NDIS Psychologist

NDIS Psychologist – How A Registered Psychologist Can Help You Achieve Your NDIS Goals

NDIS psychologist needed for your journey with the NDIS? If you have received approval for NDIS funded psychology services such as core or capacity building in your funding plan, congratulations! The process involved in the initial access request and collating the necessary documents to receive NDIS funded psychological services is a task and a half![1]

If you would like to get started on your NDIS funded psychological services immediately, feel free to skip ahead to the “NDIS Psychologist Services at Chat Clinic” section.

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The following sections cover the following topics:

If I have not received NDIS funding for capacity building services to work with an NDIS psychologist, how do I get approval or appeal for this to be included in my NDIS funding plan?

The NDIS’s web pages and links will give you a comprehensive breakdown of processes and documentation involved in accessing NDIS funded psychological services [2].

  1. Accessing NDIS funding?
  2. How to review a planning decision?

While the intake process can be intimidating, getting recovery-focused support, assistance and funding is definitely possible. If you have specific questions about the information presented on the NDIS page, please call us at one of the following numbers:

NDIS funded capacity building services

One of the key areas your NDIS psychologist can help you with is in the area of capacity building. The NDIS funds specific mental health and psychosocial services within the context of capacity building[3]. Please be aware of the unique criteria of the NDIS funding and of how NDIS capacity building is defined[3]. Refer to:

NDIS Capacity building

For example, a key criterion of funding for psychological services in your NDIS plan is that it cannot be used by your NDIS psychologist for psychological services that are clinical in nature. Therapy and treatments that are of a clinical nature fall under the purview of Medicare Australia [4]. It is important to note that you cannot request your psychologist to utilise NDIS government funds for services outside of the scope of what those funds are designated for, such as using NDIS funds to cover the ‘gap fee’ for psychological services[4].

The key capacity areas that your NDIS psychologist will focus on within your NDIS plan where psychological services are funded for are to [5]:

  • Ensure that your ability to function on a daily basis is improving or sustained
  • Assist you to find opportunities and a path to being in recovery through improving your ability or sustaining your functional ability
  • To empower you through helping you achieve independence
  • Ensure you are included and that you can determine your social, occupational, vocational and economic goals

For an NDIS psychologist to demonstrate this to the NDIS, reports need to submit to the NDIS.

NDIS Reports & Consent

To create NDIS reports, your NDIS psychologist may require your consent to retrieve[6]:

  • Personal statements from you regarding your disability
  • Statements from individuals involved in your daily life such as immediate family members or caregivers
  • Information through working collaboratively with your healthcare providers and NDIS coordinators, local area coordinators and support workers

The NDIS psychologist has to obtain this information from the people that support you with your daily functioning. This may include you consenting your NDIS psychologist to collaborate with individuals you have designated to support you through your mental health issue or disability. These may be individuals who may have assisted you in the process of developing your NDIS funding plan.

Some of these documents may include:

  • The initial NDIS access request
  • NDIS consent forms
  • Confirmation of your legal guardian, parent or carer
  • Reports about your:
    • Diagnosis (not essential, it’s more important to demonstrate the impairment or the impact of your condition)
    • How your condition affects your:
      • Daily functioning
      • Risk
      • Impact
      • Psychosocial functioning
  • And most importantly, about your goals.

Is the NDIS funding for psychological services meant to be an alternative or replacement of my community mental health services or treatment services?

Your NDIS funding is not designed to be an alternative or replacement of community mental health services or treatment services provided through Medicare Australia [7]. The services that your NDIS psychologist will provide you under services permitted under Medicare Australia will have a different focus to that of the capacity building services permitted under the NDIS.

The way your NDIS funding plan is designed should give you the ability to engage within your daily activities, promote your ability to access the community services and support, help you get the assistance you need to integrate and increase your level of participation in the community and, to live your life fullest. In the course of providing you with capacity building related psychological services, the psychologist that you work with has to be aware of your specific goals and needs.

Therapeutic alliance with your NDIS psychologist

The best outcomes to you are delivered when you have a therapeutic alliance with your NDIS psychologist[8]. While it is important that your NDIS psychologist understands your NDIS plan, goals and needs, it’s also important for you, your carer or guardian to understand the type of experience, qualities and characteristics you seek in a psychologist. This is to ensure that the psychosocial support and capacity building services provided through your NDIS plan are aligned with your goals and needs.

