Assessments

I work two days per week from  Gold Coast Counselling Centre where you can see me in person, Tuesdays and Fridays.  

• Please obtain a referral from your GP under a Mental Health Care Plan in order to access a Medicare rebate  (which will mean that you are out of pocket $89 per session with Medicare paying $141.85 towards each in person session).  
• Alternatively, you can see me privately (without a Medicare rebate) and the fee is $230 out of pocket per session.

I also work three days (Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) from home where I can offer  (a limited number of) assessments via Telehealth for adults 18+. If you are not local to the Gold Coast, would like a telehealth assessment, and are available Monday, Wednesday or Thursday, and wish to discuss this option please send me an email. 

There are four steps to the assessment process:

• Step 1: Obtain a referral and attend your first in-person session
• Step 2: Complete questionnaires and several further sessions
• Step 3: Attend feedback of results appointment
• Step 4: Report is provided

Step 1: Attend your first in-person session

I aim for the assessment to feel conversational, like we are having a general discussion whether with adults, parents or children. 

For adults: 

I encourage you to come alone to the first session, however if you wish to bring your partner, support person/parent (if you feel comfortable), to subsequent sessions that can be useful.

For children/teens:

I encourage one (or both) parents and children/teens to attend together for the first session.  I will see you both/all together at the start of the session, or for teenagers I am happy to see you alone and talk to your parent(s) briefly at the end and/or via telephone in the coming days.

If parents would like an individual session, prior to bringing along their child please email me and we can arrange to either talk on the phone or meet before your child's first session.

Where parents are divorced or separated (in the absence of any court orders) I require written consent from both parents prior to any assessment proceeding. If you have any questions about this please send me an email. 

For both adult and child assessments:

The number of assessment sessions we will need depends on what assessment package you require and whether any further follow up assessments are needed. If there is a need for further assessment beyond what we initially planned, I will discuss this with you and the standard  appointment fee will apply.

Step 2: Questionnaires and further in person sessions

After the first in person session, and after a deposit of half (or full payment) of the assessment is received, you will be emailed links to online questionnaires which you can complete on your computer or smartphone. The results are returned to me to review. 

• On average adults seeking ADHD or Autism assessments will be sent 4-5 questionnaires, however this can vary.
• Parents of children seeking ADHD and Autism assessments are sent 5-6 questionnaires, however this too can vary. 

Attend several more in person sessions to allow for further assessment conversations.

For adult assessments: I ideally like to obtain information about you from a third party who has known you from childhood (where possible). This is to determine traits that were evident in your early years to satisfy the DSM 5 TR criteria. To assist with meeting this requirement I will ask you if there is a parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, family friend or other person you trust to provide information about you and complete a questionnaire or two. I will also ask whether you have access to any school reports, letters from school or prior assessment reports.

For child assessments: I will ask you whether you consent to your child’s school teacher being contacted and to provide the teachers email contact details. The teacher will  be sent  2-3 questionnaires to complete. Depending on the age of your child, I will also ask the child to complete 2-3 questionnaires. 

I understand that it can sometimes be difficult to obtain third party information and school reports (when you are an adult) and that family may not be able to recall a lot of information sometimes. Please be assured that I do not exclude diagnoses based on any singular sources of information or the absence of third party information. My goal is always to build a comprehensive understanding of you and your life.

Step 3: Feedback session

After our assessment conversations and all questionnaires are complete, we meet for a feedback session where we talk through the assessment outcomes.

Step 4. Written report is provided

I will finalise the written psychological report to a high clinical and professional standard and send it to you via email (and/or handed to you in person) and shared with your referring GP. I am to complete the written report as soon as possible, but within 4 weeks after the feedback session.

I am able to assess any other children or other family members if desired. To enquire about this please send me an email.

You will be asked to pay $230 for each in person (or telehealth appointment) you attend at Gold Coast Counselling Centre. However, you will ONLY be less than $89 out of pocket as Medicare pays a rebate of $141.85 for each visit. You will likely need 3-5 in person sessions, however this varies.

