Am I eligible for rebates, and what is the cost of appointments?

You may be eligible for a rebate of $149.05 per 50-60 minute appointment for up to 10 clinical psychology appointments per year with a clinical psychologist if you are referred by your GP, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician under a Mental Health Care Plan as part of the Medicare Better Access Scheme (BAS).Session fees are $280 for individual appointments lasting 50-60 minutes, and $300 for couples therapy appointments lasting 50-60 minutes. Rebates cannot be claimed under Medicare for couples therapy appointments, but may be covered by your private health insurer. Check your eligibility with your provider. You may also be eligible to receive rebates under your private health cover. Check your eligibility with your provider. An information sheet about the Medicare rebate scheme has been prepared by the Australian Psychological Association, and can be found at: https://psychology.org.au/for-members/resource-finder/resources/medicare/medicare-faqsPlease check with your doctor and/or health fund to determine your eligibility for rebates.You may also be eligible for rebates under your private health cover. Check your eligibility with your provider. Rebates of $252.99 per 50-60 minute appointment apply for plan-managed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) members.Veterans and their families who are registered with the Department of Veterans Affairs may be eligible for access to clinical psychology through a valid GP or psychiatrist referral. Veterans holding a DVA WHITE or GOLD card may be entitled to up to 12 government funded sessions per year with no out of pocket cost. Gold Card holders may have more sessions available to them.

Do I need a referral?

No, you don’t require a referral to attend a psychologist, however if you are referred by a GP, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician, you may be eligible for a Medicare rebate under the Better Access to Mental Health Care scheme.As of July 1, 2026, Medicare rebates are $149.25 for a 50-60 minute appointment with a clinical psychologist if you are referred under a Mental Health Care Plan by your GP, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician. Face to face, telehealth and phone sessions are available, depending upon circumstances. All sessions last a minimum of 50 minutes.Telehealth and telephone sessions are payable prior to session.Privacy and confidentiality are protected in accordance with the APS Code of EthicsRebates apply for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Department of Veteran’s Affairs (DVA) members. View the consultations, fees and rebates page for more information. Please contact Simon directly if you have further queries.

What do I need to know about attending my first session?

After making an enquiry by phone, via e-mail or an online submission form on this website, Simon will contact you by phone for a brief, initial consultation to discuss your presenting concerns. Simon will determine whether he feels he is best suited to your needs. A suitable time and day for your first appointment will be arranged by phone or e-mail. Simon will then follow up with an email or text confirming the appointment time, and the address and location of the appointment. Information about confidentiality and the APS Charter for Clients, as well as an informed consent document for signing and completion will also be provided. During the first session, Simon will talk with you about your presenting issues and develop a plan that addresses the issues you want to discuss in therapy.

Are my sessions private and confidential?

Yes, absolutely. Simon operates in accordance with the new Psychology Board of Australia's Code of Conduct: https://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Standards-and-Guidelines/Professional-practice-standards/Code-of-conduct.aspx https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/d873e0db-7490-46de-bb57-c31bb1553025/aps-code-of-ethics.pdf All personal information gathered by Simon MacLachlan as the psychologist during the provision of the psychological service will remain confidential and secure except where: It is subpoenaed by a court, or Failure to disclose the information would place you or another person at serious and imminent risk; or If disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law; or Your prior approval has been obtained to a. Provide a written report to another professional or agency. eg. a GP or a lawyer; or b. Discuss the material with another person, eg. a parent or employer; For further information, contact Simon directly.

What are the four phases of therapy?

Initial Phase: Establish rapport and assess your issues and goals.Middle Phase: Explore your challenges in depth and apply therapeutic interventions.Working Phase: Develop and implement strategies for addressing your goals.Termination Phase: Review progress, consolidate gains, and plan for future support as the counselling relationship ends.

Is there a waiting period for psychology appointments?

Sometimes there may be a waiting period for appointments, depending on factors such as Simon's current availability, general demand for mental health services at the time of your enquiry, and the specific practice's scheduling policies. The waiting period can vary depending upon circumstances. To get an accurate estimate, it is best to contact Simon directly.

How can I make an enquiry?

You can contact Simon by making an enquiry through a submission form on this website, or by contacting Simon by phone on: Ph: 0488 076 384Or e-mailing Simon directly at: enquiries@simonmaclachlan.com

I am unsure whether therapy will help me. Can I discuss this with Simon?

