Counselling is a therapeutic approach that involves active listening, empathetic responding, and unbiased perspective. Counsellors are mental health professionals, often with a Bachelors or Masters degree in the field, and are regulated through a registration body. Counsellors cannot provide diagnoses, and instead they collaborate with you to enhance your mental wellbeing and foster self-understanding. Counselling is often a great approach for you to gain fresh perspectives on situations.

Peer Mental Health Support, sometimes called Peer Support or Peer Work, is a newer approach to mental health care. Guidance provided is by people who have lived/living experience with mental health challenges. Peer Mental Health Workers utilise insights gained from their own recovery journey to help others through similar challenges. Peer Work is cemented in connecting to each other through relatable experiences and having a deep understanding of the emotions and thoughts you may experience. Peer Work does not currently sit under a registration body in Australia and peer workers can have a variety of qualifications.

At Therapy Shmerapy, counselling and peer work are very similar. This is due to the fact that all of our counsellors have lived/living experience with mental health challenges, and all of our peer workers have experience using therapeutic techniques in sessions. Both approaches at Therapy Shmerapy are designed to support you through your mental health journey through connection and building skills. One is not considered “more clincal or professional” than the other. As a result, we offer the same price for our counselling services and peer work services.

If you’re unsure which to choose from, we recommend looking through our Meet the Team page to see which practitioner you feel most drawn to work with. Research has shown time-and-time-again that having a good connection with your practitioner is invaluable in comparison to their job title or degree.

We do not generally suggest a minimum or maximum amount of sessions for our services. They can be as long-term, short-term or sporadic as you like.

There is a connotation that counselling and peer mental health work is time limited (eg. 10 sessions maximum, or for 3 months maximum) but this comes from government services that will only fund a certain amount of support per person. This does not apply to our service, and is a big reason why we do not pursue a government funded model. We believe that as long as we are working together well and you are finding it helpful, we will continue to work with you as you see fit.

Similarly, we do not have a minimum amount of sessions. This means you can try one or two sessions, and if you're not feeling it you do not need to book back in. It is completely up to you.

Shorter Sessions - 30mins - $65

Standard Session - 50mins - $100

Longer Session - 80mins - $160

We offer a 25% reduced rate to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and anyone with no or low income. Please contact us prior to booking to access this rate.

We are able to invoice NDIS plans (please see Can I use NDIS to pay? FAQ).

Private health insurance is tricky as each fund is quite particular with who and what they will insure. At the moment, sessions with Thalia can be reimbursed by Bupa and ARHG fund members, depending on your level of cover.

No. You do not require any referrals at all to use our services.

Unfortunately, no. The Australian Government does not classify counselling and peer work services as treatment eligible for coverage under the Medicare model. This means Mental Health Care Plans also cannot be used with us as it is a service provided through Medicare. To be clear, this is not our choice and we hope that this changes in the future.

Yes, we can invoice anyone who is self-managed or plan managed.

The item we invoice under for Counselling is 15_043_0128_1_3 - Improved Daily Living Skills - Assessment Recommendation Therapy or Training – Counsellor - $156.16/hr.

The item we will invoice under for Peer Mental Health Support is 01_741_0128_1_3 - Disability-Related Health Supports - Other Professional - $150/hr, however there are other items that peer work can fall under and you’re welcome to get in touch with us if there is a different item number you’d like to be invoiced under.

Why is the price different to the usual fees? The service we provide under the NDIS has to be different so that we can comply with NDIA regulations. This includes but is not limited to requiring set durations for sessions, developing service agreements, and additional admin time spent on invoicing or liasing with plan managers. The pricing set complies with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2024-25.

Last updated: 6 June 2025.

Our books do fill quickly, but generally we are able to book you into regular appointment times within a week or two.

You can view our available appointments by navigating to our online booking system, here.

We are currently offering our services via Telehealth (video and phone) to anyone located within Australia.

You will receive a 50% refund of the session fee if you cancel your appointment at least 48 hours in advance. However, no refunds will be provided for cancellations made within 48 hours of the appointment.