Questions you might ask your NDIS psychologist:

  • Does your NDIS psychologist understand the key areas that you need to focus on in your NDIS plan in the context of capacity building, such as:
    • Communication
    • Social interaction
    • Learning
    • Mobility
    • Self-care
    • Self-management
  • Does the NDIS psychologist understand the symptoms, functional consequences, risks and impact of your impairment that are a result of your mental health or disability?
  • Does the psychologist understand the longstanding issues and long-term impact of your mental health or disability on your life?
  • Can your NDIS psychologist identify or foresee opportunities and potential for being in recovery?
  • Is your NDIS psychologist compliant with requirements of the Psychology Board of Australia such as having the appropriate level of professional indemnity, recency of practice, etc? [10]
  • Can you trust that you will be able to develop a therapeutic alliance with your NDIS psychologist?

When working with your NDIS psychologist it’s important to look much further than qualifications and experience. As part of your NDIS plan, your NDIS psychologist should be able to provide you with capacity building services that are evidence-based in practice and recovery-oriented[9]. However, it is also important to know that what might have worked for someone else with a mental health or disability issue might not necessarily work for you. Your recovery is an individualised and tailored process. Your journey with the NDIS is a unique experience!

If you need to discuss what you’re looking for in a psychologist to work within your NDIS plan, email or talk to us at Chat Clinic. The NDIS psychologists on our team are compliant with the Psychology Board of Australia requirements [10], qualified and have experience working on goals and needs in NDIS plans. If you are looking to engage one of our NDIS psychologists and are ready to begin your capacity building services under your NDIS funding plan, skip ahead to the “NDIS Psychologist Services at Chat Clinic” section or call us.

If you are looking to learn more, please refer to the links pertaining to aspects of NDIS funded services below or call us:

1. NDIS program
2. The types of NDIS supports and services
3. Eligibility
4. Goals the NDIS supports
5. Funding pathways

What should your NDIS psychologist know about your circumstances?


Working with your NDIS psychologist is a relationship based on trust, openness and transparency. This includes your NDIS psychologist having a clear understanding of your NDIS goals and needs. Your needs and goals need to be understood before commencing any work within the areas defined in your planning conversation. Your NDIS funding will consider if the proposed support will help you achieve your goals and aspirations [11]. Ensuring that your NDIS psychologist can determine what you want to achieve from a social, occupational, vocational and educational perspective is the first step to successful outcomes.

The NDIS psychologist will also review assessments that have been completed such as the Life Skill Profile 16 (LSP-16), the World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS), associated reports from your doctor and healthcare professionals involved in your life [12].

Giving your NDIS psychologist a complete picture of your goals, needs and what you would like to achieve through your NDIS plan will also enable your NDIS psychologist to work together with your current supports to identify key services that could be of benefit to you[13]. This could be working together with your support coordinator, support worker and NDIS staff to assist in highlighting to you NDIS services or community services that could improve your community participation, to find relevant information for you regarding programs and building connections within the community to improve your sense of participation in the larger community[13]. This could also involve providing information regarding relevant supports for you that are available at the state or territory government level.

The types of support your NDIS psychologist can provide are [14]:

  • Providing core supports (Assistance with Daily Life)
  • Providing capacity building supports and in the context for Early Childhood Interventions
  • Providing assessments, necessary recommendations, therapy and/or training. This may or may not include the use of Assistive Technology
  • Specialist Support Coordination

The services of your NDIS psychologist include supporting participants with a range of disabilities including intellectual, physical, sensory, cognitive and psychosocial [15]. Your NDIS psychologist may also be able to recommend early intervention support for younger people identified with disabilities and children with developmental delay through early intervention support [16]. The diversity of clinical skills and experiences amongst the team of psychologists at Chat Clinic permit our psychologists to engage with NDIS participants in all of the abovementioned areas. Chat Clinic is dedicated to finding you the right NDIS psychologist.

How do I know that disability is covered for the capacity building services by an NDIS psychologist under my NDIS funding plan?

If you have been given funding under your NDIS plan for capacity building, it’s important to check with your NDIS delegate if your capacity building services are eligible or how you can appeal for them if you were not provided with them initially [17]. Provided the participant has the ability to obtain the necessary approval from what the NDIS insurance scheme permits, your NDIS psychologist can cover a range of participants, from an adult recently diagnosed with a disability to a child, who from birth or thereafter obtained a permanent and significant disability based on the criteria provided by the NDIS.

What goals can your NDIS psychologist support if you have a disability?

Your NDIS psychologist will be able to support you the participant in your development of skills and to obtain assistance that falls into the areas of core support and capacity building. The NDIS plan would have a focus within the context of occupational, educational, social and even within community participation settings [7]. At the forefront is to establish autonomy and independence in your daily life and activities which has a distinct impact on social, occupational, educational and vocational functioning and, outcomes in community and professional settings [18]. Whatever your NDIS goals might be, our committed NDIS psychologists will work together with you.

Funding pathways in the NDIS

  • Plan-managed funding;
  • NDIA-managed funding;
  • Self-management;
  • Services that are designated under more than one of the above categories

Learn more about the above NDIS funding pathways.

