M. 0403 639 580

Our Services

Drug & Alcohol Counselling

At ST&A Psychology, our Manly psychologists have extensive experience in drug and alcohol treatment. Our goal when providing this service is to promote wellbeing and reduce suffering that results from the use of alcohol and other drugs.

Book your free video consult with one of our Psychologists, tell us what you’re struggling with, what you want to change/improve and test a video session to see how we can help.

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

Drug and Alcohol Therapies

Our psychologists use a range of therapeutic techniques, suited to each individuals needs, to treat drug and alcohol use issues including:

  • Motivational Interviewing (MI)
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
  • Schema Therapy (ST)
  • Mindfulness based CBT (MB-CBT)

Signs & symptoms of Alcohol or drug use Issues

Relying on drugs or alcohol to have fun or relax
Changed eating or sleeping habits
Spending more time with people who drink excessively or do drugs
Losing interest in activities you used to love
Daily urges to drink alcohol or take the drug (could be once or several times a day)
Needing more of the drug or alcohol to have the same effect
Wasting/spending your money on Alcohol or drugs
Hiding your drug or alcohol use from friends or family

When to seek help?

It can be difficult to recognise when your drug or alcohol use is having a negative effect on your life. Sometimes your mind will blame your issues with your mood, energy, motivation, sleep, concentration, memory, decision making, productivity, relationships, social life, family life, work or study life on other external factors rather than on the effects your drug or alcohol use might be having on these areas of your life. Your drug or alcohol use may be seen as a temporary way of dealing with physical pain, grief or loss, or other difficult life circumstances. However, various signs and symptoms may indicate alcohol or drug use is having a negative effect on your life including: Changed eating or sleeping habits, Spending more time with people who drink excessively or do drugs, Losing interest in activities you used to love, Relying on drugs or alcohol to have fun or relax, Daily urges to drink alcohol or take the drug (could be once or several times a day), Needing more of the drug or alcohol to have the same effect.
Spending money on drugs or alcohol when you could be spending it on more helpful things or saving your money, Hiding your drug or alcohol use from friends or family or lying about the amount or regularity you use alcohol or drugs, Trying but failing to stop or cut down from drinking or using the drug. Difficulties in falling asleep or staying asleep or oversleeping, concentrating, remembering, making decisions, mental alertness, feeling disconnected, low in mood, anxious, angry, guilty, down, negative, worrying more, changes in your appetite and weight, low motivation and energy, poor sexual libido, disinterested in things. A combination of 2 or more of these can all be signs that your alcohol or drug use is having a negative effect on you, your wellbeing and hour life and you could benefit from help. AT ST & A Psychology, we are passionate about helping you cope effectively with life and your emotional challenges without needing alcohol or drugs to cope, relax and/or enjoy life.
Goals of therapy achieved.

Results

We’re proud of our clients’ outcomes.

83-87% of Clients reduced their symptoms of Depression, Anxiety & Stress as measured by the DASS

73% improved their Satisfaction With Life as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)

61% of Clients rated therapy as “Extremely Effective”, 34% “Moderately Effective”, 5% “A Little Effective”, 0% rated “No Effect”.

Symptoms reduced & satisfaction improved.

Clients rating of therapy.
  • 61% Extremely effective
  • 34% Moderately effective
  • 5% A little effect
  • 0% No effect
  • 0% It made things worse
NB data comes from 625 patients who attended 15 sessions of therapy on average between 2006 and 2023.
Get to know our team.

We are here for you.

We have 8 highly skilled, experienced, professional, friendly, warm Psychologists (male and female) aged 30 to 66 ready to help you better cope with your challenges and issues, grow and improve your satisfaction with life and wellbeing.

Simon Turmanis

Principal Psychologist & Clinical Director
Simon Turmanis Principal Psychologist & Clinical Director
  • Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs
  • 20 years experience
  • Face to Face & Video/Phone sessions. After hours

I am an extremely caring, warm, open, helpful, respectful, supportive, encouraging, hardworking and compassionate person. I am very passionate about helping people…well. Helping people to reduce their suffering is important to me. I will want to understand the unique way you are suffering or struggling to cope. I work hard to help anyone who decides to work with me, as a client, colleague, supervisee, fellow team member or workshop participant. I have 20 years experience working with adults, adolescents, and children with various psychological problems/issues. Within this, I have 18 years’ private practice experience working with adults of all ages, couples, adolescents, children and families on a broad range of issues.

