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Psychology Services

Our experienced team of psychologists provide comprehensive assessment, therapy and support services to support the mental health, developmental, educational and social-emotional needs of individuals across all ages.

We respect and value diversity, including the strengths that individuals of all ages bring to their own lives, their families and their community. Our team provide a range of therapeutic services and supports to work collaboratively with individuals, their families and other areas of an individual’s community, including schools, tertiary institutions and workplaces to utilise an individual’s strengths, support areas of challenge and provide recommendations for strategies and accommodations as required.

Our team work beyond traditional behaviour management approaches to best understand the function underpinning any behavioural challenges and identify the emotions and mental health needs of an individual, including what supports they require.

Our team aim to be neuro-affirming in their therapeutic approach, where we welcome and celebrate diversity. Our team don’t see neurodevelopmental differences (such as Autism or Attention Deficit differences and others) as disorders that need to be “fixed”, but rather acknowledge differences in brain functioning and how each individual views their world. We work to support each individual by utilizing strengths and identifying strategies to support differences, as well as identify accommodations to a person’s environment where this may be helpful.

Our psychology team can assist with:

  • Counselling
  • Play Therapy
  • A range of assessments, including:
    • Autism
    • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
    • Intellectual Disability (also known as Intellectual Developmental Disorder)
    • Cognitive and Educational Assessments (including Specific Learning Disorders)
    • A range of other developmental, behavioural, mental health and adaptive behaviour assessments as requested.
  • Parent and family supports
  • Education support
  • Group programs

Contact our Customer Service team to enquire

(03) 5975 1500

Counselling and Play Therapy

Our highly qualified and experienced team of psychologists utilise a range of approaches for counselling and play therapy and can provide counselling to individuals of all ages for a wide range of needs, including:

 

Early Childhood:

  • Concerns about a child’s cognitive, social, emotional or behavioural development
  • Feeding, sleeping or behavioural challenges
  • Infant mental health concerns (including anxiety, depression or parent-child attachment concerns)
  • Managing emotions
  • Managing family relationships and adjustments to changes in family dynamics (eg, parent separation, new siblings)
  • Support for transition to school

 

Childhood and Adolescent Years:

  • A range of mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression and others.
  • Behavioural challenges.
  • Emotion regulation skills and managing emotions.
  • Mental health, social and emotional supports for neurodivergent children, including Autism and ADHD.
  • Experiences of grief, trauma, abuse and post-traumatic stress.
  • Supports for transition to school, separation anxiety and school avoidance.
  • Supports for social development, social relationships and friendships.
  • Supports for educational difficulties, including learning difficulties and specific learning disorders (eg, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia).
  • Educational supports for career pathway planning
  • Managing family relationships and adjustments to changes in family dynamics (eg, parent separation, new siblings)
  • Self-esteem, confidence building and wellbeing. 

 

Adult Years:

  • A range of mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression and others
  • Difficulties with adjustment to life changes and managing emotions.
  • Mental health, social and emotional supports for neurodivergent adults, including Autism and ADHD.
  • Experiences of grief, trauma, abuse and post-traumatic stress.
  • Supports for family relationship challenges
  • Self-esteem, confidence building and wellbeing
  • Couples therapy
  • Family therapy

What is Play Therapy?

For many children, expressing their thoughts and emotions verbally can be difficult.  Some children may not have yet developed sufficient language and communication to express themselves verbally, or their experiences become very difficult to speak about verbally.

Play Therapy is the most developmentally appropriate approach for children aged between 3-12 years of age.  Children use play as their natural form of communication and expression to explore, learn and make sense of their world and their experiences. Play Therapy provides a safe environment for a child to build a trusting relationship with their play therapist and then explore and express their inner world and experiences through play to resolve their challenges.

Play Therapy is a gentle form of therapy for children where the play therapist will follow the child’s lead and provide opportunities for play, expression and communication, whilst remaining focused on the therapeutic goals identified for the child. Play Therapy is often a medium to long term process, working at the child’s pace to assist them with processing, expressing and resolving difficult experiences and emotions. As children feel comfort and safety in their play therapy space, they will often begin to express themselves through their unique language of play.

