There is a lot of confusion about what a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist is and what we do; we’ve outlined a broad explanation below to help you think about what you want and what might be right for you. Our Specialist Psychologists use a range of approaches to undertake therapy with their clients; we’ve listed below some of the psychotherapy techniques and models used by Clinical Psychologists at Fremantle Clinical Psychology.

What is a Clinical/Counselling Psychologist?

Clinical & Counselling Psychologists have completed a minimum of 6 years of university training, (a Masters or Masters/PhD programme), followed by two years of registrar practice under rigorous professional supervision before they are eligible for specialist registration as a Clinical or CounsellingPsychologist. The post-graduate university training develops specialist skills in psychological assessment, research and a range of psychological treatments.

Clinical/Counselling Psychologists have studied comprehensively the way adults, adolescents, and children act, think & feel and how, for example, difficult family relationships or trauma impact on psychological functioning. All Clinical or Counselling Psychologists are legally required to reregister with the Psychology Board of Australia (part of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) each year. To acquire registration means we must demonstrate continuous professional competence and must practice under a strict code of ethics and conduct, thereby assuring highly trained and ethical practitioners.

Seeing someone who is a registered Clinical or Counselling Psychologist ensures that you will receive high quality ethical treatment from a highly trained professional, who has demonstrated their competence in practice.

The titles of ‘Counsellor’ (as distinct from a Specialist Counselling Psychologist), ‘Psychotherapist’ and ‘Hypnotherapist’ are not similarly regulated in W.A., therefore the training and experience of therapists using these titles will vary considerably and needs to be clarified by the client. The title ‘Psychologist’ indicates someone who has completed 4 years of university training and 2 years supervision, but does not have the specialist training in Clinical Psychology.

Our extra training means that Clinical or Counselling Psychologists are proficient in psychodiagnosis as well as treatment; we think about the person who has the symptoms as well as the symptoms themselves. We’re interested in how a particular problem has come into being – because that helps assess what to do about it. We think about the connections between thoughts, feelings, behaviour and patterns within these; whether or not there might be a physical component to the problem; the connections between past and present; what has been learned and experienced in the family; what an individuals life experience has brought to them. Clinical or Counselling Psychologists are expert in integrating information from many dimensions in a person’s life and experience and then formulating a treatment plan that is tailored to a particular individual, and then asessing how well it is working and making whatever adjustments are necessary. This multidimensional perspective means we can see the problem, the person and the context.

How can a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist help me?

Clinical or Counselling Psychologists assist people experiencing difficulty with emotions, thinking and behavior, and/or who are coping with physical health problems. They use evidence-based psychological therapies, which means the therapies have been well researched and have been shown to be effective in treating psychological health problems. Psychological therapies have been proven to be effective with common issues such as anxiety, depression and most childhood problems.

There are different clinical approaches, some of which you may have heard of and about which there is often a good deal of misunderstanding. Below is a thumbnail sketch of several of the modes used within FCP by the various practitioners. If you have questions about the way your clinicians works, feel free to ask as many questions as you like. Generally speaking, your clinician will discuss the mode of work with you early in the process.

Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy

The core philosophy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is that thoughts, feelings and behaviours combine to influence a person’s quality of life. CBT aims to firstly assist people to recognize the beliefs and thought processes they have, especially those which reduce their happiness and enjoyment of life.

Once there is more insight and awareness, the client then works with these beliefs and thought patterns, to manage and change these cognitive (or thinking) patterns, so they interfere less negatively in the persons’ life. The Behavioural component involves working with practical strategies and skills to change or modify behaviour and interaction patterns which may reinforce the negative thinking styles, hence learning more useful and quality of life enhancing behaviours and ways of interacting.

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy (also called psychodynamic psychotherapy) looks at the developmental history and current manifestation of problems to understand the internal structure of the mind and the personality, and how this is functioning in the present day. It is a process aiming for deep-seated and lasting change within our personality and our emotional development. The assessment of psychological structure, both conscious and unconscious, determines whether therapy will proceed in either a brief and focussed way, (somewhere around 20 or so sessions, as a very rough guide), or in a longer and deeper process when the need for significant change is identified. How long this takes depends on the individual and the desired goals, but will be discussed with you clearly so that you know what your commitment is likely to be. This may require intensive work for some or all of the therapeutic process; this is also determined on an individual basis. This kind of deep work has been shown to produce stable long-term change. It suits people who have the capacity for psychological thinking and internal reflection. There is evidence that psychoanalytic psychotherapy is effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, relational issues and particularly in the treatment of personality issues or disorders.

