Psychologist in Wollongong: EMDR, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Telehealth Australia-Wide
Perfectly Aligned Psychology is a registered psychology practice on Balgownie Road, about ten minutes from Wollongong city centre. If you are looking for a psychologist in Wollongong for yourself, your child or your teenager, or you want EMDR or an assessment by telehealth from anywhere in Australia, you can book directly. No waiting for a referral to get started.
Finding the right psychologist is hard enough without a long waitlist making the decision for you.
Perfectly Aligned Psychology is a psychology practice at Suite 4, 154 Balgownie Road, Balgownie NSW 2519. [Psychologist name] is an AHPRA-registered psychologist (registration [registration number]). The practice provides EMDR therapy, individual therapy, child and adolescent psychology, assessments for ADHD and autism, psychological care for emergency services workers, SIRA-funded treatment and telehealth across Australia.
This page explains exactly who we see, what each service involves, what it costs, and how funding through Medicare, SIRA and private health works, so you can decide whether we are the right fit before you pick up the phone.
The practice sees adults, children, adolescents, emergency services workers and people recovering from workplace psychological injury. Sessions run face to face in Balgownie and by secure video for clients anywhere in the country. You can read about every service on our psychology services in Wollongong page, or use the summaries below and go straight to the one that fits your situation.
People search for this kind of help under many names: a therapist for anxiety, counselling after a loss, a clinical psychologist for trauma, a child psychologist for a struggling eight-year-old. Whatever word you started with, you are probably weighing the same three things, fit, cost and waiting time, and each is answered plainly further down this page. The practice is deliberately small: one AHPRA-registered psychologist in Balgownie, a managed caseload, and the same face at every session.
If you already know what you need, the fastest route is the booking button above. Booking takes a few minutes, and you will receive confirmation the same day, along with intake forms and a plain-language consent document you can read at home rather than in a waiting room.
Who does our psychologist in Wollongong help?
We see adults, children from primary school age, adolescents, emergency services workers and people with an accepted workers compensation claim, in person at Balgownie or by telehealth anywhere in Australia. If your concern is not listed, ask; we will tell you honestly if another service fits better.
That honesty matters more in a single-practitioner practice than in a large clinic. When you enquire, your situation is considered by the psychologist who would actually treat you, not triaged by an intake team. If what you need sits outside our training, such as couples counselling or an eating disorder program, you will be pointed toward a suitable local service rather than booked in anyway.
The mix of people shapes the diary in ways worth knowing before you enquire. Child appointments cluster after school, workers compensation sessions run in business hours, and telehealth fills the early evenings. A single practitioner cannot be all things to all people, so the services list is short on purpose: what is offered is what is done often, with proper training behind it.
Adults and telehealth clients
Anxiety, depression, stress, trauma and life transitions, worked through in structured one-to-one therapy, in the room or by video from anywhere in Australia.
Therapy for adultsChildren and teenagers
Worry, big emotions, school struggles, exam pressure and low mood, with parents involved at the right points and a young person's privacy respected.
Support for childrenFirst responders and injured workers
Police, paramedics, firefighters, SES and defence personnel, and anyone with an accepted SIRA claim, seen by someone who understands the job and the scheme.
Support for first respondersHow does therapy work at Perfectly Aligned Psychology?
Therapy starts with an unhurried first session to understand what has brought you in, followed by a written plan you agree to, regular sessions using evidence-based methods, and scheduled reviews so you always know whether it is working.
There are no scripts and no promises of a fixed outcome, because psychology does not work that way and Australian regulations rightly prohibit that kind of claim. What you can expect is a clear structure: goals set in plain language, methods chosen because research supports them for your situation, and honest conversations at review points about progress. Many people notice change within the first handful of sessions; for others, particularly with longstanding trauma, the work takes longer and the plan says so upfront.
The methods themselves are the established ones: cognitive behaviour therapy for anxiety and depression, EMDR for trauma, acceptance and commitment therapy where rigid thinking keeps a problem in place, and behavioural strategies for sleep and stress. Which one leads is a clinical decision made with you, and the reasoning is always explained, because therapy goes better when you understand why you are doing what you are doing.