Play Therapy can be an empowering experience and assist children with a wide range of concerns, including a range of mental health concerns, social or emotional challenges, or experiences of trauma, loss or change in their lives.  It is suitable for all individuals, including neurodiverse children with autism and/or ADHD.

Assessments

We provide a range of assessments to individuals of all ages to explore an individual’s development, including consideration of cognitive, learning, social, emotional and attention developmental areas. The purpose of assessments is to firstly understand an individuals unique areas of strengths and challenges, and secondly to develop an action plan of strategies, supports and recommendations that will benefit that individual moving forward across the lifespan.

We take a multi-disciplinary approach to conducting assessments, working with allied health professionals and teachers in collaboration with the individual and their family to understand the whole person in the environments where they live, learn, play and work.  All assessments begin with an intake appointment or for assessments with children, a parent/ carer consultation to gather information on the individual’s functioning and development, as well as a discussion around the presenting concerns that will help shape the evaluation and selection of tests.

Further information is gathered using questionnaires, review of other professional reports and for child assessments and where helpful, through direct observation.

A feedback appointment is scheduled following the completion of the assessment to share the results of the assessment, discuss any relevant diagnosis, review recommendations for ongoing supports and services and allow opportunities to ask any questions.  A written report will be provided at the feedback session and may also be provided to your child’s school or other relevant professionals with your consent.

 
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Cognitive Assessment

Sometimes referred to as an “IQ Test”, a cognitive assessment is recommended when seeking further information about an individual’s cognitive ability and how this may relate to their learning style. A cognitive profile is identified, describing an individual’s areas of personal strengths and challenges. A cognitive assessment is also recommended when wanting to assess for an Intellectual Disability or Global Developmental Delay.

Our cognitive assessment package includes:

  • Intake appointment to understand the current assessment needs and obtain a personal, educational and developmental history. 
  • Administration of a cognitive assessment test, (such as a WPPSI-IV, WISC-V, WAIS-IV or Woodcock Johnson IV Test of Cognitive Abilities) which the psychologist will identify and discuss with you, the most suitable test for your child’s age and individual circumstances.
  • If required, administration and scoring of relevant behavioural screening questionnaires.
  • Completion of a comprehensive report, including results of the assessment, any relevant diagnosis and recommendations for appropriate strategies, other intervention supports, or any further assessments required. 
  • Feedback session to discuss the findings of the assessment and provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss future support opportunities. 

 

 

Educational Assessment

Our educational assessment package is recommended when you have concerns about your child’s learning and achievement at school, are concerned that they may be not achieving to their potential or would like to assess for a learning disorder, including Specific Learning Disorders with Reading (dyslexia), Written Expression (dysgraphia) or Mathematics (dyscalculia).

Our educational assessment package includes:

 

  • Intake appointment to understand the current assessment needs and obtain a personal, educational and developmental history.
  • Administration of a cognitive assessment test, (such as a WPPSI-IV, WISC-V, WAIS-IV or Woodcock Johnson IV Test of Cognitive Abilities) which the psychologist will identify and discuss with you, the most suitable test for your child’s age and individual circumstances.
  • Administration of an achievement assessment (such as WIAT-III or Woodcock Johnson IV)
  • If required, administration and scoring of relevant behavioural screening questionnaires.
  • If required, review of any targeted educational interventions that your child has engaged in, as relevant to the diagnostic criteria for Specific Learning Disorders.
  • Completion of a comprehensive report, including results of the assessment, any relevant diagnosis and recommendations for appropriate classroom strategies and other intervention supports or further assessments required.
  • Feedback session to discuss the findings of the assessment and provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss future support opportunities.

Autism Assessment

Our Autism assessment package is recommended when you may have noticed differences in your or your child’s development with social interactions, social friendships, communication, managing emotions or sensory differences.

