counselling service is available for those people who are experiencing mild to moderate anxiety/depression who are unable to attend face to face visits with allied mental health professionals due to work commitments, family commitments, physical disability or transport issues.  Patients are able to opt for face to face sessions at any time or have a mix of both face to face and telephone counselling.  It is a short term intervention, allowing a patient upto 18 counselling sessions (in exceptional circumstances) with a GP review after session 6 and 12.

The Allied Mental Health professionals who work in this program have undertaken specific training with the Australian Psychological Society on delivery of telephone counselling.

To be considered for this service, patients need to be willing to underake this type of therapy; have access to a reliable phone line (landline preferable); speak English clearly; be able to read and write and have access to a reliable mail service.

If you think you could benefit from this service your first step is to make an appointment with your GP to discuss your options.

This initiative is funded by the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) under the Better Outcomes in Mental health Care (BOiMHC) provided by the Commonwealth Government.

The Perinatal Depression/Anxiety initiave is a free service for women experiencing antenatal and postnatal depression (up to one year after  birth).  This service is also available to partners who are experiencing difficulties. It is a short term intervention, allowing a patient upto 18 counselling sessions (in exceptional circumstances) with a GP review after session 6 and 12.  In each region an experienced Allied Mental Health professional has been contracted to deliver the sessions.

If you feel that you could benefit from the service your first step is to make an appointment with your GP and discuss your options.