Clinical Hypnosis

Clinical hypnosis or hypnotherapy is a therapy mode which uses a person’s natural abilities to become absorbed in relaxation and imagery processes, for the purpose of resolving or dealing with psychological stresses and negative experiences. This work needs to be undertaken with a Clinical Psychologist who has thorough training in this approach to therapy, which usually means a two-year training program within a recognized training body. Imagery is often used within the hypnosis therapy and can enhance and facilitate the other therapy modes, such as CBT.

Imagery in hypnosis can have a powerful positive effect on the thinking, feeling and sensory experiences related to psychological issues and problems and can enhance insight into difficult emotional issues. It can also be very helpful in managing medical conditions such as; irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, and a range of auto-immune disorders.

Mindfulness Therapy

Mindfulness Therapy has developed out of meditative traditions such as those found in Buddhism, to assist a person to become aware of their bodily processes and emotional arousal before, during and after psychological arousal and distress. The person learns to notice these thoughts and feelings in a more detached manner, allowing them to reduce the impact and frequency of highly negative emotional states. The calming effect of the individually tailored meditation practice, which is an essential part of this form of therapy, also allows a person to enhance their personal well-being and psychological balance.

Eye Movement, Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a treatment used to assist people who have had traumatic experiences that continue to cause them distress after more than three months has elapsed. EMDR is used to assist people overcome the distress caused by disturbing experiences such as motor vehicle accidents, workplace incidents that threaten safety, grief and loss, sexual assaults, the distress of undergoing some medical procedures, and many other incidents that can occur to either children or adults.

EMDR and other body focused approaches can dovetail well with CBT and Interpersonal therapies for people who have had traumatic experiences in early life, and for whom a body memory remains, that is difficult to manage or change.

In instances where there is trauma in early life, somatic memory may remain although the verbal memory may not be available. For others however re-telling traumatic memories, or the trauma story, provides important information. In the session when describing or re-visiting these experiences, people often re-experience the physical reaction. That is where EMDR, and the sensorimotor approaches can benefit treatment; as the trauma related emotional reactions, thoughts, images, and body sensations that emerge spontaneously in the therapy hour can become the focal points of exploration, and the intensity of the disturbing emotional experience is reduced.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a relatively new style of evidence-based therapy which draws on the central meditative processes of Mindfulness Therapy.

There is an additional emphasis on the process of learning to accept the negative aspects of ones life, while concurrently developing ways to live life more fully. The ability to notice those things you don’t like about yourself, others or your circumstances while at the same time not putting off reaching life goals and dreams is explored during this style of therapy.

Child Behavioural Therapy

Behavioural therapy with younger children involves helping the child learn more adaptive and appropriate ways of behaving and expressing their feelings. This can include a focus on problems such as bed wetting and soiling, temper outbursts, shyness, sleeping problems, anxiety and depression. Parents are very much a part of the therapy process and may be asked to record behaviours, work with behavioural reward charts, set boundaries via appropriate consequences for difficult behaviours and gain information about age and developmental appropriate tasks the child is learning to manage. Sometimes parents may be asked to explore their own parenting styles and how this impacts on their children.

Play Therapy

Play Therapy is used in Fremantle Clinical Psychology with children and adolescents. The understanding with this therapy is that children and adolescents often are not as versed in “talking therapies” and are able to utilize their play and fantasy for therapeutic purposes. This may take the form of guided therapeutic play with hand puppets, a sand box, drawing, clay work, toys and games.

While the young people usually enjoy this process, there is also very real work taking place and many new insights and behaviours can be explored and developed. Often play therapy is combined with cognitive-behavioural therapy, where the child may learn for example, ways to deal with bullies in the playground or how to make friends and mix with other kids. Parents are very much involved in this process too and are guided to work with the child and the Clinical or Counselling Psychologist. Schools are sometimes also involved, where appropriate, in work with school aged children.