M. +61 403 639 580

Psychologist Manly and Northern Beaches

Helping people...well. TM

Get matched with a psychologist who is the right fit for you.

Not ready to book in, why not try our free video consult with 1 of our psychologists (limited availability)

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

Psychologist North Sydney and St Leonards

Helping people...well. TM

Get matched with a psychologist who is the right fit for you.

Not ready to book in, why not try our free video consult with 1 of our psychologists (limited availability)

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)

Play Video

Results

We’re proud of our clients’achievements.

NB data comes from 625 patients who attended 15 sessions of therapy on average between 2006 and 2023.

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”.

Goals of therapy achieved.
Progress reported

Percentage of clients reporting they made progress since
commencing therapy.

Symptoms reduced & satisfaction improved.
Clients rating of therapy.

Free 20 Min Video Consult

(Dependent on Availability)

Get to know our team.

We are here for you.

We have 10 highly skilled, experienced, professional, friendly, warm Psychologists (male and female) 30-55 ready to help you better cope with your challenges and issues, grow and improve your satisfaction with life and wellbeing. We are passionate about  preventing our clients from dropping out of therapy prematurely (before clients have done the work to get well, stay well and prevent relapsing into previous patterns of unhelpful behaviours/dysfunction or issues which they had previously learnt to manage better through therapy and new psychological skills learnt). Through this our clients are reporting improved outcomes from therapy and maintaining those improved outcomes at follow up. The average number of sessions clients attend psychological therapy for in Australia is just 5 sessions. Research informs us that for 50% of clients in therapy to get well and stay well, they require 13-18 sessions on average. For the remaining 50% of clients to improve (reduce their symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, improve their satisfaction with life and sustain their change in unhelpful behaviours (maintain their improvement over time), more than 18 sessions is required. On average our clients attend for 15 sessions of therapy. Something we are very proud of as it leads to better outcomes for our clients.

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.

Dr Emma Agnew

Experienced Clinical Psychologist
Dr Emma Agnew Experienced Clinical Psychologist
  • Wed, Thurs
  • After Hours
  • Face to Face Sessions
  • Video and Phone Sessions

I am an experienced, highly skilled, authentic, warm, engaging, caring, compassionate, person-centred psychologist with over 12 years experience helping people…well. If you choose to work with me, I will lean in with genuine care, compassion and understanding to build a strong relationship with you, so you feel safe to open up and explore your issues in therapy. I will take a strengths-based approach, recognising that you have the resources, skills and values that can be harnessed for change. I will be person-centred and work with you, to tailor treatment to your individual needs, issues, goals and values while being adaptive and flexible to what is occurring for you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tom Xia

Experienced Psychologist
Tom Xia Experienced Psychologist
  • Wed, Fri, Sat
  • Face to Face Sessions
  • Video/Phone Sessions

I am an experienced, highly skilled, practical, caring, invested, empathetic, and person-centred psychologist with over 8 years experience helping people..well. In therapy I aim to provide a safe space that helps you open up and explore your thoughts, feelings, your past, circumstances and life difficulties no matter how uncomfortable they are. I will aim for therapy to be experiential for you, practice-based and goal-oriented. Based on your strengths and weaknesses, we can explore and tailor a treatment plan that works for you and help you practice and develop lasting coping strategies that will help you conquer your life challenges.

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.

Jodie Gibson

Provisional Psychologist
Jodie Gibson Provisional Psychologist
  • Mon, Wed, Thurs
  • Face to face & video/phone sessions. After hours.

I am a passionate, warm, empathetic and compassionate Psychologist (full registration due January 2025). If you choose to work with me, I will strive to forge a genuine connection, and value your unique circumstances and challenges. I will be collaborative with you, working together to understand what you want to achieve in therapy, the issues you are struggling with and how we might improve your mental health and wellbeing. I will be committed and enthusiastic about your personal goals, fostering resilience and empowering you to achieve personal growth, as I believe everyone possesses inherent strengths and the potential to thrive.

