PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES

Psychological issues can impact dramatically on a person’s ability to function effectively in their personal and work lives. A persons mental health can also make returning to work or activity following injury more difficult.

Our experienced psychologists help individuals to identify issues that may be impacting on their daily functioning or on their ability to return to work and/or purposeful activity. We work with the person to identify and implement coping strategies to enable them to take control of their lives.

Our Psychology Services aim to:

  • Improve worker health and wellbeing
  • Facilitate a durable return to work following injury
  • Reduce sick leave
  • Prevent conflict in the workplace
  • Prevent a reduction in productivity.

Our services include:

  • Critical Incident Stress Management Services
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
  • Mediation and Conflict Resolution
  • Pain Management
  • Pre-liability Psychological Assessments
  • Psychological Assessments
  • Psychological Counselling.


Critical Incident Stress Management Services

Traumatic events can occur while working, with little or no warning.  Events such as armed robberies, accidents, assaults, workplace deaths and suicide can place employees under extreme stress, affecting health and well-being.
The reaction to trauma can vary greatly. Colleagues are invariably sympathetic and supportive.  However, the management of the impact of trauma is important to assist in the mitigation of ongoing symptoms of stress related to trauma. It is essential that each case be treated individually, as no two circumstances are exactly alike. Our professionals are trained and highly experienced in critical incident stress management and specifically, trauma counselling. Our services are accessed via our 24 hour Fastrack Hotline.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Our services include work related issues often affecting staff performance and can create serious cost exposures:

  • Stress
  • Organisational change
  • Difficult work relationships
  • Problems at home including relationships and family issues, drug and alcohol abuse, and gambling and financial problems.

Access to an EAP program can reduce risk within companies and help to ensure optimal staff performance. This is achieved, through the identification of issues and deployment of strategies to assist workers to master presenting life demands.

Our professional assistance prevents many situations from escalating and becoming costly to the organisation. Our proactive approach has been successful in reducing workers’ compensation claims and absenteeism costs.

Employee Assistance Programs may be Employer referred, and/or Self-referred.

Mediation and Conflict Resolution

Mediation is a private, informal dispute resolution process in which a neutral third person called a “mediator” helps the parties involved gain a better understanding of the issues involved. The focus is on reaching agreements which meet the needs of all parties so they can move forward.
Mediation is a voluntary, confidential process which can help people work out the problem and still keep their employment, or business relationship intact. As mediators, Fastrack Health professionals will:

  • Control the process
  • Ensure that each party expresses their views and concerns
  • Helps the parties identify issues and options for settlement
  • Assist the parties to reach a consensual agreement
  • Help record the outcome in writing.

The mediator will not make the decision for you. The mediator facilitates the decision making process between the parties in conflict.

Pain Management

Pain is a very common condition. Around one third of Australians are in pain, with one in five reporting that their pain is constant. The occurrence of pain rises as people get older, and women are more likely to be in pain than men.
Studies suggest that a person’s outlook and the way they cope emotionally with long-term (chronic) pain can influence their quality of life. Counselling with a Psychologist can help support you to manage the emotional and psychological effects of chronic pain. Understanding the causes of your pain can help reduce your fear and anxiety.

Pre-liability Psychological Assessments

A pre-liability psychological assessment involves analysis of a workplace mental health injury. The investigation covers the circumstances surrounding the injury and comprises of interviews and psychometric testing with the injured worker and other relevant parties. This service can be requested by employers but is generally carried out on behalf of the claims agent/insurer to answer questions about the probability that factors in the workplace, rather than in the worker’s history, are the substantial cause of the injury.

Psychological Assessments

Psychological assessment is a process of testing that uses a combination of techniques to help arrive at some hypotheses about a person and their behavior, personality and capabilities. Psychological assessment is also referred to as psychological testing, or performing a psychological battery of tests/questions on a person. Psychologists seek to take the information gathered from psychological assessment and weave it into a comprehensive and complete picture of the person being tested. Recommendations are based on all the assessment results and from discussion with peers, family, and others who may shed light on the person’s behavior in different settings.

Psychological Counselling

Psychological Counselling aims to help people manage their difficulties and transform personal problems into their own personal growth.
People usually decide to have psychological counselling when talking to friends and families proves not to be enough. Having someone to talk to who is not directly involved in your particular circumstances can make a real difference. Psychological counsellors are trained in the art of listening and have skills to help you explore your concerns, to help you make sense of complex issues and to find a way forward. Psychological counsellors work with individuals, couples and groups (such as families). All counselling work is, of course, completely confidential.

Psychological counselling is able to help with a broad range of individual and social problems. Many people find it helpful when faced with difficult stages in their normal life cycle such as career changes, loss and bereavement or crisis points in relationships. Others look to psychological counselling to help alleviate distress whether from pressures of living or through longstanding problems which have proved resistant to change. Psychological counsellors are trained in modern psychological methods to help you resolve fears, panics and anxieties, and to help you break through depression or other forms of sadness.
Personal problems can have a way of taking over. You might find yourself repeating the same old pattern, or you might feel stuck and uncertain if anything you could change. Sometimes having someone to talk to is all that it takes to cope. Psychological Counselling is especially suitable to help you:

  • Handle crises in relationships
  • Deal with stress and other pressures
  • Resolve fears, panics and anxieties
  • Cope with continuing family problems
  • Work through difficult decisions
  • Break through depression and sadness

Psychological counselling is not confined, though, to helping people cope with difficulties. Other benefits to be gained include developing creativity, self-expression and finding pathways to self-discovery. By exploring past and present circumstances you can open up to new possibilities, and take control of your lifestyle. Find yourself and be yourself.
Psychological Counselling can help enable you to:

  • Develop more fulfilling relationships
  • Bring out your creativity and self-expression
  • Learn to assert your own needs
  • Renew a sense of purpose in your life
  • Find paths to self-discovery
  • Feel happier within yourself.

Clients and counsellors sit in private and engage in a lot of talking and listening. Each session typically lasts between 50 minutes and one hour. Sometimes just a single session is sufficient for a client's needs. More often clients and counsellors continue to meet for several weeks or even months. Client and counsellor plan together how often and for how long to meet.
Couples meet with the counsellor in the same way and may use the sessions to better understand how they communicate and react to each others needs. Many couples find attending alternate individual and joint sessions to be especially helpful.

To discuss any of our Psychology Services, please call us or email an enquiry.

Psychology Services