How Can Our Central Coast Psychologists Help You?
You or your child might benefit from seeing a psychologist for help with you or your child’s learning, behaviour, emotions or mental health. Our experienced, child and family focused Central Coast Psychologists offer a range of psychology services and supports including assessment, therapy and counselling, behaviour support plans, consultation and guidance for children, youth and family groups. We deliver well-researched assessments and therapies in a tailored manner that meets the needs of the individual child and family. Our Central Coast Psychologists continually strive for the highest quality of support and are committed to always maintaining this standard.
We have assembled a team of highly qualified and experienced psychologists, working from our Tuggerah clinic, who are well positioned to support your family’s needs. Because each of our psychologists has their own specific field of interest and professional experiences, we are able to match your child’s needs with our most suitable clinician, who will work with you towards positive change.
Psychological Services Where and When You Need It
We can provide in-home or at school supports around Tuggerah and the Central Coast where appropriate to do so. NDIS and Medicare funding may be available. We are also available to assist online through our telehealth services across Australia.
Making Your First Appointment
Our friendly Intake team will guide you through the initial stages of your therapeutic support at our Tuggerah clinic by completing an intake screener to gather a case history in relation to your child’s needs. This allows our team to allocate the most suited clinician to support you during your time at Beam Health. Once a clinician has been allocated and a convenient appointment time organised either at our Tuggerah clinic, school visit or home visit, our team will email you a comprehensive package of welcome information and intake paperwork. Completing the paperwork prior to your initial appointment will ensure that you have access to everything that you need to know, and your clinician is fully briefed and prepared for your first session.
First Session: What to Expect
Upon arrival at your initial appointment at our Tuggerah clinic, you will be greeted by our friendly receptionist who will be happy to answer any administrative questions and introduce you to your clinician. At the conclusion of your session, our receptionist will discuss payment options and book an ongoing appointment schedule as discussed with your clinician.
Funding may be available through NDIS or Medicare.
We can help in the following areas:
Having good mental health is key to the healthy development and wellbeing of every child and young person. Everyone needs good mental health – not only to be able to deal with challenges and adapt to change, but so they can feel good about themselves, build healthy relationships with others and enjoy life.
Mental health can be influenced by a range of things, such as family circumstances, school, social relationships and life events. Children and young people can experience mental health issues at any age and the best thing you can do is get some help.
Everyone feels sad, angry or upset sometimes, including children and young people. However, if someone feels like this most of the time, it’s a sign they may need support. Other signs include difficulty coping, getting on with others or staying engaged in activities.
Children and young people can struggle with a range of issues as they grow up. Some of the signs of mental health concerns tend to be:
1. Feeling anxious or worried
2. Feeling depressed or unhappy
3. Emotional outbursts
4. Sleep problems
5. Weight or appetite changes
6. Quiet or withdrawn
7. Substance abuse
8. Feeling guilty or worthless
9. Changes in behaviour or feelings
If you or your child is experiencing mental health concerns or just not themselves, it is may be important that you seek professional support sooner rather than later. Our Central Coast Psychologists are very experienced at supporting children, youth and families managing mental health concerns. Our Psychologists offer a professional and private telehealth & online service, using technology that enables you to access services wherever your location in Australia.
Don’t forget that you can ask your GP for a referral as part of a Mental Health Care Plan and medicare will then cover some of the cost of seeing the psychologist.
Challenging behaviours can present in many ways such as verbal opposition and aggression, acting out, socially inappropriate behaviours, meltdowns and tantrums and even breaking things. It can be quite troubling to be faced with difficult behaviours in children and young people. You might even notice your own emotions becoming difficult to manage and it can impact your own wellbeing when faced with these behaviours.
Everyone will have different expectations about what is acceptable and what is considered difficult behaviour. Some behaviours that are commonly found challenging include:
- defiance (e.g. refusing to follow your requests)
- fussiness (e.g. refusal to eat certain foods or wear certain clothes)
- hurting other people (e.g. biting, kicking)
- excessive anger when the child doesn’t get their own way
- tantrums.
Our Central Coast Psychologists can work with you and your child to provide assess them and find out what is going on for them, provide therapy and support to manage the priority issues and help you deal with challenging behaviour effectively. We are experienced in developing behaviour support plans and consulting with professionals and families to implement appropriate strategies and supports. Our supports can be provided at our clinic, in the home or at school.
We also offer telehealth psychology and online service to help make it easier for those who are unable to visit our Tuggerah Psychology team’s consulting rooms in person.
Traumatic experiences can remain linger for a child or young person long after the experience itself. They are kept differently to regular memories and can be triggered by minor things at times, such as smells, sights or sounds. It may seem that your child is “hyperactive” or has difficulty learning and concentrating. If you are concerned your child may be finding things difficult as a result of trauma we can support them. Our Psychologists will provide a safe environment so your child can make sense of their experience and build strong skills to manage unhealthy emotions.
A child’s response to a distressing or highly stressful experience will depend on a big array of factors including how old they are, their stage of development and personality, and the impact of the experience on their parents or other significant people in their life. It’s common for children to react in ways you wouldn’t expect.
Trauma reactions may include:
- withdrawal – such as loss of interest or confidence in activities and participation, not wanting to talk or baby-like behaviours
- preoccupation – The child may be overly concerned about the possibility of future events and want to relive it regularly
- anxiety – such as problems with concentrating or paying attention, clingy behaviour, sleep problems and irritable behaviour
- physical symptoms – such as headaches and stomach aches.
We offer targeted therapy-based approaches to address trauma, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). Telehealth services is emerging, particularly during current global health conditions. Our psychologists, based in Tuggerah, offer professional private online sessions for those are not able to visit our psychologist’s consulting rooms in person.