Our Autism assessment package is available to children, adolescents and adults and includes:

  • Intake interview to understand your current support needs and determine whether an Autism assessment is the most appropriate support for you. 
  • For children, a parent only appointment using the MIGDAS assessment tool to obtain a personal, educational and developmental history for your child.  This session will be completed with either our psychologist or speech therapist.   
  • Completion of a MIGDAS assessment, using a multi-disciplinary assessment approach with both a psychologist and speech therapist present.  The MIGDAS is a current assessment tool commonly utilised for autism assessments.  It is designed to be personalised to the needs and interests of the individual and provides an opportunity for a neuro-affirming assessment approach to assist the individual having a positive experience of their assessment appointment.  The MIGDAS is used to identify individuals with an autism brain style and provides a personalised assessment to identify an individual’s strengths and differences. 
  • Completion of a cognitive assessment test, (such as a WPPSI-IV, WISC-V, WAIS-IV or Woodcock Johnson IV Test of Cognitive Abilities) which the psychologist will identify and discuss with you, the most suitable test for your child’s age and individual circumstances.
  • Completion of an observation of your child in their natural environment, which will usually occur at their school, kindergarten or childcare setting. 
  • Administration of a range of behavioural questionnaires.  For children, questionnaires are completed by the parent and the child’s educator. For adults, questionnaires are completed by the adult, as well as another adult who knows the individual well.
  • Review of all assessment results obtained and comparison of results against the diagnostic criteria for Autism, according to the DSM-V-TR as the determining factor for any diagnosis. 
  • Completion of a comprehensive report, including results of the assessment, any relevant diagnosis, recommendations for appropriate strategies, other intervention supports or any further assessments required.  For individuals seeking and is eligible for entry to NDIS, the report will satisfy criteria for direct entry to NDIS as a multi-disciplinary assessment.
  • Feedback session to discuss the findings of the assessment and provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss future support opportunities.

     

    ADHD Assessment

    Our ADHD assessment package is recommended if you have identified differences in your or your child’s development with attention, focus, hyperactivity, executive functioning or social relationships.  Our ADHD assessment can be completed separately, or combined with our Autism assessment package, depending on your individual needs. 

    Our ADHD assessment package includes:

     

    • Intake interview to understand the current assessment needs and obtain a personal, educational and developmental history. 
    • Completion of a cognitive assessment test, (such as a WPPSI-IV, WISC-V, WAIS-IV or Woodcock Johnson IV Test of Cognitive Abilities) which the psychologist will identify and discuss with you, the most suitable test for your child’s age and individual circumstances.
    • Completion of an observation of your child in their natural environment, which will usually occur at their school, kindergarten or childcare setting. 
    • Administration of a range of behavioural questionnaires.  For children, questionnaires are completed by the parent and the child’s educator. For adults, questionnaires are completed by the adult, as well as another adult who knows the individual well.
    • Review of all assessment results obtained and comparison of results against the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, according to the DSM-V-TR as the determining factor for any diagnosis. 
    • Completion of a comprehensive report, including results of the assessment, any relevant diagnosis, recommendations for appropriate strategies, other intervention supports or any further assessments required. 
    • Feedback session to discuss the findings of the assessment and provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss future support opportunities.

    Parent and Family Supports

    Our psychology team can provide the following parent and family supports through sessions with parents and families:

    • Support for parents for information and education within areas of social and emotional development and mental health needs of children and adolescents.
    • Support following completion of an assessment to provide education, support and advocacy, including support to navigate entry into NDIS and other funding models.
    • Support for families in navigating challenges such as receiving a diagnosis for your child, support for the impact on the whole family and support for siblings. 
    • Support to develop a parenting approach to accommodate the needs of the whole family.
    • Support for parents for managing their parenting role, including supports for managing stress and overwhelm, increasing self-care opportunities, connecting parents with other supports and other supports as required. 

    Group Programs

    Our psychology team collaborate with other Peninsula Plus teams to offer group programs for individuals seeking group supports for social and emotional needs.  We offer a range of group programs for children for social, emotional and mental health supports, as well as group programs for parents to increase social connection and reduce isolation, as well as provide support for parenting approaches that jointly meet both the social/emotional needs of children while assisting parents with managing expectations of behaviour.  Please contact us to discuss your needs and which group programs may suit you.