First session
Fifty minutes to talk through your history, what is happening now and what you want to be different. You decide how much to share and how fast to go.
A plan you approve
A short written summary of goals, the approach we will use, roughly how many sessions to expect, and what it will cost after any rebate.
Sessions and reviews
Regular sessions, usually weekly or fortnightly at first, with a formal review every few sessions to check progress and adjust the plan together.
EMDR therapy in Wollongong: what does it involve?
EMDR, short for eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, is a structured therapy that helps the brain reprocess distressing memories so they lose their emotional charge. It is recommended in Australian treatment guidelines for post-traumatic stress disorder.
EMDR is the service people travel furthest to reach, and the one most often asked about. Rather than talking through a traumatic event in detail week after week, EMDR uses sets of eye movements or taps while you briefly hold the memory in mind. Phoenix Australia, the national centre for posttraumatic mental health, lists it among the recommended treatments for PTSD. It is used here for single-incident trauma, accumulated workplace trauma and trauma-driven anxiety.
A course of EMDR follows eight defined phases, from history-taking and preparation through to reprocessing and review, so you always know where you are in the sequence. Preparation is taken seriously: no distressing memory is worked on until you have practised the settling skills to manage whatever surfaces, both in the room and afterwards at home.
You can read a plain-English explanation in our guide to how EMDR works, then see how sessions run on the EMDR therapy Wollongong service page. If your symptoms sit closer to PTSD generally, start with our trauma and PTSD psychologist page instead; it compares EMDR with other trauma treatments and helps you choose a starting point.
For adultsWhat can individual therapy for adults help with?
Individual therapy at the practice addresses anxiety, depression, chronic stress, trauma responses, grief after loss and difficult life transitions. Sessions are one to one, fifty minutes, and use approaches with published evidence behind them, chosen to match your goals.
Most adults who contact the practice are not in crisis. They are functioning, holding down work and family, and quietly exhausted by worry that will not switch off, a low mood that has outstayed its trigger, or stress that has started to show up in their body and their sleep. Therapy gives that pattern a name, a mechanism and a method, and our individual psychological therapy page explains the approaches used for each concern.
Some people call it counselling and some call it therapy; the label matters far less than the structure behind it. Sessions are conversational in feel, but each one has a direction, and you will leave most appointments with something specific to try before the next, because the hours between sessions are where change actually consolidates.
If you are weighing up where to start, two of our guides answer the questions almost everyone asks first: psychologist vs psychiatrist covers who does what and who can prescribe, and how to choose a psychologist gives you a checklist to bring to any practice, including this one.
Children and teensHow do child and adolescent psychology sessions work?
Children and teenagers are seen from primary school age through to eighteen. Parents are involved in the first session and at reviews, sessions are adapted to the young person's age, and the practice liaises with schools when parents ask for it.
For younger children the work often looks like play and drawing with a purpose, because that is how children process feelings they cannot yet name. Common referrals include worry that stops a child sleeping or attending school, big reactions that arrive out of proportion to the moment, and confidence that has visibly shrunk. Our child psychologist Wollongong page describes the process and what parents can expect between sessions.
Parents stay in the loop without the child feeling reported on: a few minutes at the start or end of each session, and a fuller conversation at reviews. Where school is part of the picture, the practice can speak with teachers or the learning support team, provide written strategies, and join planning meetings by phone when parents request it.
Teenagers get a different footing: their sessions are private within safety limits, and they have a genuine say in the goals. Exam stress, social anxiety, low mood and friendship fallout are the usual doorways in. The adolescent and teen psychologist page explains confidentiality for under-18s in detail, because it is the question parents and teens ask most, and usually with opposite hopes.
What assessments do we offer for children and teens?
The practice offers ADHD assessments, autism assessments and cognitive assessments for school-aged children and adolescents. Each produces a written report with a clear conclusion and practical recommendations you can hand to a school, GP or paediatrician.
Waitlists for these assessments stretch past a year in parts of NSW, which leaves families guessing during the exact years when the right supports matter most. Our psychological assessments for children and adolescents hub explains the full pathway, from the first questionnaire to the feedback session where the report is walked through in plain language, along with current timeframes and costs.