Jacob de Wet

Clinical Psychologist
Jacob de Wet Clinical Psychologist
  • 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 4.5 years, I have worked full-time at ST&A Psychology where I have helped many clients.

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 can help you with.

Our Manly Psychologists and North Sydney 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 & 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.

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
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.

Book now.

Click get matched with a psychologist button to contact us and book in.

In Person & Telehealth available to do from wherever you're comfortable.

Call us on: 0403 639 580

Parking and public transport

50m from Bus stops on Pacific Highway & Greenwich Rd. 400m from St leonards train station. Free 2-3 hour parking 2 minutes walk away at Gore Hill Park.

We are located on the left-hand side of Pacific Highway if driving north towards Hornsby from North Sydney; on the left hand side of Greenwich Rd at the top of the hill, where it intersects with Pacific Highway.

We are 10 minutes walk from St Leonards train station and 2 minutes walk from the bus stop on Pacific Highway.

FAQs

At  ST & A Psychology we are committed fully to helping you perceive value from each and every session. We will lean in and really care about you and your emotional suffering and pain, with compassion & understanding. With professionaism, enthusiasm and willingness, we will work extremely hard to help understand how and why your issues have developed and are being maintained. We will also help you to evaluate the effectiveness of your current coping skills and help you learn and apply  new more helpful coping/psychological skills. 

We will strongly believe in the strength and ability within you, to change your life, & manage your issues more effectively. As experts on mental health and change, we will respect you as the expert of your life. Thus, we will help you to work towards what is important, meaningful and purposeful for you, to better meet your psychological needs and achieve your goals of therapy in the most effective way. 

We have 10 highly skilled and experienced psychologists (male and female) aged 30 to 55 to help you if you are aged 7 to 87 with an extremely broad range of issues and presentations. 

Before booking you in with one of our psychologists, we will take great care and thought to help match you with the best psychologist. To do this we’ll ask you what you’re struggling with, what you want to change/improve/work on, your preferences of which type of psychologist you’re looking for, and the times and days for your sessions. We will then carefully match you with one of our psychologists  & book you in based on their skills, experience, availability & therapy style. 

Based on the research of what is the most effective therapy and what will help you reach your goals of therapy, we’ll work with you to schedule consistent appointments weekly to fortnightly in advance at times that suit you over a required duration. We’ll also help you set specific realistic achievable goals, walk you through how you can achieve them and consistently measure your progress along the way. 

We offer after hours appointments before and after school and work, and on Saturdays on days and times that work for you around your work/uni/school schedule. 

We offer face to face therapy sessions on site in one of our four spacious, modern, comfortable, therapy rooms as well as sessions via video/phone if you’d prefer the comfort of your home, office or car. 

To make therapy more affordable, 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 of your therapy sessions. Also, you may claim rebates from your private health insurance. We also offer reduced fees for a small percentage of our clients who may be struggling financially.

People from diverse backgrounds with a range of issues and concerns seek counselling and we aim to create an environment where you feel safe and comfortable to be open, honest and yourself. We care about each person we work with and are dedicated to sharing our expertise to help you make the necessary changes you need in your life.

For further information please see the types of Client Issues we work with and the Types of Services we offer.

Attending sessions regularly is extremely important if you are going to make and sustain changes in your life. The research evidence shows that completing 12 weekly consistent sessions leads to more significant changes than 12 monthly sessions. Being open to and having a willingness to talk about difficult things with emotional vulnerability is important in helping you achieve your goals of therapy. Also, practising/working on new skills during and between sessions is necessary to better manage your issues and perceived problems. Further, a willingness to try new things and try out new ways of doing things and exposing yourself to difficult things where uncomfortable thoughts and feelings may arise is also an important aspect to making changes. Using a notepad and folder to record, collect and keep all information and handouts from therapy will help you to remember what you are working on, why and how. Often we’ll ask you to take notes and write down the commitments you make in session, to actions you’ll take each week between sessions. We often also ask you to take photos of these handouts or notes or things you’ve written down onto your mobile phone where you can easily access them and refer to them

