The Australian DBT Institute has been delivering a range of private fee-for-service counselling and DBT programs through Telehealth (online) since 2014. DBT Assist is a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy specific platform developed to support individuals with extreme emotion regulation difficulties acquire and retain DBT and trauma informed resources/skills.
DBT Assist's Telehealth services are delivered via Zoom and/or Cliniko which meet industry standards for safety and security within the Health Sector. Our therapists are mainly from Victoria and Queensland and have completed comprehensive training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).
The administration team at Gold Coast DBT manage appointments and can arrange for an appointment to match your needs or refer to one of our senior clinicians for an intake appointment to best match you to the most appropriate therapist.
How much does Individual Therapy & Groups Cost? DBT Assist does not receive any government funding therefore our fees are set by our private psychologists, social workers, mental health OTs and psychotherapists. Individuals may be eligible under the NDIS, WorkCover, Department of Veteran Affairs and/or other schemes to access our services with no charge. Individuals with mental health plans can access our services with an out of pocket cost of $100 per session for individual therapy and/or an out of pocket cost of $20-30 for DBT groups. If you would like to access DBT Assist's individual therapists privately the cost will range from $150-$240 and group will range from $40-60 depending on the clinician's experience and qualifications.
What are the Advantages of using Telehealth?
Telehealth makes an important contribution to overcoming inequalities in access to private mental health and counselling services. This is most clearly related to improving the availability of services in rural and remote areas as well as at a time where it can take 6-12 months to see a Psychologist. The Telehealth modality is also advantageous for client groups experiencing difficulties leaving the home (e.g., clients with agoraphobia, social phobia, stigmatised groups of individuals and more).
Other advantages include an enhanced capacity for clients to choose a clinician with specific expertise, reduced time waiting for an appointment, less time off work to attend the appointment, and increased flexibility in appointment time and location.
How effective is telehealth?
There is a range of quality evidence reporting the effectiveness of Telehealth which includes videoconferencing and telephone therapy (Fletcher et al., 2018; Varker, Brand, Ward, Terhaag, & Phelps, 2019). Systematic reviews examining the efficacy of Telehealth psychology compared to in-person treatment report equivalent outcomes for depression, anxiety, physical health issues, addiction, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Backhaus et al., 2012; Hilty et al., 2013). This finding extends across child, adolescent and adult client groups, and across cultural groups (Hilty et al., 2013).
The evidence-base for telehealth in improving an individual's mental health continues to expand. Recent clinical studies supports the use of telehealth for individuals including veteran and civilian PTSD, obesity management, parenting and adolescent obsessive compulsive disorder (Glassman et al., 2019; Lewis, Huang, Hassmén, Welvaert, & Pumpa, 2019; Ngai, Wong, Chung, Leung, & Tarrant, 2019; Turner et al., 2014).
Can you assure my security? DBT Assist uses two platforms with industry leading standards in security for the delivery of Telehealth Services. Please click the links below to access the product statements for the two platforms our therapists use: - Security for Cliniko go to https://www.cliniko.com/security/ - Security for Zoom go to https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide/zoom
Adler, G., Pritchett, L. R., Kauth, M. R., & Nadorff, D. (2014). A pilot project to improve access to telepsychotherapy at rural clinics. Telemedicine and e-Health, 20(1), 83-85. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2013.0085
Australian Government Services Australia. (2020). Medicare Item Reports.
Backhaus, A., Agha, Z., Maglione, M. L., Repp, A., Ross, B., Zuest, D., Rice-Thorp, N. M., Lohr, J., & Thorp, S. (2012). Videoconferencing psychotherapy: A systematic review. Psychological Services, 9(2), 111-131. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027924
Brooks, E., Turvey, C., & Augusterfer, E. F. (2013). Provider barriers to telemental health: Obstacles overcome, obstacles remaining. Telemedicine Journal and e-Health, 19(6), 433-437. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2013.0068
Connolly, S. L., Miller, C. J., Lindsay, J. A., & Bauer, M. S. (2020). A systematic review of providers’ attitudes toward telemental health via videoconferencing. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12311
Cowan, K. E., McKean, A. J., Gentry, M. T., & Hilty, D. M. (2019). Barriers to use of telepsychiatry: Clinicians as gatekeepers. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 94(12), 2510-2523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.04.018
Department of Health. (2018). Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the MBS (Better Access) initiative.
Department of Health. (2020). COVID-19 temporary MBS Telehealth Services.