Choosing an NDIS Psychologist to deliver therapeutic services?

It’s always important to be aware of your goals and desired outcomes when considering an NDIS psychologist you wish to work with. Having a clear plan of where you want to go and where you want to be is an important part of setting expectations. Chat Clinic always reiterates that it’s important to build a relationship with an NDIS psychologist that has the capacity to meet your needs and that you can build a therapeutic alliance with. Having an early conversation with your NDIS psychologist about your NDIS plan, therapy and personal goals will align both parties about what needs to be accomplished within the NDIS plan. Due diligence is always recommended to determine if the NDIS psychologist you have chosen has the capacity and know-how to help you reach these goals. At Chat Clinic, the costs involved, duration of therapy and any other financial, administration and scheduling issues are covered in the participant service agreement.

NDIS Psychologist Services at Chat Clinic

To explore how an NDIS Psychologist can best help you achieve your NDIS goals in a timely and effective manner:

  1. Contact Chat Clinic at any of the numbers listed below
  2. Submit your email and telephone number in the form below that we can discuss your situation further or;
  3. Talk to us in the chatbox on the right-hand corner.

Here are some of our NDIS psychologist profiles.

The scope of psychological services we provide our NDIS participants may include:

• Referring you to one of our dedicated NDIS psychologists with an extensive breadth of experience and skillsets.
• Working together in a multidisciplinary environment with other healthcare practitioners, coordinators and support workers within your community
• Where necessary providing services through Telehealth under your NDIS funding plan.
• Giving you access to gender, culture and linguistically diverse psychologists, healthcare professionals or practitioners
• Taking a 360-degree view of your situation and ensuring collaborating with all stakeholders involved including family members, service providers and community support and networks.
• Options of psychology services outside working hours and/or after-hours.

The clients we work with are happy to work with us for the following reasons.

  • We consider your circumstances with empathy and in its entirety.
  • We emphasise the importance of a therapeutic alliance and ensure evidence-based methods are used in developing a personalised plan for you.
  • We work with you, the person, rather than just the diagnosis or disability.

Get Help Now From Our Registered Psychologists.

Click the chat icon and we will answer any of your queries about our service.

Note: If this is an emergency please contact, dial 000 immediately.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land that we live and work on and we are committed to closing the gap.

References

  1. ^National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021, August 11). What is an Access Request Form? https://www.ndis.gov.au/how-apply-ndis/what-access-request-form
  2. ^ National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2020, August 27). Applying to access the NDIS. https://www.ndis.gov.au/applying-access-ndis
  3. ^ National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021b, November 24). Plan budget and rules. https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/creating-your-plan/plan-budget-and-rules#capacity-building-budget
  4. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021c, November 24). Supports funded by the NDIS. https://www.ndis.gov.au/understanding/supports-funded-ndis
  5. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021d, November 29). Mental health and psychosocial disability. https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/how-ndis-supports-work-menu/mainstream-and-community-supports/who-responsible-supports-you-need/mental-health-and-psychosocial-disability#wesupport
  6. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2022, March 1). Consent forms. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/policies/access-information/consent-forms
  7. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021a, June 15). Planning Operational Guideline – Is the support most appropriately funded or provided through the NDIS? https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/operational-guidelines/planning-operational-guideline/planning-operational-guideline-support-most-appropriately-funded-or-provided-through-ndis
  8. Ardito, R. B., & Rabellino, D. (2011). Therapeutic alliance and outcome of psychotherapy: historical excursus, measurements, and prospects for research. Frontiers in psychology, 2, 270. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00270
  9. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021e, December 16). Mental health and the NDIS. https://www.ndis.gov.au/understanding/how-ndis-works/mental-health-and-ndis
  10. Psychology Board of Australia. (2020, October 12). General registration. https://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/registration/general.aspx
  11. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2020, August 27). Applying to access the NDIS. https://www.ndis.gov.au/applying-access-ndis
  12. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2019, August 2). Types of disability evidence. https://www.ndis.gov.au/applying-access-ndis/how-apply/information-support-your-request/types-disability-evidence
  13. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021c, August 11). What is an Access Request Form? https://www.ndis.gov.au/how-apply-ndis/what-access-request-form
  14. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2022b, March 1). Pricing arrangements. https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements
  15. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2017, August). Accessing the NDIS: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals. https://www.ndis.gov.au/media/121/download
  16. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021d, November 3). Early childhood approach. https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/early-childhood/early-childhood-approach
  17. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2020a, May 12). How to review a planning decision. https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/how-review-planning-decision
  18. National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2021a, April 20). How we think about an ordinary life when deciding on supports to include. https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/how-ndis-supports-work-menu/reasonable-and-necessary-supports/what-do-we-consider-when-deciding-supports-include/how-we-think-about-ordinary-life-when-deciding-supports-include