Your therapy, modality and billing questions answered.
About Therapy
Carina is the Principal Psychologist at Pathways to Performance. She works with you in your tailored Intensive experience, drawing on a range of specialist technical skills alongside a genuinely human approach to therapy. She's supported by a team with diverse skills and experience, so you're never just working with one perspective. Read more about Carina here.
Not necessarily. For Medicare rebates, many people utilise a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, which allows access to up to 10 subsidised sessions per year. If you'd prefer, you can also book private sessions directly, with no referral required.
People can come to therapy for past, current or future topics. Sometimes you may be stuck in a loop of thoughts or keep repeating the same behaviours. Someone may have suggested seeking help, or perhaps you just know something isn’t right or could be better.
If you think about personal fitness training, therapy is a training session for your mental health. In a therapy session, we understand the main issues, consider what helps or hinders you and then apply using a range of tools, techniques and education depending on what you need and your goals. After the session, just like PT, you continue to apply the techniques in your daily life and grow your mental health muscles.
Your first session is really about building a shared starting point, Carina getting a sense of your story, and you getting a feel for how she works. You'll talk through what's brought you in, what you're hoping will be different and anything you're unsure about along the way. There's nothing to prepare beforehand; just showing up as you are is enough.
About Modalities
Talk therapy is working with a range of techniques to discuss, explore and practice new and different ways of communicating, behaving and responding. It is very effective in challenging and changing day-to-day thoughts and behaviours. Talk therapy works primarily at a cognitive level with your “thinking” brain and the prefrontal cortex.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, or EMDR, as it is more widely known, works at the mid-level brain, accessing stored emotions and responses that cannot usually be accessed through talk therapy. These are the aspects that will often get “stuck” and create distress or discomfort for people. Through the use of bilateral (side-to-side) eye movements, the thinking brain is occupied, and we are able to access the more deeply stored responses to a memory or traumatic event and safely shift these to the prefrontal cortex to be filed away like any other memory.
Somatic therapy considers “what you think is what you do”. For example, consider when you are anxious or worried, you may make yourself small and contract your body. If you are constantly trying to achieve something, you may be overly tense and experience physical pain. It is more complicated than this, of course, but understanding the signals our body how and carries and how it aligns to how we think and act is a very powerful tool to utilise. In somatic therap,y we work with both the mind and body to create a comprehensive awareness about our responses.
Here is a full list of the techniques used and why we use them.
About Intensives
Intensives are an accelerated way to undertake deeper and/or more complex therapy in a shorter time frame. Instead of weekly 50-minute sessions, intensives are delivered over half-day, full-day, or multiple-day formats. This allows you to focus deeply, process safely, and experience meaningful shifts in a supported environment.
Yes, Intensive Therapy translates well to telehealth and allows you to engage in the process from a space that already feels safe and is familiar to you.
Many clients actually find online therapy more comfortable for this reason. As with in-person work, outcomes still come down to the strength of the therapeutic relationship, the therapist's training, and your own readiness to engage, the online format doesn't change the fundamentals, just where you're sitting when you do the work.
During an Intensive, we may explore underlying emotions, long-held beliefs, past experiences and trauma responses, nervous system patterns, or specific goals you'd like to shift. Working in this format builds momentum and clarity, because it minimises the interruptions of daily life and lets us stay fully immersed in the process together.
Absolutely yes. We often work with clients who wish to undertake an Intensive on a particular topic and continue to work with another therapist on more day to day issues that may arise.
About Billing, Medicare and Third-Party Providers
Medicare allows for one rebate per billing day with an eligible plan, such as a Mental Health Care Plan, Eating Disorder Plan, or Chronic Condition Management Plan.
Yes. However as each insurance package is different, we ask you to contact your provider directly.
We can assist you by providing further information for pre-approvals as required.
We understand things come up - but late cancellations affect Carina and other clients who could have used that time. You're welcome to cancel at no charge by phone, email or text at least 48 business hours before your session; this lets us offer the spot to someone else in need.
Cancelling, rescheduling or not attending within 48 business hours of your appointment: $55 admin fee
Cancelling, rescheduling or not attending within 24 business hours: 50% of the session fee
No notice given: full session fee
Any outstanding cancellation fees must be paid at least 48 hours before your next appointment. Medicare rebates and WorkCover claims don't apply to cancellation fees, so these are payable by the client directly.
We apply this policy consistently, with no exceptions, so it stays fair for everyone and so we can offer the slot to someone else who needs it. Thank you for your understanding.
Still have questions? Reach out and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Ready to "...rethink your potential™"?
If you’re ready to release what no longer serves you, work through a challenge, or open up to new possibilities, this may be the right moment to reach out for support.
Ready to "...rethink
your potential™"?
If you’re ready to release what no longer serves you, work through a challenge, or open up to new possibilities, this may be the right moment to reach out for support.