Getting Started
Summary:
Suggested equipment (optional)
What psychological therapy looks like
How to make a Medicare claim
Taking the first step matters. Starting therapy is hard, and many people put it off for years. You’ve named what’s been difficult, booked the session, and shown up. That takes courage, not perfection. This is the point where the work begins, and it gives us a solid foundation to move forward.
What follows is practical information to help you get started. Take what’s useful and leave the rest. Getting organised early can make the process feel steadier and more manageable. You’ll also see a brief outline of what treatment looks like so you have a clearer sense of what to expect as we begin.
Sleeved Folders
You’ll probably receive some printouts as we move through therapy. These might be information sheets, reflective exercises, or worksheets we use in session. Keeping a simple sleeved folder helps. It keeps everything together, easy to find, and stops important pages from disappearing into a drawer. It also gives you one place to return to when you want to track your own progress.
A Backpack
A dedicated backpack can help you keep everything for therapy in one place—your folder, notebook, pens, and anything else you use regularly. It saves time searching for materials and reduces the chance of forgetting something important. When everything lives in the same bag, you can access what you need quickly and stay organised from session to session.
Cheap Notebook
I often encourage clients to use a simple, inexpensive notebook. Many people find it useful for jotting down insights in session, capturing ideas, or writing thoughts between appointments. A cheap notebook helps because you don’t need to treat it delicately; you can scribble, cross things out, and write freely. Some people feel hesitant to “mess up” a beautiful notebook, so starting with something plain can make the process easier. Ultimately, choose what works for you.
What does psychological therapy look like?
Psychological therapy is not linear. Progress rises and falls. You may feel you are moving forward and then experience a setback before gaining traction again. That fluctuation is a normal part of treatment.
Evidence-based work can evoke mixed emotions. At times you may feel relief or clarity; at other points you may feel discomfort or distress. A safe, contained process allows these reactions to be addressed directly. You may even feel frustrated or angry with your psychologist! This is a common therapeutic response, not a sign something has gone wrong.
The key is continuation. Staying engaged through these shifts is often the point at which treatment starts to take effect. Some clients move through therapy with fewer emotional disruptions; others experience more. Both patterns fall within the normal range of therapeutic progress.
Evidence-based treatment shows overall improvement across clients, but pacing and duration differ for each person. Progress varies, and the trajectory is individual. Trust the process. If something needs clarification, raise it directly in your next session.
Evidence.
Backed by decades of scientific research.
Decades of research in neuroscience and clinical psychology show that the brain is not fixed. It reorganises itself in response to interventions, and deliberate changes in thinking and behaviour. This capacity for neural rewiring is the basis for why psychological therapy works. When you examine patterns, test new responses, and interrupt habits that keep problems in place, the brain updates its pathways. Over time, this produces measurable shifts in mood, attention, and behaviour. The process is not abstract or mystical; it is a documented biological capacity that enables sustained psychological change.
This rewiring occurs only when the right targets are addressed. The brain changes in response to specific, well-chosen interventions, not generic advice or unstructured talking. This is why accurate formulation and appropriate treatment matter. Psychologists are trained to identify the processes that maintain your difficulties and to apply methods that shift those processes in a deliberate, evidence-based way.
A slower pace at the start
Therapy often begins at a slower pace, and that is intentional. The early sessions focus on a thorough assessment so the problem is understood accurately rather than superficially. A precise understanding allows intervention to target the actual maintaining processes, not the noise around them. This front-loaded care improves the accuracy and effectiveness of the treatment that follows.
This quick guide will not cover everything, but it should address some of the questions that naturally come up when starting therapy. If anything is still unclear, do bring it to your next session and your psychologist will walk through it with you.
You’ve already done one of the hardest parts—taking the initiative to begin. The next session continues that forward movement. It’s also important to know that fit matters. Sometimes it takes a few sessions to warm up, but if, after a reasonable start, the match doesn’t feel right, that is okay. Your psychologist can discuss it openly and arrange a referral to someone who may suit you better. The goal is effective treatment, and a good therapeutic fit is part of that.
How to claim for Medicare
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You only need to do this once, if you’ve never done it before.
Once you downloaded the MyGov app, log into your MyGov account.
On the homepage, select “Link another service”.
Choose Medicare and follow the prompts.
You’ll need your Medicare card and possibly some personal details like your bank information or past claims.
If you’re having trouble linking, you can call Medicare on 132 011 or visit a Services Australia centre.
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Once linked, log into MyGov.
Click on “Medicare” from the list of linked services.
You’ll be redirected to the Medicare portal.
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Inside the Medicare portal, go to “Submit a claim”.
Fill out the required details:
- Date of service
- Provider details
- Item number (from your invoice/receipt)
- Amount paidUpload a photo of your invoice/receipt.
Submit the claim.
**Once a claim is submitted, it can take up to 7 days for the rebate to land in your bank account. However, the average wait time is 24-48 business hours.