Crisis?
In a real emergency – where someone’s safety is at immediate risk DIAL 111
Otherwise in a crisis usually the best place to start is your regular GP or Emergency Doctor – they should know what services are available to help you.
If you are – or someone close to you is – actively suicidal or out of control you can contact the local Mental Health Crisis Team. In Auckland there are four different teams, depending on where you live (i.e. which District Health Board you come under).
In the Auckland DHB area (Central Auckland) dial 0800 800 717
In the Counties Manukau area (South & East Auckland) dial 270 4742
In the Waitemata DHB area, for North Shore dial 496 8900
For West Auckland dial 839 0500
If you live out of Auckland look in the “Hospitals” section in the front of the phone book under your local hospital board’s “Mental Health Services”, for something like “Crisis Team” or “Community Assessment & Treatment Team” or “Psychiatric District Nurses”.
If you have been the victim of violence or sexual assault there are a number of services for “personal emergencies” available to you listed right in the front of the phone book under “personal help services” (page 6 in the current Auckland Directory), starting with the HELP foundation for sexual assault on 277 9324 and the SAFTINET for “domestic violence” 303 3939 both of which operate 24 hours a day.
If your crisis could be helped by talking to someone you can always phone a telephone counselling service. Lifeline (5222-999) operates 24 hours a day. There are a number of other more specific phone counselling services listed on that same page in the front of the phone book under “personal help services” (i.e. page 6 in the current Auckland Directory).
How long will it take?
A well-defined, specific issue where you are ready and able to work hard on it can often be resolved in 4-8 sessions. If you are bringing difficulties regarding a long standing relationship (e.g. more than five years) then 10-20 sessions is a more realistic time frame.
What will it cost?
We charge $240 (inc GST) for an hour-long individual session.
We accept cash, cheque or EFTPOS but not credit cards, sorry
How can talking help?
Don’t you have to be sick to see a psychologist?
How will I know if you can help me?
What’s the difference between a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a counsellor or a psychotherapist?
You can find out more about psychologists at: www.psychology.org.nz
You can find out more about psychiatrists at: www.ranzcp.org/publicarea/public.asp
You can find out more about counsellors at: www.nzac.org.nz
You can find out more about psychotherapists at: www.nzap.org.nz/index.htm
Who will you tell?
There are a few exceptions to this privacy:
- If there is a situation where you or someone else are at immediate risk of serious harm (e.g. life-threatening or risk of sexual abuse to a child) which we could prevent by breaking confidentiality then we will act to prevent that harm. Unless there is an emergency or it would increase the risk of harm we would still try to discuss this with you first.
- Other professionals. If you have been referred to us, we will normally ask your permission to liaise with the referrer, usually just to acknowledge the referral. If you have other professionals involved in your on-going care it is in your interests that we liaise with them in order to coordinate the help you are receiving. This still requires your permission. All information that we receive from other sources about you is available to you.
- We may discuss aspects of your therapy within our professional supervision (see ‘what is supervision’ below).
- If your therapy is being paid for by someone else they will, of course, know whether or not you are attending. Where it is being paid for by an agency such as ACC or other insurance company, your employer, CYFS etc, there is likely to be an obligation to report to them about the therapy – we will normally consult you about what is going to be reported.
- If a court orders us to show them the notes of our work with you we will have to do so. This is very rare and you will have plenty of warning.
What is supervision?
My partner doesn’t want to come- is it worth me coming on my own?
Do I keep my clothes on?
Isn’t it embarrassing, talking about personal or sexual information with a stranger?
What if I don’t like it?
However, therapy is a very personal business and you may feel that the therapist you are seeing is just not the right person for you. Again, it is really in your interest to tell us this so that we can either change what we are doing or help you find a different therapist who might suit you better.
How do I know if I need therapy?
However, if you want to get more organised about this there are a couple of online questionnaires you can fill out to see if they think you need therapy: www.psychcentral.com/therapy
www.psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/do_i_need_therapy_access.html
What about all the different types of therapy?
If you want a broader discussion of the different models this link provides a pretty good overview: www.psychcentral.com/therapy.htm