Reports are written for the people who will actually read them. A paediatrician needs the scores and the diagnostic reasoning; a classroom teacher needs a handful of workable adjustments, not thirty pages of jargon. The feedback session walks through both versions of the story, so you leave knowing what the findings mean and what to do next. Assessment fees sit outside the standard session rebates, and the fixed quote you receive before booking states exactly what is claimable and what is not.
ADHD assessment
Structured interviews, rating scales from home and school, and attention testing. See the ADHD assessment for children and teens page for the steps and what the report covers.
Autism assessment
Developmental history and standardised observation aligned with Australian guidelines. The autism assessment for children and teens page explains each stage for parents.
Cognitive assessment
WISC-based testing of reasoning, memory and processing when learning does not match effort, often requested by schools for support funding or placement decisions.
Why do we focus on emergency services workers?
The practice specialises in psychological support for emergency services workers because repeated exposure to critical incidents creates a distinct pattern of injury that generalist therapy often misses. Sessions assume nothing needs to be explained twice.
Phoenix Australia's research shows first responders experience post-traumatic stress at well above the rate of the general community, and that many delay help for years because they expect to spend half of each session translating the job for a civilian. Here that translation is not needed. The realities of shift work, station culture, coronial matters and fitness-for-duty concerns are already understood, and confidentiality from employers is explained in writing before you say a word.
Treatment draws on EMDR and other trauma therapies, and can run through SIRA if a claim exists, privately if you would rather keep it entirely off the record, or with Medicare rebates in between. Start with our page on psychology for emergency services workers, which covers police, ambulance, fire and rescue, SES and defence in their own sections.
Appointment logistics respect the roster too. Sessions can be scheduled around rotating shifts, telehealth keeps treatment going through blocks of night work, and nothing about attending is visible to a station or a chain of command. The practice also understands the difference between a psychological injury claim and a quiet decision to get ahead of one, and treats the second with the discretion it deserves.
Workers compensationHow does SIRA and workers compensation funding work?
If you have an accepted NSW workers compensation claim for psychological injury, your insurer pays for approved psychological treatment directly. You need your claim number and your case manager's details; the practice handles the treatment requests and reports from there.
The NSW scheme is regulated by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, SIRA, which sets the fees and approves providers; some people still search for the old term WorkCover, which SIRA replaced in 2015. In practice the process is simpler than the paperwork suggests: once your insurer approves a treatment plan, sessions are billed to them, not to you, and progress reports go to your nominated treating doctor.
What matters most in these cases is that therapy stays about your recovery rather than your file. Reports state what they need to and no more. Our workers compensation and SIRA-funded psychology page walks through the claim pathway step by step, including what happens if your claim is still being decided and how provisional liability sessions can start in the meantime.
If your claim involves psychological injury from work in the emergency services, the two specialisations overlap here, which is exactly the point: one practitioner who understands both the clinical picture and the scheme paperwork, rather than a therapist and a report writer who never speak to each other.
Anywhere in AustraliaHow do telehealth appointments work across Australia?
Telehealth sessions run by secure video from wherever you are in Australia. You book the same way, receive a private session link, and pay the same fee. Medicare rebates apply to eligible telehealth sessions just as they do in person.
Around half of Australian psychology clients now use video for at least some sessions, and the research comparing outcomes between video and in-room therapy has been reassuring for most presentations, including EMDR delivered online with on-screen bilateral stimulation. Telehealth suits people in regional NSW without a local psychologist, workers whose rosters never fit business hours, parents who cannot arrange care for a school-hours appointment, and anyone who simply talks more freely from their own kitchen table.
The practical requirements are modest: a private room, headphones, and an internet connection steady enough for video. Everything else, including what happens if the connection drops mid-session, is covered on our telehealth psychologist Australia-wide page, and clients can move between video and in-person sessions as life requires rather than choosing one lane forever.
Privacy is handled the same way it is in the room. Sessions are never recorded, the video platform meets Australian health privacy requirements, and notes are stored in the same secure system regardless of where you sat for the appointment. If a connection fails mid-session, the appointment continues by phone and the time is never simply lost.
What are the fees, Medicare rebates and funding options?
A standard fifty-minute session costs $[fee]. With a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP, Medicare returns $[rebate amount] per session for up to ten individual sessions each calendar year, leaving a gap of $[gap amount]. SIRA-funded clients pay nothing directly.