The initial session(s) are about assessment and involve you describing what is troubling you. Specific information about your developmental, family, work, social and health history is taken, to better understand what is happening for you and why it is happening. We clarify the problems, set goals and expectations about what can be achieved, including how consistently you need to attend sessions and an approximate timeframe. Then, we suggest appropriate ways of working on your issues, based on what the issues are, how they’ve developed and what has proven to be effective for others with similar issues or perceived problems (this approach is known as using Evidence Based Treatments). It is important to note that the assessment part of your therapy continues throughout your therapy. Because each session you come in to therapy, the more your therapist gets to know you and your personality style and ways you cope with and manage issues, and also the more information you provide them about your issues, what triggers them, and how they are maintained and develop.

Your Therapist and you then begin working on your issues in session. And you also begin working on your issues out of session. In session, you will be asked to commit to activities and tasks which you and your therapist set together to help you make the changes you want to see in your life. Some of these tasks and activities may be new psychological skills/tasks, and some will be daily activities like getting to bed at a helpful time to allow you to get enough sleep, or increasing your cardio vascular exercise to 3-4 times per week for 35-40 minutes. Each person is different so your tasks you and your therapist set will be uniquely individual to you and your specific issues and goals of therapy.

How much does a psychologist cost in Sydney?The number of (50-55 minute) sessions you decide to commit to varies, depending on your particular issues, goals of therapy willingness to examine things, make change and stay the course of therapy when things get tough or difficult and are not changing or improving. As the person committing to therapy, you as the client make the decision as to how many sessions you are willing to commit to, over what period of time, how often. We will inform you of the research evidence around number of sessions over time when you complete your intake (initial process over the phone) with us, and as we get to know you and work with you in therapy we can inform you of consistency and duration of therapy as we go along the journey together.

Research suggests: 13-18 sessions of psychological therapy is needed to reach significant improvement and maintain the changes at 6 months follow up after therapy has finished. With the remaining 50% of clients needing 20 – 90+ sessions. Further, in Australia clients attend just 5 sessions of therapy on average. Meaning sadly the majority of clients do not attend enough therapy for a long enough period to achieve long lasting change and prevent relapse into poorer mental health.

Currently, at our Practice, patients attend 15+ sessions on average with our psychologists; and, we are focused on increasing this number. Thus, We understand the importance of you attending consistent sessions over the required duration of therapy to ensure you achieve the best treatment outcomes and will encourage you to book in weekly or fortnightly consistent sessions for a minimum of 13.

Thus, We focus on retaining our clients in therapy for the required duration of consistent sessions to help you achieve the best treatment outcomes + prevent you relapsing into previous poorer mental health. This means less of our clients choose to cease therapy before obtaining genuine, longer lasting benefits.

Our data we have collected in our Practice here at Simon Turmanis Associates reveals that approximately 20% of our clients require 10-12 weekly sessions. Usually these people have issues which are very specific and easily identifiable. Furthermore the issues usually are more transitory and sitiuational as opposed to long lasting/persistent.

Approximately 30% of our clients may require 13 to 20 sessions which may also move to fortnightly in frequency and therapy will persist over a longer period of time (6 – 12 months). Approximately 50% of clients will benefit from more than 20 sessions over a longer period of time such as 12 to 24 months. You are likely to discuss the most appropriate duration and frequency of sessions during sessions 1 and 2. However, sometimes what is initially focussed on and worked on in the first 10 to 12 sessions and what you and your therapist initially, believe is most important to focus on, may not become the most important or relevant area for you to work on moving forward. So during therapy your therapist and you will review and manage what has been done, what still would be worthwhile to work on and what skills you still need to learn or apply better/more consistently in your life. Sometimes to achieve all of your goals of therapy and prevent relapse back into old unhelpful patterns and poor mental health, working consistently (i.e once a week to once a fortnight) for 12 months+ is most helpful/recommended.

Morning, afternoon and evening sessions are available, Monday to Saturdaye. Availability and hours differ for each of our psychologists, please make sure to enquire about this with one of our client liaison officers.