Absolutely. Simon would be happy to speak to you by phone for a brief consultation to discuss your concerns.

Breaking the Pain Cycle: Hope Beyond the Hurt

Simon MacLachlan
4 days ago
6 min read

An Overview of Chronic Pain

You injured yourself months or years ago, but your pain is persistent, remaining long after your tissues, injury or illness have healed. Small things appear to set your symptoms off. Your pain seems to increase if your mood or stress worsens. You're completely fed up, doctors don't seem to help because they can't understand or diagnose the problem, or perhaps you've been told "it's in your head". Is this you? If you can relate to any of this, you may be living with chronic pain.

How does chronic pain develop, and how can we treat it? What determines who experiences chronic pain and who doesn’t?

This article will answer some of these questions, explore effective ways to better manage and treat chronic pain, and suggests that chronic pain can often be well-treated with psychological interventions, even if the initial injury or condition was physical in origin.

Chronic pain is pain that persists beyond the normal time expected for healing, typically longer than 3 months, and is maintained by ongoing changes in the nervous system, when tissue damage has healed or is no longer the primary cause. It is not in your head. It is real, and is influenced by the brain and nervous system, which can become increasingly sensitised over time – particularly when focused on and worried about (Stretanski, 2025).

Chronic pain is separate and distinct from acute pain associated with tissue damage or injury. Chronic pain occurs when an acute injury, such as a bursitis of the shoulder or temporomandibular joint dysfunction associated with jaw clenching, effectively heals, but the pain associated with the original injury remains, despite complete resolution of the injury itself.

Chronic pain can be debilitating, and is associated with mental health difficulties including anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, insomnia and emotional overwhelm. Secondary effects of the pain or symptoms often give rise to or worsen existing stress, anxiety, hypervigilance, rumination, insomnia, and functional impairment leading to work-related burnout, disablement or other serious downstream consequences. This is the vicious cycle of chronic pain.

Those with chronic pain often meet the criteria for ACEs (adverse childhood experiences), have experienced significant trauma, or already have a history of depression or anxiety (Schubiner & Betzold, 2022).

How Psychological Processes Can Perpetuate Chronic Pain

Pain is not simply a signal sent from injured tissues to the brain. Rather, it is an experience created by the brain based on information from the body, the nervous system, and our past experiences. When pain persists, the nervous system can become increasingly sensitive, causing it to produce pain even when tissues have healed or are no longer significantly damaged (Abass & Schubiner, 2018).

Several psychological processes can unintentionally keep this cycle going:

Hypervigilance

When pain is persistent, it is natural to become highly aware of bodily sensations. Constantly monitoring for signs of pain can increase the brain's perception of threat, making pain signals more noticeable and intense.

Fear and Avoidance

Many people begin avoiding activities they believe might worsen their pain. While this is understandable, prolonged avoidance can lead to reduced strength, confidence, and movement, reinforcing the brain's expectation that these activities are dangerous.

Catastrophic Thinking

Thoughts such as "I'll never get better," "Something must be seriously wrong," or "This pain is ruining my life" increase emotional distress and activate the body's stress response. This heightened state of threat can amplify pain sensitivity.

Stress and Emotional Distress

Stress, anxiety, depression, unresolved trauma, and emotional overload can increase nervous system arousal. When the brain perceives danger—whether physical or emotional—it may become more likely to generate pain as a protective response.

Reduced Activity and Deconditioning

Persistent pain often leads people to move less, withdraw from valued activities, and become physically deconditioned. This can reduce the body's resilience and reinforce the belief that movement is unsafe.

Learned Pain Patterns

After months or years of persistent pain, the brain can become highly efficient at producing pain in response to certain movements, environments, emotions, or situations. These patterns are learned through repetition, much like any other habit, and can be modified through psychological and behavioural treatment. This is often referred to as neuroplastic pain, or central sensitisation.

Hope Beyond the Hurt

Despite some of the negative consequences of living in persistent pain, there is hope. The same capacity of the nervous system to learn pain also means it can learn safety. Psychological treatment does not suggest that pain is "imagined" or "all in your head." Rather, it helps reduce unnecessary danger signals within the nervous system by changing patterns of attention, beliefs, emotions, behaviours, and physiological arousal.

As the brain becomes more confident that the body is safe, the nervous system often becomes less protective, allowing pain to gradually reduce and function to improve.