Suzanne Carmichael

Experienced Psychologist
Suzanne Carmichael Experienced Psychologist
  • Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat
  • Face to face & Video/Phone sessions. After hours.

I am an empathic, thoughtful, person-centred psychologist with over 18 years experience helping people in clinical, counselling and organisational settings cope with difficult situations, at times traumatic situations, to cope, and improve their health, wellbeing and satisfaction with life. I am passionate about helping you work towards what’s important to you in your life and find and commit to direction, purpose and meaning in your life. Warm and caring, I will want to ensure you feel heard and valued.

Jacob de Wet

Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Team Leader
Jacob de Wet Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Team Leader
  • Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs
  • Face to face & video/phone sessions. After hours.

I am an extremely compassionate, professional and approachable psychologist, committed to treating you with warmth, care and dignity. I will be guided by your strengths, needs and circumstances to best support and empower you to be able to create positive changes, cope with challenges and difficulties, and improve your wellbeing. For the last 4 years, I have worked full-time at ST&A Psychology where I have helped hundreds of clients. My ability to help people…well has led to my role as Clinical Team Leader.

Edwina Wong

Registered Psychologist
Edwina Wong Registered Psychologist
  • Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri
  • Face to face & video/phone sessions. After hours.

I am an extremely professional, warm, friendly, empathic and thoughtful Psychologist. If you choose to work with me, I will listen and care with interest as we work together to understand how your issues have developed over time, what’s maintaining these issues, and the best way to help you cope more effectively. I value transparency and accountability, and so will regularly invite your feedback to ensure we are on track.

Dr Matthew Gerathy

Clinical Psychologist
Dr Matthew Gerathy Clinical Psychologist
  • Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri
  • Face to face & video/phone sessions. After hours.

Warm, friendly and approachable, I am extremely passionate about helping people live happier, more fulfilling and productive lives through raising self-awareness and compassion. I will provide a respectful, empathic space where we can build a strong relationship, use evidence based therapy, & design a treatment approach that is individual to your specific difficulties/challenges, informed by your strengths and goals, and is openly communicated, and regularly reviewed. Over the last 18 months I have worked full-time at ST&A Psychology and helped over a hundred clients…well, with a broad range of ages and issues.

Sabrina Choo

Registered Psychologist
Sabrina Choo Registered Psychologist
  • Tue, Thurs, Fri
  • Face to face & video/phone sessions. After hours.

I am a warm, caring, compassionate and empathetic person. As a Psychologist in Manly Vale, I will be committed to treating you with compassion, care and dignity and dedicated to helping you reach your goals of therapy, whatever that takes. My approach to therapy is person centred where goals and treatment plans are actively guided by your strengths, needs and circumstances. I am passionate about collaborating with you to support and empower you to create positive changes, cope with challenges and difficulties, and improve your wellbeing. I strive to create a strong therapeutic relationship where you feel safe to tell your story in an environment where you feel heard and understood.

Mark Podesta

Experienced Psychologist
Mark Podesta Experienced Psychologist
  • Thurs, Fri, Sat
  • Video/phone sessions. After hours.

If you choose to work with me I will be respectful, collaborative, compassionate, supportive and empowering; to help you create positive changes, cope with challenges and difficulties, and improve your wellbeing. My clinical skills are honed through years of experience treating people from diverse backgrounds and abilities, with a wide range of presenting issues across the lifespan. In my time at ST & A psychology (18 months), I have helped close to 100 clients…well.

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

How it works

1
Smart Match with Your Therapist

Match by personality, experience and a range of preferences to suit your needs. You can also schedule a free introduction video consult/telephone call.

2
Schedule Sessions face to face or by video/telephone

Book days and times for your sessions via video/telephone or face to face that work for you. Our therapists are ready to work with you to help you achieve your goals of therapy, improve your mental health and satisfaction with life.

