Dr Kate Alessia can offer a range of assessments, some of which can be conducted as stand-alone assessments, while others occur during the course of therapy. Medicare rebates are not available for assessments that are not conducted as part of therapy.

Assessments include:

Behavioural and emotional assessments of children

These can contribute to formal diagnoses of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), oppositional defiant disorder, and other behavioural conditions and can help clarify what is causing children’s behavioural problems eg anxiety, depression, or a physical problem.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments

Kate can provide the psychological component of ASD assessments and liaise with speech pathologists, occupational therapists and paediatricians to clarify diagnosis.

Intellectual / cognitive assessments

Such assessments are not included as a routine part of therapy but are sometimes required by schools, paediatricians, or employment agencies to better understand a child’s or adult’s abilities and functioning.

Psychoeducational assessments

Learning disorders in children and adults are diagnosed through psychoeducational assessments. These comprehensive assessments of intellectual functioning and academic performance are used to identify and diagnose learning disorders and recommend strategies to reduce the impact of the disorder.

Personality assessments

These are sometimes used to inform adults’ understanding of themselves or contribute to awareness of what jobs might be suit an individual.

Vocational assessments

Vocational assessments are particularly helpful for teenagers or young adults trying to identify the type of job or career to which they might best be suited, but are also of immense value for adults considering a change of career.

Therapy

Most of the therapy offered by Kate is short-term, designed to achieve long-lasting results in the minimum time by using therapies proven to be effective. Longer-term therapy is available for those who require it, as are periodic wellness checks or ‘fine tuning’ sessions.

Issues with which Kate has extensive experience include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, post-traumatic stress, other mental health issues, sexual abuse, relationships, infertility, parenting, step-parenting, adjustment to disability, adoption, work stress, family conflict, trauma, and childhood issues.

Life involves constant change, and therapy can be a helpful way to gain new insights, find new strategies for handling the pressures, and to adapt to life’s challenges (eg chronic health issues, relationship breakdown, work stress). Mental health problems such as depression and anxiety are very common and are best addressed through therapies (such as cognitive behavioural therapy or interpersonal therapy) which provide new skills for overcoming these challenges both immediately and in the future.

Professional Supervision

Dr Kate Alessia offers supervision to health and welfare professionals from a range of backgrounds. The frequency, type and format of supervision varies according to the needs, experience and preferences of the individuals involved. Supervision can be provided individually or in small groups.

Supervision sessions are generally up to 50 minutes long. They can include discussion of specific cases or of more general issues. Time can be spent in the discussion of one situation or of a variety of topics.

Supervision is not therapy, although it can include the examination of how aspects of personal life affect work with others.

Kate’s supervision style draws on numerous theoretical frameworks and the therapeutic modes in which she operates, which include narrative therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, existential therapy, transactional analysis, gestalt therapy, reality therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, play therapy, hypnotherapy, humanistic psychology, systemic theories and positive psychology.

Supervision is offered at a fee less than that of therapy as a contribution to the community and the field of counselling.

Assessments