Evidence Based Treatments are those shown to have significant impact in helping people reduce psychological symptoms (e.g. symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress), improve and enrich their lives, relationships and their satisfaction with life. We use these and other models in an integrative approach, tailored to each client’s needs. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Schema Therapy, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution Focused Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic models are used. Each of the therapy models involve you learning new ways of coping and managing difficulties so that you can cope more helpfully, leading to a reduction of psychological symptoms and improvements in satisfaction with life.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is defined by the Australian Association for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as a generally short term, focused approach to the treatment of many types of emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems (www.aacbtwa.org.au). “It is a collaborative and individualised program that helps individuals to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviours and learn or relearn healthier skills and habits. It examines all elements that maintain a problem, including our thoughts (cognitions), feelings, behaviour and the environment. CBT has been practised widely for more than 30 years. It has been researched extensively, and has demonstrated effectiveness with a variety of emotional difficulties” (www.aacbtwa.org.au).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)gets it name from one of its most fundamental messages: Accept what is out of your personal control, and commit to action that improves and enriches your life.

The aim of ACT is to maximise human potential for a rich, full & meaningful life. ACT does this by:

a) Teaching you psychological skills to deal with your painful thoughts and feelings effectively – in such a way that they have much less impact and influence over you (these are known as Mindfulness, Defusion, Acceptance, Present Moment, Grounding skills).

b) Helping you to clarify and stay connected to what is truly important, meaningful & purposeful to you – your values – then use that knowledge and greater connection to your values to guide, inspire and motivate you to change your life for the better.

c) Set Specific SMART goals in line with your values, inform others about these goals and values and Commit to these/follow through with actions.


Compassion Focused Therapy
(CFT) is a system of psychotherapy developed by Paul Gilbert that integrates techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy with concepts from evolutionary psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, Buddhist psychology, and neuroscience. “One of its key concerns is to use compassionate mind training to help people develop and work with experiences of inner warmth, safeness and soothing, via compassion and self-compassion.”[1]

The central therapeutic technique of CFT is compassionate mind training, which teaches the skills and attributes of compassion.[2] Compassionate mind training helps transform problematic patterns of cognition and emotion related to anxietyangershameself-criticismdepersonalization, and hypomania.[3]

Biological evolution forms the theoretical backbone of CFT. Humans have evolved with at least three primal types of emotion regulation system: the threat (protection) system, the drive (resource-seeking) system, and the soothing system.[4] CFT emphasizes the links between cognitive patterns and these three emotion regulation systems.[5] Through the use of techniques such as compassionate mind training and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy clients can learn to manage each system more effectively and respond more appropriately to situations.[6] There are an increasing number of empirical research papers that demonstrate the importance of compassion as a way of directing behavior to deal with threat and resolve conflict.[7]

Compassion focused therapy is especially appropriate for people who have high levels of shame and self-criticism and who have difficulty in feeling warmth toward, and being kind to, themselves or others.[1] Such problems of shame and self-criticism are often rooted in a history of abuse, bullying, neglect, and/or lack of affection in the family.[8] CFT can help such people learn to feel more safeness and warmth in their interactions with others and themselves.[1]

Numerous methods are used in CFT to develop a person’s compassion. For example, people undergoing CFT are taught to understand compassion from the third person, before transferring these thought processes to themselves.[9]

No it is not mandatory to have a referral to see one of our psychologists. You may call to speak with one of our client liaison officers and book in to see one of our psychologists without a referral, as long as the issues you are coming in for are things our psychologists can help you with.  However in order to be eligible for Medicare rebates, a referral from your general practitioner, psychiatrist or pediatrician is required. If you are referred by a third party like WorkCover, referral information must be made available at the time of making the appointment.  

