Free psychology sessions available

People living in regional and rural Victoria are now able to access free sessions with a provisional psychologist through an innovative new program by telehealth platform Rural Health Connect, Federation University and the state government.

With psychologist waiting lists stretching months in many rural areas and cost also pushing sessions out of reach for many, this new solution aims to make psychology sessions more accessible. 

Provisional psychologists are psychology students in their final years of study who complete regular sessions with a board approved supervisor.

Through this project provisional psychologists will be available on the Rural Health Connect platform for regular therapy sessions at no cost, as a means of early intervention and to help reduce the pressure on registered psychologists.

Users can access up to 20 sessions via telehealth with the same psychologist to help in the following areas: anxiety, low level depression, sleep issues, grief and loss, anger and stress. It is available to children and adults.

There is no need for a GP referral or mental health treatment plan. This means that users can book directly via the website or referrals can be made via schools and other support organisations.

This pilot is initially open primarily to residents of bushfire affected areas and will likely be expanded across all of rural Victoria.

"We are really excited to launch this project as we think it provides a really innovative solution to long term issues around accessing mental health services in the bush," Rural Health Connect Director Megan Gomez said.

"This project removes a lot of barriers that can prevent people getting help - long waiting lists, cost, lack of access to a GP for a referral, to name a few. 

"Provisional psychologists are a bit of an untapped workforce and it makes sense for them to form part of the solution.

Federation University Head of Clinical Services and Programs Associate Professor Megan Jenkins said provisional psychologists are in their final years of study and are skilled workers with the capacity to provide a high level of psychological care to individuals who would otherwise struggle to access a psychologist.

“This program will help us to train a generation of psychologists with important insight into the unique challenges faced by rural and regional Australians.

”Federation University has a strong commitment to improving access to psychologists for rural and regional Victorians, this partnership with Rural Health Connect will help us to deliver more services to under-resourced communities as they recover from natural disasters and the impact of the pandemic.”

Sessions are done over video call, via an easy-to-use a link set via email and phone.

To book in with a provisional psychologist, go to ruralhealthconnect.com.au/bushfire-provisional-psych/