Questions?
Where is Life Matters based?
Life Matters: Counselling & Wellness operates from the Port Macquarie region in New South Wales and reaches across Australia as well as overseas. Sessions are conducted via Zoom or MS Teams, WhatsApp or Phone as is most appropriate for the client in their location. I have assisted people as far abroad as England, Indonesia and New Zealand.
What about availability?
Counselling sessions will be available by appointment, Monday to Friday and on Saturday. If however, you require a session outside of these hours, please advise me to arrange something mutually suitable.
How long is a counselling session?
With some counsellors or psychologists, a session can sometimes run for only 50 minutes. However, at Life Matters, it is our normal practice that a first session runs for approximately an hour and a half and further follow up sessions for approximately an hour to an hour and a quarter or so. It is important to allow enough time for your sessions, as sometimes important issues are only discovered well into the hour, and the extra time is required to continue the discussion adequately and to know how best to work with the issues at hand. However, our sessions are not charged by time. So even though your session may be a little longer time-wise, you will only ever pay for the 'session' fee and not an 'hourly' fee.
Couple counselling or family sessions are slightly different. With two people involved, or a family, more time is naturally required to allow each person to adequately discuss their troubles and issues. So in this instance, our sessions could run for up to two hours. However, like individual sessions, we do not charge on a 'time' basis. It is a set 'session' fee.
Is the session confidential?
Absolutely. Each session is private and confidential. The information gathered during each session is for the purposes of assessment and treatment which helps us provide the best possible support for you. However, there are limitations to confidentiality. These limits apply if it is considered that there is an immediate risk of harm to either yourself, as the client, or another identified person (or property), or if a client's file is subpoenaed by a court of law.
What are the fees?
1. 'General' Individual Sessions:
This is for Men or Women individually - $95 per session.
2. Couple Counselling (for 2 people in a couple) - $130 per session.
3. Family Sessions - $165 per session