It is estimated around 230,000 Australians have Autism, roughly 1 in every 100 people. Autism is experienced differently for everyone. It is clinically referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and is a different way of thinking, a neurological developmental difference that changes the way you relate to the environment and people around you. In simple terms, autism changes the way that you see, experience and understand the world.
Is your child having difficulty with:
- social communication
- understanding or expressing emotions
- unusually restricted interests
If so, it may be worthwhile to talk to a qualified professional about whether your child should be assessed for autism. Children and young people with autism can be easily misunderstood and often require support from trained professionals including psychologists, speech pathologists and paediatricians.
Our Central Coast Psychologists offer assessments and support for autism, including behaviour support plans. We can also provide practical information and support for parents and carers on how to respond to challenging behaviours related to autism.
Your child may be eligible for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) financial assistance. For more information go to our NDIS page.
Depression and feeling depressed is more than just sadness; it’s a combination of how we think, feel and behave. All children and young people experience highs and lows, but for some, they will go through prolonged periods of sadness. As a parent or caregiver you might see that your child is retreating from others for no apparent reason, has lost interest in activities they usually get satisfaction from or are continually having difficulty with concentration and memory. Research points to early intervention as being so important.
Our Tuggerah based Psychologists can provide therapy and support for your child or young person to support them managing their depression towards a brighter life. Our Central Coast Psychology team offer Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based techniques for depression.
Most people experience stress and anxiety from time to time, including children and young people. Stress is known as any demand placed on your brain or physical body. The feeling of being stressed can be any time or event that makes you feel frustrated or nervous. Anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, or unease. It can be a reaction to stress, or it can occur in people who are unable to identify significant stressors in their life.
Stress and anxiety are not always bad. In the short term, they can help you overcome a challenge or dangerous situation. However, if stress and anxiety begin interfering with you or your child’s daily life, there might be a more serious issue. If you or your child are avoiding situations due to irrational fears, constantly worrying, or experiencing severe anxiety about a traumatic event weeks after it happened, it may be time to seek help.
Our Central Coast Psychologists can help by offering proven strategies such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).
Parenting can be very challenging at the best of times. Sometimes the complex difficulties and pressure with being a parent can weigh us down to a point where it is impacting how we function every day. This feeling is not uncommon and sometimes a little bit of professional support can help you turn it around.
Our Tuggerah Psychology team will provide you with support, counselling and strategies so you can help your kids learn to overcome challenges at school, at home and in life. We can also provide you with the support needed to take care of yourself and place yourself in the best position to support your child’s development.
With the right support and advice you can help your kids reach their full potential and thrive. Our Central Coast Psychologists are wonderfully positioned to support you in enhancing and building your parenting skills as well as taking care of yourself.
Sometimes, as a parent, you may think you are fighting a losing battle when it comes to the influence of your child’s peers on their wellbeing. As children enter the teenage years they begin to feel pressure to be accepted by their peers. However, you may have much more influence than you think. The relationship between you and your child, particularly in times of uncertainty and complexity, can have a large influence on their choices and wellbeing.
Our Central Coast Psychologists are wonderfully placed to assist you to support your child to grow the skills they need to handle conflict and build their resilience. Our Tuggerah Psychology team provides counselling and therapy for children and teenagers, and general parent support.
If you are worried your child may be finding the classroom difficult, a learning assessment can be of very helpful. A common anxiety of parents is that a learning difficulty means their child’s ability to learn is significantly limited. However, if your child does have a learning difficulty, it does not mean they have low intelligence. A learning difficulty affects the way your child receives, remembers and processes information.
Our Central Coast Psychologists can test for a potential learning difficulty using our evidence based assessment tools. We will then closely support you, your child and the learning environment implement the right strategies to allow your child to achieve to the best of their ability.
It is common for parents to struggle with children whose behaviour is difficult, particularly if it results in outbursts of anger and violence. You may feel responsible for your child’s behaviours and you might be worried that your child will act out public and social settings. It is normal and reasonable to seek support if you feel that issues are too much to handle on your own.
Our Central Coast Psychologists can provide support to you and your child to comprehend what is going on for your child, whilst restoring and maintaining a strong relationship with each other.
Peer relationships are very important as your child grows up. Social relationships will contribute to a strong sense of identity for your child and a lot of their development and learning is intertwined with their emerging social relationships. As a parent it is only natural that you want your child to develop healthy connections with peers. If your child has challenges developing appropriate relationships with others or they lack confidence to do so, our Central Coast Psychologists are trained to provide support.
Please get in touch if you and your child would like support to develop their skills and ability to form healthy relationships with others.
Families are not meant to be perfect and every individual has contributes to the health of the family system as a whole. If you are doubting your parenting style or worried about the impact of your child’s behaviour on your family we have trained Psychologists that can offer family therapy-based support. This approach includes spending time with you, your child and other family members in an open and non-judgemental environment, honing in on strengths and understanding needs.
If family conflict is left to fester, it can significantly impact future family relationships. Research shows that negative family interactions can even lead to depression and suicidality throughout the teenage years and into adulthood. Our approach to family conflict deals with the parent-child relationship as the key component of a healthy and happy family.
Our Central Coast Psychologists offer an evidence-based approach to work with families, called attachment based family therapy. If you would like to know more about this, please contact us.
Drug and alcohol misuse during teenage years places the development of you or your child’s brain at risk. There can be long-term consequences surrounding their physical, emotional and mental health. It is an important issue that can be addressed with the right intervention and support.
Our Central Coast Psychologists adopt a non-judgemental, evidence-based approach in changing behaviour called motivational interviewing that can help your child with their alcohol or drug use problem.
