Counselling

Our counsellors are trained in a range of methods and have a wide range of qualifications including counselling, family therapy, psychology, social work and relationship counselling.

We have both male and female counsellors available. We can give more information on our counsellors when you contact your nearest centre. We will work to match you with a counsellor who is best placed to help you with the issues or challenges you’re experiencing.

We try to accommodate requests to see a specific counsellor, however, this is not always possible because of existing caseloads and demand for our services.

In general, the information you provide during counselling cannot be shared with anyone outside Relationships Australia Victoria (RAV) without your permission/consent. There are some exceptions, however, related to safety, harm, serious or criminal acts, violence and subpoenas. More information is available on our Counselling Information Statement or please talk to your practitioner.

In general, information you provide to RAV cannot be disclosed to anyone outside RAV without your permission/consent. Under Commonwealth law (i.e. the Family Law Act 1975, Privacy Act 1988) and other state laws, RAV’s practitioners and other employees must maintain the confidentiality of all your personal information, with some exceptions.
The exceptions which permit disclosure of your personal information outside RAV without your consent are:

• a reasonable suspicion of child abuse, risk of child abuse, or a risk of physical or psychological harm to a child;
• where it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of yourself or others;
• other matters of a serious or criminal nature involving threats of violence, or threats of damage to property;
• if RAV receives a Subpoena/Witness Summons in court proceedings and the subpoenaed information may be admissible as evidence;
• pursuant to a Police Warrant, or if a court or tribunal orders RAV to disclose that information;
• as otherwise required or authorised by law
  
  

Your personal information will be shared within RAV:

• for all the normal organisational and administrative purposes needed to provide you with a coordinated, ‘best practice’ service. For example, to transfer your file from one RAV centre to another, to refer you to a different practitioner or RAV service, to support your welfare across different services, for supervision of your practitioner’s work, to handle a complaint; and
• where it is necessary to assess and/or manage a serious threat to the life, health (physical or psychological), safety or welfare of a child, yourself or any other person.

Please speak to your practitioner if you have any queries or concerns about disclosure of information outside RAV, or the sharing of information within RAV.

We provide counselling at 9 centres across Victoria, and through telephone and video appointments. Centre opening hours vary, however appointments are generally available during business hours, with some evening appointments available. Please contact your nearest centre for more information.

Counselling appointments usually last for 50 minutes.

When you first contact us, we’ll ask you about your situation and needs to assess whether counselling is the right service for you. If it is, we’ll give you more information about our counselling service and the availability of appointments.

Across most of our counselling programs, we offer short-to-medium term support. This means that over a 12-month period, we can usually provide up to 20 appointments. How many appointments you have will depend on your situation. While some concerns can be resolved in one or two appointments, others take longer.

If you need further support beyond 20 appointments, we will support you with appropriate referrals to other services.

We are a not-for-profit, community organisation and our counselling services are only partly government funded, so fees are normally charged. However, we do try to make our services as affordable as possible. Fees are charged based on your income, and we will talk to you about fees payable when you contact us. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please talk to us about payment options.

No, you don’t need a referral to access our counselling services. You can contact your nearest centre directly to make an appointment.

If another service or practitioner is referring you to our counselling service, they may provide a ‘warm referral’. This means that they contact us to introduce us to you. This is always done with your permission, either in your presence or after you have signed a form agreeing for this to happen. This can help us to understand your situation, so we are well-equipped to be able to respond to your needs.

We are sensitive and responsive to cultural needs and appropriateness, and can adapt our counselling service to meet the unique needs of different cultures and community groups. Interpreters are available on request.

Interpreters are available on request. When you contact us to make an appointment, please let us know about any language or communication needs.

We welcome calls through the National Relay Service.

We require at least 24 hours’ notice for cancelling appointments. If you don’t notify us within this time frame, a fee may be applicable. If you need to cancel an appointment, please contact the centre as soon as possible.