Research has found that three people can have the same back injury with identical tissue damage or disc degeneration, but have three completely different experiences of pain. One individual may notice mild pain that quickly resolves; another may notice no pain at all, and yet another may have chronic, long term pain lasting years, with debilitating consequences, functional and occupational impairment, loss of confidence, lost income, and many other psychosocial implications.

Factors associated with prolonged pain can involve how we perceive pain and injury as threatening. Therefore psychological treatment can often be one of the most crucial aspects of healing chronic pain (Schubiner, Howard & Betzold, 2022).

How Psychological Therapy Can Help Chronic Pain

Modern psychological treatments for chronic pain recognise that persistent pain is often maintained by an overprotective nervous system rather than ongoing tissue damage alone. Although each therapy approaches this in a different way, they all aim to reduce fear, increase a sense of safety, and help the brain and nervous system become less sensitive over time.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps people understand the different "parts" of themselves that develop in response to pain and adversity. For example, one part may constantly monitor the body for danger, another may fear movement or injury, while another may feel hopeless or overwhelmed.

Rather than trying to suppress these parts, IFS helps individuals relate to them with curiosity, compassion, and understanding. As protective parts begin to feel safer and less burdened, the nervous system often becomes less vigilant and less likely to interpret bodily sensations as threatening, reducing pain intensity and improving quality of life (Schwartz, Siegel & Schubiner, 2021).

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

Pain Reprocessing Therapy is based on the understanding that many cases of chronic pain are maintained by a sensitised nervous system rather than ongoing structural damage.

PRT helps people reinterpret pain as a sign of an overprotective nervous system rather than evidence of injury. Through education, mindful attention to symptoms, and gradual exposure to feared sensations and activities, the brain learns that the body is safe. As fear decreases and safety learning increases, pain often becomes less frequent and less intense (Ashar et al., 2022).

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET)

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy recognises that unresolved emotional conflicts, trauma, chronic stress, and inhibited emotions can contribute to persistent activation of the nervous system.

EAET helps individuals identify, experience, and express emotions that may have been avoided or suppressed. Processing these emotions in a safe therapeutic environment can reduce chronic stress responses, increase emotional flexibility, and lessen the nervous system's need to remain in a protective state, allowing pain to diminish over time (Lumley & Schubiner, 2019).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people change their relationship with pain rather than constantly struggling against it.

Instead of becoming trapped in cycles of avoidance, frustration, or hopelessness, ACT develops psychological flexibility—the ability to make room for difficult thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations while continuing to engage in meaningful activities and relationships.

As fear and avoidance decrease, many people find they become more active, more confident, and less dominated by pain. Although ACT does not aim to eliminate pain directly, reduced nervous system reactivity and increased engagement in valued living often lead to improvements in both pain and functioning.

An Integrative Approach

While each of these therapies has a unique emphasis, they share a common goal: helping the brain and nervous system learn that the body is safe.

Treatment may involve:

understanding how chronic pain develops,
reducing fear and hypervigilance,
processing unresolved emotional experiences,
developing self-compassion,
gradually returning to meaningful activities,
and building confidence in the body's capacity to move and heal.

As the nervous system becomes less protective, pain often becomes less intense, persistent and intrusive, allowing people to regain function, resilience, and quality of life.

Have hope: you can break the pain cycle and live a life of meaning and purpose. Contact Liminal Mind today to discuss how psychological therapy may improve your symptoms of chronic pain.

References:

Abbass, A., & Schubiner, H. (2018). Hidden from view: A clinician’s guide to psychophysiologic disorders. Psychophysiologic Disorders
Ashar YK, Gordon A, Schubiner H, et al. Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(1):13–23. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2669
Lumley MA, Schubiner H. Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Chronic Pain: Rationale, Principles and Techniques, Evidence, and Critical Review. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2019 May 23;21(7):30. doi: 10.1007/s11926-019-0829-6. PMID: 31123837; PMCID: PMC7309024.
Schwartz, Siegel & Schubiner, (2021). IFS and Chronic Pain: Parts that Hold the Hurt. Psychotherapy Networker: January/February Issue.
Schubiner, Howard, and Michael Betzold. Unlearn Your Pain: The Science of Recovering from Chronic Pain, Fatigue, Anxiety, and Depression. Mind Body Publishing, 2022. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Schubiner, H., & Betzold, M. (2022). Unlearn your pain: The science of recovering from chronic pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Mind Body
Stretanski MF, Kopitnik NL, Matha A, et al. Chronic Pain. [Updated 2025 Sep 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2026 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553030/