TOC Psychology and Behaviour Support Services

Welcome to Tropic of Capricorn (TOC) Psychology and Behaviour Support Services. 

We provide counselling services for individuals of all ages who are experiencing an array of different psychological and/or life stressors. We also provide behaviour support services to assist NDIS participants to improve their quality of life and meet their NDIS goals.

Psychology

TOC aims to provide effective care for people by understanding their unique experiences. People’s lives can be significantly affected by stress, life events and/or trauma (e.g., family, work/study, health issues, grief etc). Subsequently, they can experience low mood; anxiety; low motivation; relationship issues; sleep issues, being unable to ‘switch off’, feeling ‘on guard’ and/or irritability just to name a few. Being better able to tackle these issues is crucial for improving your quality of life and wellbeing.

TOC psychologists can help you develop the skills and strategies needed to manage life stressors/changes, psychological health issues, trauma and promote a good quality of life. Their evidence-based counselling approaches include

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
• Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
• Solution Focused Therapy (SFT)
• Motivational Interviewing (MI)
• Interpersonal Therapy (IPT).

TOC psychologists are also trained in assessments such as cognitive functioning and functional assessments (related to psychosocial disabilities).

All TOC psychologists are registered with AHPRA.

All psychologists are legally required to register with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), in the same way medical practitioners (doctors) must be registered. This means that they must have competently completed a minimum level of university education and provisional practice (i.e., similar to an internship), follow a strict Code of Conduct and engage in ongoing professional development. All TOC psychologists have been registered for unrestricted practice with AHPRA.

Not all counsellors or therapists are registered psychologists. Seeing someone who is registered ensures you receive high quality, ethical treatment and also means you may be eligible for a rebate from Medicare with a mental health care plan from your GP. Many other referrers (e.g., Workcover, Targeted Psychological Support Services (TPSS) , Open Arms etc) may also require that you see a registered psychologist.

NDIS – Behaviour Support

A NDIS participant may have funding to access behaviour support services. TOC can support participants by linking them NDIS registered Behaviour Support Practitioner who will assist in creating a participant-focussed behaviour support plan (and provided associated training) that is tailored to the participant’s needs and choices. The behaviour support practitioner looks at the underlying reasons for distressed behaviours and communication and focuses on evidence-based skills and strategies that protect the participants dignity and quality of life.

TOC behaviour support practitioners can assist to:

• Improve a participant’s quality of life
• Increase understanding of distress behaviour and communication
• Increase a participant’s adaptive skills and strategies
• Support the participant to have choice and control in their own lives
• Assist with understanding what support would benefit a participant
• Guide and support appropriate and beneficial environmental changes
• Guide supports in the most appropriate ways to assist participants
• Protects the rights, values and dignity of participants
• Support and assist with a participant’s community engagement
• Support and assist with developing/cementing relationships with others in the community
• Reduce the need for restrictive practices
• Assist the participant to achieve their NDIS goals

All TOC Behaviour Support Practitioners are registered with the NDIS.