Psychological therapy for children, adults and families
Individual sessions for children, adolescents and adults, and sessions with families together. In consulting rooms on the Northern Beaches and the Lower North Shore, and by telehealth anywhere in Australia. A first appointment is usually available within one to two weeks.
AHPRA registered · Clinical Psychologist · Medicare rebates available No current waitlistTherapy sessions are $270 for fifty minutes. Dr Halaina Winter works with children and adolescents, with adults, and with families together, and the work often moves between these over time. With a referral from a GP, Medicare rebates $149.05 of each individual session, leaving $120.95 to pay. Family sessions are longer, cost more, and are not covered by Medicare.
Who we work with
Children and adolescents
From early primary school through to the end of high school. Sessions are usually individual, with parents involved to the degree that suits the child's age and the work being done.
Adults
For your own mental health, or for something you are working on in the context of your family. Dr Winter's doctoral research was conducted with adults.
Families
A parent and a child together for a period, or the whole immediate family at particular points in a longer piece of work.
Is therapy the right thing for my child?
Most parents who get in touch are not sure. They have noticed something that has gone on long enough to stop feeling like a phase, and they would like someone to think about it with them.
Some of what people describe when they call:
Mornings have become a battle, and school is getting harder to face.
Worry that has spread beyond the thing it started with: bedtime, separation, germs, being away from you.
Big feelings that arrive quickly and take a long time to settle.
Friendships that are not working the way they used to, or never quite have.
A family going through something difficult.
Friction between family members
You do not need to have worked out what is going on before you call. That is what the first conversation is for.
What we work with
With children and adolescents
Anxiety and worry. Low mood. OCD. Emotion regulation. School reluctance and school “can’t”. Friendships and social confidence. Behaviour that has become hard to live with at home. Adjustment to family change.
With adults
Anxiety and low mood. Stress. Parenting. Your own family of origin. PTSD. OCD. Adjustment after a diagnosis in the family, or after your own.
How we work
Therapy with a child is rarely only therapy with a child. Depending on age and on what is happening, sessions might be with your child alone, with you and your child together, or with you on your own. Parents are not sent to the waiting room as a matter of course.
Adults are seen as clients in their own right, with their own referral and their own sessions.
Where sessions happen
In the consulting room
Rooms on the Northern Beaches and the Lower North Shore.
By Telehealth, anywhere in Australia
Telehealth sessions carry the same Medicare rebate as sessions in the room. For families outside Sydney, or where travel is difficult, Telehealth is often what makes therapy possible.
Whether it suits a particular child is a clinical judgement rather than a preference. Some children, particularly younger ones, do better in the room. Adults generally find video works well. Family sessions are harder to run remotely, though it can be done. It is worth raising when you enquire.
What it costs
Individual session, 50 minutes
Child, adolescent or adult, in the rooms or by Telehealth
With a Medicare referral
After the $149.05 rebate
Family session
Longer, and charged at a higher rate
NDIS participants
Self-managed and plan-managed plans
$270
$120.95
$320
$252.99/hr
Payment is taken at the end of each session. Two funding pathways may reduce what you pay. Read more about using each pathway on their information page.
If your child has just been assessed
An assessment answers a question. It does not oblige you to do anything with the answer, and therapy is not the automatic next step. Sometimes the right next step is a conversation with the school, a referral elsewhere, or nothing for a while.
Where therapy is part of what the report recommends, one practical advantage of starting here is that the person doing it has read every page of that report, because she wrote it. Nothing needs re-explaining and no history has to be told twice.
The same applies to adults assessed here. A diagnosis received in adulthood often raises questions that a feedback session does not have time to cover.
Parents sometimes recognise a good deal of themselves in their child's feedback session. This comes up often enough to be worth saying: it is a reasonable thing to want to look into, either as an assessment or as therapy.
Families assessed elsewhere are equally welcome. Bring the report, or send it ahead.
FAQs
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Both. Adults are seen in their own right, either for their own mental health or for something they are working through in the context of their family. Dr Winter's doctoral research was conducted with adults, and adult work has been part of her practice throughout.
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Yes. That might be a parent and a child in the room together for a period, or the whole immediate family at particular points.
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No. You can book without one, and sessions are $270. A referral is needed only for a Medicare rebate.
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Sometimes. It depends on your child's age and on what we are working on. Younger children usually do better with a parent involved. Adolescents usually need some time on their own.
Either way, parent feedback is a routine part of the work rather than something you have to ask for.
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Yes, anywhere in Australia. Telehealth sessions attract the same Medicare rebate and count towards the same annual total as sessions in the room.
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This happens, particularly with teenagers, and it is not a reason to hold off getting in touch. Sometimes the first appointment or even the first few appointments is with parents only. Sometimes a young person who has refused will agree to one session on the understanding that they are not committed to a second. It is worth raising on the phone.
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No. Dr Halaina Winter is a Clinical Psychologist. Her doctorate is a PhD in Psychology. She is not a medical practitioner and does not prescribe.
Get In Touch
We'll be in touch within two business days to arrange an initial conversation. You don't need a referral, and there is no obligation to proceed.