Fletcher, T. L., Hogan, J. B., Keegan, F., Davis, M. L., Wassef, M., Day, S., & Lindsay, J. A. (2018). Recent advances in delivering mental health treatment via video to home. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0922-y
Glassman, L. H., Mackintosh, M.A., Talkovsky, A., Wells, S. Y., Walter, K. H., Wickramasinghe, I., & Morland, L. A. (2019). Quality of life following treatment for PTSD: Comparison of videoconferencing and in-person modalities. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 25(2), 123-127. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X17740610
Glueckauf, R. L., Maheu, M. M., Drude, K. P., Wells, B. A., Wang, Y., Gustafson, D. J., & Nelson, E. L. (2018). Survey of psychologists’ telebehavioral health practices: Technology use, ethical issues, and training needs. Professional Psychology, Research & Practice, 49(3), 205-219. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000188
Hickie, I., & Duckett, S. (2020). Coronavirus has boosted telehealth care in mental health, so let's keep it up. The Conversation.
Hilty, D. M., Ferrer, D. C., Parish, M. B., Johnston, B., Callahan, E. J., & Yellowlees, P. M. (2013). The effectiveness of telemental health: A 2013 review. Telemedicine and e-Health, 19(6), 444-454. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2013.0075
Jenkins-Guarnieri, M. A., Pruitt, L. D., Luxton, D. D., & Johnson, K. (2015). Patient perceptions of telemental health: Systematic review of direct comparisons to in-person psychotherapeutic treatments. Telemedicine and e-Health, 21(8), 652-660. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2014.0165
Knott, V., Habota, T., & Mallan, K. (2020). Attitudes of Australian psychologists towards the delivery of therapy via video conferencing technology. Australian Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12464
Lewis, E., Huang, H.-C. C., Hassmén, P., Welvaert, M., & Pumpa, K. L. (2019). Adding telephone and text support to an obesity management program improves behavioral adherence and clinical outcomes. A randomized controlled crossover trial. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 26(6), 580-590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-019-09815-1
Lopez, A., Schwenk, S., Schneck, C. D., Griffin, R. J., & Mishkind, M. C. (2019). Technology-based mental health treatment and the impact on the therapeutic alliance. Current Psychiatry Reports, 21(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1055-7
Ngai, F.-W., Wong, P. W.-C., Chung, K.-F., Leung, K.-Y., & Tarrant, M. (2019). Randomized controlled trial of telephone-based cognitive-behavioral therapy on parenting self-efficacy and satisfaction. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 9(6), 1163-1168. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibz017
Perle, J. G., Langsam, L. C., Randel, A., Lutchman, S., Levine, A. B., Odland, A. P., Nierenberg, B., & Marker, C. D. (2013). Attitudes toward psychological telehealth: Current and future clinical psychologists’ opinions of internet-based interventions. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 100-113. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21912
Rees, C. S., & Haythornthwaite, S. (2004). Telepsychology and videoconferencing: Issues, opportunities and guidelines for psychologists. Australian Psychologist, 39(3), 212-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050060412331295108
Richardson, L., Reid, C., & Dziurawiec, S. (2015). “Going the extra mile”: Satisfaction and alliance findings from an evaluation of videoconferencing telepsychology in rural Western Australia. Australian Psychologist, 50(4), 252-258. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12126
Richardson, L. K., & Simpson, S. (2015). The future of telemental health and psychology in Australia: Restoring the psychologically “clever country”? Australian Psychologist, 50(4), 307-310. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12134
Simpson, S. G., & Reid, C. L. (2014a). Therapeutic alliance in videoconferencing psychotherapy: A review. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 22(6), 280-299. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12149
Simpson, S., & Reid, C. (2014b). Telepsychology in Australia: 2020 vision. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 22(6), 306-309. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12103
Simpson, S. G., Rochford, S., Livingstone, A., English, S., & Austin, C. (2014). Tele‐web psychology in rural south Australia: The logistics of setting up a remote university clinic staffed by clinical psychologists in training. Australian Psychologist, 49(4), 193-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12049
Stubbings, D. R., Rees, C. S., Roberts, L. D., & Kane, R. T. (2013). Comparing in-person to videoconference-based cognitive behavioral therapy for mood and anxiety disorders: Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(11), e258. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2564
Turner, C. M., Mataix-Cols, D., Lovell, K., Krebs, G., Lang, K., Byford, S., & Heyman, I. (2014). Telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(12), 1298-1307.e1292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2014.09.012
Varker, T., Brand, R. M., Ward, J., Terhaag, S., & Phelps, A. (2019). Efficacy of synchronous telepsychology interventions for people with anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and adjustment disorder: A rapid evidence assessment. Psychological Services, 16(4), 621-635. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000239