Any identifying or other therapy information that you disclose to your therapist will be treated with utmost privacy and respect. It is kept confidential and is only disclosed to additional parties (such as your GP, psychiatrist, or a family member), with your prior consent. Usually this is done when it is deemed important and necessary for a better understanding and treatment of your issues and you have consented to this first. However, psychologists are required to disclose information about you if it is demanded by law or if there is reasonable evidence to believe that someone is at risk of harm. Further, in order to achieve the most effective treatment outcomes for you, the treatment team at the practice will consult one another, and occasionally if required, a senior colleague in relation to your mental health.

As listed on our Consent Form for Therapy, we also collect, store and display on our website and practice flyers, brief de-identified data/information related to the treatment outcomes of our clients/patients. This data includes percentages of symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and satisfaction with life scores measured through the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and Satisfaction With Life Scale. During your treatment/therapy, you may choose to complete a “Service Evaluation” to provide feedback on How effective therapy was, and how many initial goals of therapy you achieved. This de identified information may also be stored and displayed on the website and practice flyers.

All of our Psychologists hold a undergraduate degree and honours degree in Psychology plus a minimum of 2 years supervised practice to obtain their registration as Fully Registered Psychologists with AHPRA (The Australian Health Professionals Regulation Agency). Our Clinical Psychologists Dr Emma Agnew, Dr Matthew Gerathy, Sabrina Choo & Simon Turmanis all hold a Masters or Doctorate of Clinical Psychology. Additionally, all of our Psychologists undertake continuing professional development to ensure they are able to provide you with the latest, most effective treatment approaches in CBT, ACT, CFT, DBT, Schema Therapy, MBCBT, and MI.

You can read more about each of our individual Psychologists, Simon Turmanis, Tom Xia,  Mark Podesta, Dr Emma Agnew,Dr Matthew Gerathy, Edwina Wong, Suzanne Carmichael & Sabrina Choo; their qualifications, experience, training and models of therapy they continue their professional development, supervision and training in.

The main difference between a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist lies in their specific expertise within their fields. While both professionals are trained in identifying mental issues and disorders, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who is trained in medical sciences and specialises in prescribing medication for symptomatic relief. Whereas a psychologist does not prescribe medicine but is a trained health professional who specialises in social science, counselling and clinical psychology. Psychologists spend time in one-on-one, couples, family or group therapy sessions discussing and talking through an issue. Psychologists are trained in evaluating, assessing and diagnosing a person’s mental illness and / or psychological problems and providing help, without the use of medication. 

The main role of a psychologist is to use their expertise and scientifically supported clinical tests to assess, identify and diagnose psychological, emotional and behavioural disorders and provide therapy for a range of health problems 

You should consider seeing a psychologist if you are experiencing any of the following: 

  • Anxiety 
  • Depression 
  • Feeling low or more tearful than usual 
  • Feeling stressed 
  • Feeling overwhelmed 
  • Overthinking and unable to ‘switch off’ your thoughts 
  • Sleeping more or less than usual 
  • Stressful life events 
  • Family and relationship issues 
  • Struggling to regulate your emotions and getting angry more than usual  
  • Feeling like life is more difficult and need support to cope 
  • Feeling low and more tearful than usual 
  • Getting angry more easily or struggling to regulate your emotions 
  • Social Phobia 
  • Body image issues
  • Psychosis 

There are many reasons why you might see a psychologist and it’s important to note that there may be additional concerns troubling you that are not listed here. The best place to start is to contact a medical professional such as a psychologist, who can create a comfortable space to talk. A clinical psychologist can discuss your concerns and you can explore ways together that can help guide you on your path to recovery. 

The most common psychological intervention is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), among other intervention therapies. ST & A Psychology offers expert CBT interventions to help clients manage their issues effectively. 

To find a good therapist in Sydney, our team are highly qualified and experience professionals at ST & A Psychology, ready to assist you. 

The cost of seeing a psychologist at ST & A Psychology are based on case by case specific requirements, please contact us directly for more information. 

To access a Medicare rebate, your GP, psychiatrist, or paediatrician must assess you as eligible for a Mental Health Care Plan. Once completed, you can be referred to a psychologist and receive up to 10 sessions with a Medicare rebate per calendar year. 

Please see our Rebates/Fees. 

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.