Money should never be the surprise in therapy, so the numbers live in plain sight. A Mental Health Treatment Plan is the document your GP prepares that opens access to Medicare rebates for psychology; the session limits and rebate amounts are set by Services Australia and are verified on this site at each review date. Assessment fees are quoted as a fixed package before you commit, never as an hourly meter.
Payment is taken on the day and Medicare claims are lodged electronically on the spot, so the rebate usually arrives back in your account within a day or two. Cancellations with less than [cancellation notice] notice attract a fee of $[cancellation fee], because an unused appointment is an hour someone else on the waiting list could have had.
| Funding option | What you need | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare (Better Access) | A Mental Health Treatment Plan and referral from your GP | Rebate of $[rebate amount] per session, up to 10 individual sessions per calendar year |
| SIRA / icare (workers comp) | An accepted NSW claim number and case manager details | Approved treatment billed directly to the insurer, no gap to you |
| Private health insurance | Extras cover that includes psychology | A per-session benefit set by your fund; cannot be combined with Medicare for the same session |
| Self-funded | No referral or paperwork at all | Full fee of $[fee] per session, with complete privacy from third parties |
Full pricing for every service, including assessments and reports, is listed on our fees, rebates and funding page.
- AHPRA-registered psychologist, registration [registration number]
- Accredited EMDR training, [training level]
- Experience with children, adolescents and families
- SIRA-approved provider [SIRA approval number]
- Medicare provider for in-person and telehealth rebates
- Currently accepting new clients
Who will you be seeing?
Every client at Perfectly Aligned Psychology sees [Psychologist name], an AHPRA-registered psychologist. There is no rotating roster and no handover between clinicians: the person who answers your enquiry is the person who treats you, every session.
[Psychologist name] holds registration [registration number] with the Psychology Board of Australia, which you can confirm on the public register at any time, and has completed accredited training in EMDR alongside experience with children, adolescents and emergency services personnel. Australian law does not allow health practitioners to publish testimonials about clinical care, and you will not find any here; what you can weigh instead are qualifications, registration and the way your questions are answered before you commit to anything.
Read the full profile, including qualifications and professional memberships, on our psychologist's page, or learn how the practice came to be on the about the practice page.
Clinical or registered psychologist? The difference between a clinical psychologist and a registered psychologist is a difference in postgraduate training pathway, not in the legal ability to provide therapy, and the Medicare rebate amount differs between the two. The rebate figures quoted on this site are the ones that apply to this practice, so nothing changes at the counter.
Which parts of the Illawarra does the practice cover?
The practice is at Suite 4, 154 Balgownie Road, about ten minutes' drive from Wollongong city centre, and sees in-person clients from across the Illawarra: Fairy Meadow, Corrimal, Woonona, Bulli, Thirroul, Figtree, Unanderra, Dapto, Shellharbour and the villages between.
Balgownie sits at the foot of the escarpment, a short drive up Balgownie Road from the Princes Highway at Fairy Meadow, which makes it an easy detour for the northern suburbs and the city alike. Clients travelling from further down the coast, from Albion Park to Kiama, often pair appointments with school pick-ups or shifts, and telehealth fills the weeks when the drive does not fit.
Getting here without a car is workable too: bus connections into Balgownie from Wollongong and Fairy Meadow are listed in the Transport NSW Trip Planner, and Fairy Meadow and North Wollongong stations are a short ride-share away for anyone coming by train. Telehealth remains the honest recommendation for anyone much further south, and plenty of Wollongong psychologist searches end in a video call by choice. Suburb-by-suburb travel details are on our suburbs and travel times page.
Appointments: [days and hours]
How do you book an appointment?
Book online through the booking page, call 0435 165 763, or send a message through the contact form. You do not need a GP referral to start as a private client; you only need one if you want Medicare rebates.
The new clients page explains your first appointment end to end: the forms to complete beforehand, what to bring, how consent and confidentiality work, and the questions worth thinking about before your first session so the hour is spent on you rather than on paperwork. If you are booking for a child, both the parent information and the child's Medicare details are needed at the time of booking.