If you or your child are unwell on the day of your in person appointment and would still like to attend via telehealth, please phone reception to request a telehealth appointment 0401299736. 

The fee for the ADHD or Autism assessment and report is in addition to in person sessions, and you will be sent an invoice for the full assessment costs after the first appointment. The assessment fee covers online questionnaires, analysis of results, obtaining information from a third party and several hours of report writing.  For more detail regarding fees click here.

You may or may not receive a formal identification or diagnosis and it is important to manage your expectations up front. If assessment outcomes suggest you are not ADHD or Autistic, we will discuss your strengths and differences and the overall clinical picture  during our feedback session. We will also discuss any other diagnoses that are apparent.

Seeing a clinical psychologist for an Autism assessment is especially useful prior to seeing a paediatrician or psychiatrist as they will likely refer you to see a psychologist anyway, so in all honesty it is probably better to get a psychology assessment done in the meantime to assist the psychiatrist/paediatrician when you see them.

Psychologists are trained to administer psychometric questionnaires and conduct ADHD assessments (and some psychologists, but definitely not all) are trained to do Autism assessments, but we can not prescribe medication. 

Psychiatrists and paediatricians can work with you to discuss your or your child's suitability for different medications and assist with other medical concerns, but rarely do psychometric questionnaires. For this reason, we (psychologists and paediatricians/psychiatrists) work together which I understand can be confusing and difficult to understand for families at times. A GP referral is required to see a psychiatrist, pediatrician or psychologist.

Psychological assessment of ADHD can be helpful for people who definitely would like to try medication, but also those who are unsure. It may be that you are interested in knowing for sure whether you (or your child) has ADHD and understanding more about how your/their brain works. 

However, sometimes psychiatrists request that their in-house psychologist conduct an assessment when evaluating ADHD (even when given a psychologist report from elsewhere, although thankfully this is rare). 

Nevertheless, to avoid this occurring it is wise to phone up PRIOR to your appointment with your particular psychiatrist to ask whether they accept assessments from an external clinical psychologist to be sure you won't be asked to pay for two lots of assessments.

The report provided by me can be used as evidence to support an NDIS Access Request and if you bring the paperwork to me after the report is finished we can complete this together. I am a clinical psychologist and thus NDIS will accept the psychological report from myself. NDIS access requests are often strengthened by requesting a Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) completed by an Occupational Therapist, in addition to the diagnostic psychological report from myself.

It is important to manage your expectations when applying to access NDIS. I will complete the report to a high clinical, professional standard, but I have no decision making power about your NDIS Access Request and NDIS are the sole decision makers.

Both Clinical Psychologists and GP’s can complete documents for Disability Support Pension (via Centrelink) and the report can be used to support a DSP application depending on what grounds you are applying. If you wish for me to complete DSP paperwork and forms, can you please book a standard in person appointment after the completion of your report.

Formal diagnosis grants you the right to access supports and accommodations at school, workplace and educational institutions (e.g. TAFE and University). You may also find it helpful to share your report with your GP in order to have the information available as part of your medical history. This is a good idea in case you misplace your copy of the report should you ever need it again (e.g. you want to trial medication again after a period off medications as an adult)

However, most importantly, many people find a sense of relief, hope, self compassion, self acceptance and a deep feeling of being “finally understood”  or "things make so much sense now" after formal confirmation of ADHD or Autistic neurotype.

Yes,  I am able to offer ongoing support and therapy at Gold Coast Counselling Centre.  

The first step is to see if you can obtain a referral from a GP.  Secondly, please visit Gold Coast Counselling Centre https://www.goldcoastcounsellingcentre.com.au/to book online or phone 0401299736. 

You will be asked whether you have a  GP referral and you can email the referral to farley.robyn@gmail.com. If you experience any difficulties or have any questions please email me.