Bendigo (Forest St) Counselling Services

You can make an appointment with a therapist by using the enquiry buttons above, calling our office on 1300 735 030 or emailing us at info@lifesupports.com.au. You can submit a form on our contact page via the 'send email' button and we’ll get back to you with more information.

When you reserve your first appointment, you’ll put down a $20 deposit to confirm your attendance and hold the time. Once you attend your appointment, the therapist will process the remaining fee at the end of your session. You’ll be emailed all the details about payment methods (usually cash or credit card are both accepted) when you book your appointment. 

Specific information about rebates including bulk billing, medicare, and private health will be individual depending on the therapist you choose, but our team will talk through everything and you’ll be emailed all the relevant information when you book your appointment.

Session lengths vary according to the therapist you choose and the type of counselling you’re seeking. A standard session is between 50-60 minutes long. Sometimes, therapists will offer a longer, 90 minute session initially to be more extensive in the first session.

Across the Life Supports network, you can usually get an appointment within a few days to a few weeks. Waiting times outside of Life Supports can vary greatly. If you have specific dates or timelines within which you want to get your counselling started, let our team know and they can factor that into their recommendations for you.

In your first intake session, your therapist will be looking forward to meeting you and getting to know who you are and what you want out of your life.

Administratively, the therapist will also go through any forms or information they need, and will explain their professional duties around things like confidentiality and consent. Your therapist will likely structure out most of the first session getting acquainted with you, your goals and things like family background, mental health history and general environment.

From there, they’ll probably work with you to create clear goals around what you’ll work on together in the sessions, to keep therapy focused on the right things for you.

How many counselling sessions you should have will vary hugely according to the individual, and your therapist will consult with you on how many sessions they may recommend. As a rule of thumb, meaningful life changes and genuine progress don’t occur within one 60-minute session, so think long term about how counselling can help dig into long-held life patterns and
change situations.

We believe that long term behavioural change starts by 4-6 sessions but is enriched (on average) by 8, 10 and beyond as ethically necessary for your full care. Forming a positive relationship with your therapist, feeling ready for change yourself and feeling confident in your therapist’s skillset will maximise how much you can get out of sessions.