    Education Support

    Kindergarten, school and childcare visits are an important part of our support.  For the best outcomes we work collaboratively with the child’s educator/teacher, other educational support staff, allied health providers and parents to develop individualised strategies and supports to maximise learning potential and participation in the educational environment.

    Our psychology team can offer the following supports to assist your child in their education setting:

    • Observation of children to assist with a formal assessment or to better understand their social and emotional needs within their education setting.
    • Provide support to educators and teachers regarding interpretation of a recent assessment report, including understanding a child’s learning profile, how this impacts their social, emotional and academic learning and supports to implement strategies within the education setting.
    • Provide educational support to better understand the social, emotional and mental health needs of a child and how to best support these needs within the education setting.
    • Attendance at Student Support Group meetings to assist in the development of support plans for a child in their education setting. 
    • Provide support with the development of Individual Education Plans, Support Plans and Safety Management Plans.
    • Provide support for funding processes and applications under the Disability Inclusion and Kindergarten Inclusion Support models.  

    Psychologists and Provisional Psychologists

     All Psychologists with Full Registration have completed a minimum of 6 years of training.  This includes an initial 4 years of training in psychology at university and then completion of at least another two years of training, either through completion of a Masters program in psychology at university, training in a workplace under the close guidance of an experienced psychologist, or a combination or both of these training methods.  Psychologists are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and have ongoing requirements to meet high standards of psychological practice, ethical conduct, continued education and training and ongoing supervision/mentoring with experienced psychologists. 

    Psychologists with Provisional Registration have all completed at least 4 – 5 years training at university and are the final stages of their training before achieving their full registration as a psychologist.  All provisional psychologists have completed intensive training in psychological practice and ethical conduct, while also continuously report to, and complete intensive supervision/mentoring requirements with an experienced, supervising psychologist.  Provisional psychologists are also registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

    All of our psychologists and provisional psychologists come equipped with appropriate training, knowledge, skills and experience to assist individuals in the services that they provide.  Our intake team carefully match the needs of each individual to a psychologist, so that each individual can be confident that their psychologist (either with full or provisional registration) has the relevant qualifications, knowledge and skills to assist them in meeting their support needs.  

    Please understand that Peninsula Speech Plus is not a crisis service.

    If you are in crisis or need emergency support, please contact one of the following services:

    • Emergency Services 000
    • Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
    • Lifeline 13 11 14
    • Suicide Call Back Service
      1300 659 467

    We are not a forensic psychology service, and therefore we do not provide court reports.

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    FAQ 

    ​“What is involved when completing a cognitive (intelligence) test?”

    Cognitive (intelligence) tests assess an individual’s capacity to process different types of information by having them complete several different tasks and activities. They might answer general knowledge questions, copy an image using blocks, answer comprehension questionsor look at a picture of a common object or scene and pick out what is missing.

    ​“What is involved in completing an academic achievement test?”

    An academic achievement test is similar to a cognitive test but it also includes achievement tests to assess the level of knowledge of topics taught formally in school, including reading, writing and mathematics.

    “What kinds of things can be identified by a social-emotional-behavioural assessment?”

    A social-emotional-behavioural assessment can screen for common challenges of childhood which can interfere with learning. This can include internalising disorders such as Anxiety and Depression, externalising disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder and Conduct Disorder, and  Autism. Results of social-emotional-behavioural assessments indicate the severity of any issues identified which helps determine the level of support required.

    ​“What will be included in the report?”

    The report will include relevant background information obtained during the intake session, observations made during the assessment sessions (eg, level of attention or distractability), the results of any tests and questionnaires completed, a discussion of what the results mean along with recommendations. Recommendations can include teaching and learning strategies for home and school, as well as suggestions regarding supports that may be appropriate.

    “What are some of the questions that an educational assessment can answer?”

    • Why is my child having difficulty learning?
    • What is the best way my child learns?
    • What are my child’s cognitive and academic strengths?
    • How can we support my child’s learning?
    • Is my child gifted?
    • Does my child have a learning disability?
    • Is my child experiencing any social-emotional-behavioural difficulties?
    • What are the social-emotional-behavioural strengths my child possesses?
    • Would my child benefit from counselling?