Not ready to book but have a question about fit, fees or availability? Use the contact page and you will get a reply from the psychologist, not an autoresponder, usually within one business day. Evening telehealth slots and after-school times for children are the first to fill each week, so book those a week or two ahead where you can.
Bring nothing but yourself. Consent forms and the practice privacy policy arrive by email when you book, so the first hour is spent on you.
Bring the referral and Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP. Ask for a longer GP appointment; a rushed plan usually means a second visit before rebates can start.
Bring your claim number and your case manager's contact details. The practice lodges treatment requests and reports with your insurer from the first session.
If you need urgent help
This practice provides scheduled appointments, not crisis care. If you or someone with you is in immediate danger, call 000 now. If you are waiting for a first appointment and things worsen, contact your GP, attend your nearest emergency department, or use these numbers, and mention the deterioration when we next speak so your care can be adjusted.
- 000Emergency
- 13 11 14Lifeline, 24 hours
- 1800 011 511NSW Mental Health Line
- 1800 55 1800Kids Helpline, ages 5 to 25
Questions people ask before booking
Longer answers to these and many more live in our resources and guides library, each written and dated by the psychologist. If your question is about a specific service, the service pages above go deeper than any FAQ can.
Do I need a GP referral to see a psychologist?
No, you can book directly as a private client with no referral at all. A GP referral and Mental Health Treatment Plan are only needed if you want to claim Medicare rebates on your sessions.
How much does a session cost and what does Medicare cover?
A standard session costs $[fee], and Medicare returns $[rebate amount] of that when you have a valid Mental Health Treatment Plan, up to ten individual sessions per calendar year. Your out-of-pocket cost is the difference between the two.
Do you offer telehealth for clients outside Wollongong?
Yes, telehealth sessions are available to clients anywhere in Australia by secure video. The fee is the same as in person, Medicare rebates apply to eligible sessions, and EMDR can be delivered effectively online with on-screen bilateral stimulation.
Do you see children and teenagers?
Yes, the practice sees children from primary school age and teenagers up to eighteen, for therapy and for ADHD, autism and cognitive assessments. Parents join the first session, and ongoing parent involvement is agreed based on the child's age.
What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR is a structured, evidence-based therapy that uses guided eye movements while you briefly recall a distressing memory, helping your brain file it away so it stops triggering present-day distress. It is recommended in Australian guidelines for treating PTSD.
Are you a SIRA-approved provider?
Yes, the practice is approved to treat NSW workers compensation clients under SIRA, approval [SIRA approval number]. With an accepted claim, approved sessions are billed directly to your insurer and the practice manages the treatment requests and reporting.
Do you bulk bill?
[Bulk billing position to be confirmed by the practice.] Where bulk billing is not available, the gap after your Medicare rebate is $[gap amount] per session, and SIRA-funded clients have no out-of-pocket cost at all.
Where is the practice and is there parking?
The practice is at Suite 4, 154 Balgownie Road, Balgownie NSW 2519, about ten minutes' drive from Wollongong city centre. Parking and arrival details are included with your booking confirmation so your first visit is straightforward.
Are you accepting new clients?
Yes, the practice is currently accepting new clients for both in-person and telehealth appointments. Current waiting times for a first appointment are given when you enquire, and cancellation openings are offered to people already on the list first.
What happens in the first appointment?
The first appointment is a fifty-minute conversation about what has brought you in, your history and what you want to change. Together you agree on an approach, likely session frequency and costs. There is no obligation to continue afterwards.
Can I mix telehealth and in-person sessions?
Yes, you can switch between video and in-room sessions whenever practical life requires it, using the same booking system. Many clients attend in person for early sessions and move to telehealth once the work is established, or the reverse.
Is what I say confidential?
Yes, sessions are confidential with three legal exceptions: a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, a court order, or mandatory reporting concerning a child's safety. These limits are explained in writing before your first session begins.
Ready when you are
Whether you are five minutes away in Fairy Meadow or five hundred kilometres away on a screen, starting psychology in Wollongong or anywhere else comes down to the same first step: a booking, a conversation, and a plan that fits your actual life.
Bring the question you have been carrying. It does not need to be well phrased, and you do not need to be certain that therapy is the answer before you ask it.