Services

“Emotional challenges and mental ill-health touch all of us in some way – whether it is self or someone we care about; almost half of all Australians experience emotional challenge or mental ill-health at some time during their lifetime. Psychological therapy can assist you to manage and grow from these challenges and ill-health.”

At Astute we can assist with the following:

Therapies and Interventions

Astute Education & Psychology Centre psychologists offer a professional, comfortable and secure environment for our clients. Empirically tested methods are used to assess and treat a variety of concerns relating to mental and emotional health and well-being.

The treatments listed below are just some of the methods used by our psychologists:

Psycho-Education

Psycho-education provides information to the client about their mental health disorder. This includes symptoms and related difficulties, prevalence, aetiology, prognosis and recommended treatments.

Motivational Interviewing

This technique involves helping clients to build motivation for change. It helps individuals to be able to recognise their current or potential problems and to do something with regard to them. The overall goal is to increase the client’s awareness of the discrepancies between current behaviour and goals as a way of triggering change. It is a client-centred, directive method that encourages motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence or reluctance to change.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy consists of two aspects – behaioural therapy and cognitive therapy. Behavioural therapy assumes that behaviour is learned and therefore can be changed. Cognitive therapy theorises that distressing emotions and maladaptive behaviours are the result of faulty or irrational patterns of thinking.

CBT aims at replacing these dysfunctional thoughts with more rational ones. This can lead to an alleviation of problem thoughts, emotions and behaviours.

MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) Group Program

We are pleased to offer MBCT training groups for those who wish to learn MBCT as an additional tool to deal with depression, anxiety and negative thinking. MBCT is a therapeutic intervention constructed by Jon Kabat-Zim MD and is now taught across the world as a validated intervention and relapse prevention tool for depression.
MBCT not only assists to deal with depression and negative thinking, it enables one to change thinking in a way that enhances everyday living.

Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

This therapy theorises that relationships play a significant role in both causing and maintaining depression. It aims to identify and resolve interpersonal difficulties that are thought to be related to depression. This can include conflict with others, role disputes or role transitions, social isolation and prolonged grief following loss.
IPT explores the perceptions and expectations of relationships and aims to improve communication and interpersonal skills.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy uses a variety of techniques based on experiential relationship building, communication, behaviour change and dialogue which are designed to improve an individual’s mental health and well-being. It can also be used to improve family relationships. Known as a talking therapy, Psychotherapy aims to increase an individual’s sense of well-being.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is an empirically based, psychological intervention which is a cognitive-behavioural model of psychotherapy. This therapy teaches you to become aware and to “notice” what is happening around you by using different strategies such as acceptance, mindfulness, commitment and behaviour-change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.