3
Measure your change & Track Your Journey

Measure and track how far you’ve come, changes you’ve made – and how far you can go with your dedicated psychologist, we’re with you every step of the way as you evolve and grow and make changes to achieve what you are working towards.

4
Claim Medicare or Private Health Rebate

With a GP referral and Mental Health Treatment Plan you can be eligible for a Medicare rebate for 10 psychology sessions per year. Most private health insurers provide between 30-80% rebates on sessions. We process the claim on your behalf at time of session.

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

What we offer you.

  • Psychologists available now
  • A psychologist that’s carefully matched for you.
  • Saturdays & after hours appointments
  • Days & times that suit you.
  • Medicare & Private Health Rebates
  • Face to face or video/phone sessions from wherever you’re comfortable
  • Sessions booked in advance at optimum consitency for best results.
  • Help setting your goals of therapy, track your journey, measure changes made
  • Our commitment to listen & care with support & compassion & provide value each & every session.
Book days and times for your sessions via video/telephone or face to face that work for you. Our therapists are ready to work with you to help you achieve your goals of therapy, improve your mental health and satisfaction with life.

Unlike other practices with long wait lists, we have psychologists in our team ready to work with you now and help you achieve your goals of therapy.

We understand the importance of getting the fit between you and your psychologist right, thus we’ll take the time to help you work out what you’re struggling with, what you want to change/improve/work on & book you in with the right psychologist based on their skills, experience & therapy style.

We offer sessions on Saturdays and before and after school and work in the mornings and evenings.

Book days and times for your sessions via video/telephone or face to face that work for you. Our therapists are ready to work with you to help you achieve your goals of therapy, improve your mental health and satisfaction with life.

With a referral from your GP and a mental health care plan, you may claim up to 10 Medicare rebates per calendar year for 10 sessions. Also, you may claim rebates from your private health insurance.

You may choose to come into our practice, meet our client liaison officers and experience therapy in one of our four therapy rooms and/or have sessions via video/phone in the comfort of your home, office or car.

Based on research of what is the most effective therapy, clients need consistent sessions over a required duration to achieve all their goals of therapy in the most efficient way. Thus we work with you to schedule your appointments weekly to fortnightly in advance at times that suit you.

Based on the research of what is the most effective therapy and what will help you reach your goals of therapy, we’ll help you set specific realistic achievable goals, walk you through how you can achieve them and consistently measure your progress along the way.

Each of our psychologists are committed fully to helping you perceive value from each and every session with care and compassion.

Book an appointment this week.

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

What we can help you with.

Our Manly Psychologists help adults, children, parents, adolescents and couples with a mix of presenting issues &
challenges

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

Other issues, diagnoses and presentations we work with:
  • Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, Specific Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Social Phobia, Worry, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder.
Personality Disorders (Narcissistic, Borderline, Dependent, Obsessional, Paranoid etc.), Problems Relating to others (including couples therapy), Specific Relationship Problems, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Attention difficulties.
  • Dissatisfaction with life, Sleep problems, Body image issues, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Pain, Chronic Fatigue.
  • Addictions and Abuse problems, Child-Parent relational issues, Child Behavioural Problems, Adolescent Issues, Parent Skills Training, Oppositional defiant disorder.
  • Child parent relational issues.

We also help people with:

  • Stress management
  • Self esteem issues and building self worth
  • Adjustment to life change
  • Perfectionism
  • Grief and loss
  • Procrastination and Improving Motivation
  • Assertiveness and Emotion management (Anger etc.)
  • Goal Setting and Achieving
  • Weight management and physical health
  • Problem Solving
  • Bulimia Nervosa
  • Career and vocational guidance
  • Sexual orientation
  • Pain management and psychological effects of physical injuries
Contact Us

Help us match you with the best psychologist.

We’ll call you, spend 20-30 minutes helping you work out what you’re struggling with, what you want to change/improve/work on & book you in with the right psychologist based on their skills, experience & therapy style.

Still have questions, not sure who to work with or how we can help?

We’ll call you and have a confidential no commitment chat about what you’re struggling with, what you want help with and want to change, who in our practice might be able to help, how therapy can help and answer any questions you might have.