Some of you have been waiting for a long time to get an appointment to see one of the Psychologists in Rockingham here at Sound Psychology and we understand how frustrating that is. We’re frustrated too. It’s really worrying to know that there are people who have reached out for help and we can’t see them as quickly as we would want to. We know that while we are busy seeing our current clients there are others patiently waiting. We’re working as hard as we can to do the right thing by everyone who comes to see us and who is waiting to see us.
If you are on the waitlist for an appointment, we see you. We know you are there. We understand how frustrating the wait has been and appreciate how patient you have been while we’re busy seeing the clients we have.
If you are happy with remaining on the waitlist there are several things that might make the wait a little less frustrating. And I’ll talk about them in a minute. If you would like to see if you can get an appointment at another Practice that’s ok. We want to help you to access the help and support you need.
Below is a list of some other mental health practitioners in the Rockingham, Port Kennedy, Baldivis area. Leandra has a more comprehensive list in the office if you want to try others. If you already have a Mental Health Care Plan prepared by your GP, you can use this to see someone else.
- Care About You Psychology (Port Kennedy) – Jennifer Caudle – 0468 465 174
- Think Therapy (Rockingham) – various Psychologists – 6181 0055
- Perth Psychology Services (Falcon) – Philippa Turvey – 9443 3709
- Mandurah Psychological Services – various Psychologists – 0417 968 569
- Core Clinical Psychology (Waikiki & Fremantle) – various Psychologists & counsellors – 04 77 774 194
You can also try the following practitioners who are qualified Mental Health Care Social Workers and have a special interest in families and women’s issues:
- Kylie Bell Counselling (Rockingham) – Kylie Bell – 0492 918 646
- Thinkwell Counselling & Psychology (Secret Harbour) – Jill Thompson – 0497 536 407
There are some things you can do that you might find helpful, if you want to continue to wait for an appointment.
There are Apps (applications) that can help you sleep, learn relaxation, be mindful, do simple yoga, and develop simple routines for your day.
Calm – has sounds, sleep stories, quick and easy scripts for relaxation and calm, mindfulness exercises, simple easy meditations, and relaxing music.
Smiling Mind – will talk you through simple breathing and relaxation strategies, often only minutes long, that you can do every day and practice regularly.
Calm Harm – while this app was designed to help with self-harming behaviours, it has useful activities you can do to comfort, distract, express yourself, release tension, and breathe. Sometimes having a quick 5-10 minute activity to do can help immensely with however you’re feeling and get you back on track.
On-line programs
There are several really good on-line self-help programs. Some of these provide information and some of them are programs that you can engage in over several days or several weeks.
Head to Health website (www.headtohealth.gov.au)
This is a great resource for information on mental health issues and difficulties and has lots of tips, ideas, and resources to help you manage. It provides information on other websites you can visit and connections to helpful Apps and programs. It’s a great place to start learning about mental health and what you can to that is helpful
Mind spot website (www.mindspot.org.au)
This is a digital mental health clinic that helps you clarify what you might be going through by completing some on-line assessments, providing relevant information specific to what you might be dealing with, and then directs you to a course that right for you and what you might be going through. While it’s not like talking to another person, it can be really helpful to clarify what you might be feeling, to understand what that means and to be able to undertake some activities and learn skills and strategies to manage.
This can be really useful to do even before you get to see and speak with a Mental Health Professional because you will be clear about what you struggle with, what helps and how that has already made a difference.
Flourish Australia (www.flourishaustralia.org.au)
While this organisation has a primary focus on NDIS, it does have a useful index of mental health definitions index – Mental Health A-Z. This information can help to understand what everything means when people talk about mental health, mental health care plans, Medicare, and other health concerns.
Chris Mackey (www.chrismackey.com.au)
Chris Mackey has a psychology practice in Geelong, Victoria. His website has great free resources – articles, handouts, blog posts – and a pretty good podcast. He’s really easy to listen to and speaks in easily understood language.
The list of resources with good information is quite extensive and you can probably find something that will be helpful here.
Happiness Trap (www.thehapinesstrap.com)
This is an on-line program developed for people to work through at their own pace, with easy to learn skills and strategies that help you to make the changes you want in your life. It includes lots of the things that you would experience when working with a mental health professional. It takes 1-2 hours each week, plus some practice time. It currently costs $145 for the 8 weeks which is a lot cheaper than seeing a psychologist for 8 weeks. There is a short video you can watch to see if the course might be something you want to do.
The website also has free resources (short videos) that you can watch which help explain mental health and some of the traps we fall into, and what you are likely to cover if you were to take the course.
….and these are some things that you might want to think about more generally. You might want to get a notebook and write down what you notice, monitor any changes and fluctuations, and what might be influencing these.
This will help shed some light on where you might be able to make some changes. These areas of your life are usually explored by the mental health professional you consult with, so having done some thinking, some data collection, and some changes will put you well ahead when you do get an appointment.
What is my sleep like? Do I get enough? Do I have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or both? Do I wake feeling rested? What’s my energy like throughout the day – when is it lowest, when do I have the most energy? What affects my sleep? Has my sleep changed more recently in any way from how it used to be?
What do I typically eat in a day, a week? Do I have a good balance of food over a week? Do I tend to eat only a small variety of food? Do I skip meals or overeat? What else is going on in my life that affects what and when I eat? Does any medication I regularly take affect my appetite?
Do I have some routine in my day, my week? Do I get up around the same time, do similar tasks each day, wind down at the end of the day at around the same time? Do I have simple routines that help me get through each day or week? Has this changed recently? What might disrupt my routine or my ability to have a routine?
Do I make time in my day and my week to connect with people who are important to me, who support me, who care about me? Do I have regular time to see friends and family? What are my relationships with other people like?
Do I make time in my day and my week to have some physical activity? This could be as simple as regularly walking the dogs, through to frequent visits to the gym. The question is, do I do things regularly that get me moving?
Do I spend time in the day and the week doing things that I enjoy? Do I spend time doing things that help me feel relaxed? Do I have interests and activities that I regularly engage in? Do I meditate, practise mindfulness, experience gratitude for things/people/activities in my life?
It can be really useful to do an audit of these mental health ingredients to see what kind of recipe you have for taking care of your mental health. What seems to be missing? What do you do very little of or too much of? What’s changed recently, what’s different than it used to be?
You might find that you can begin to make some small changes that make a difference to how you feel and how you cope with things. Doing this audit will make the work you do when you meet with a mental health professional more focused on those areas that you want to improve.