SKATTLE is a counselling service for kids, teenagers and families. Our view is the client is the expert, and we’re less interested in diagnosis and disorders and more interested in assisting people to discover their own skills and resources so they can work through problems in their own way.

SKATTLE helps people deal with life-changing experiences such as grief, loss, trauma, divorce, separation, struggles at school and work etc.

In a first session, we start by going through some of the general paperwork. After that we use a range of creative activities to help you or your child feel encouraged and comfortable to tell your stories and to talk about what your hopes are for counselling. We may use cards, drawing, puppets etc to do this. We then use the last 10 minutes of the session to get some feedback around what went well for you and what didn’t, to process payment and to book your next session.

Sessions last for one hour and are usually two weeks apart, however we are flexible on this depending on your situation. We’ll send you a reminder text the day before your session.

Yes, parents are welcome and in fact encouraged to be present. Usually the first session involves the whole family at which time we develop a plan for the following sessions that best suits your family’s situation.

This depends on the age and needs of the child. It is best if parents are present for young children however parents of teenagers may leave the premises during a session if they, their child and the counsellor agree that this is a good option. We believe it’s really important to be present so we can involve you in the session. A lot of the meaningful change will happen when your family can take the insights from your session and work on them more together at home.

In order to get a mental health plan you need to have a mental health diagnosis which goes on your permanent mental health record. We strongly believe that you shouldn’t have to be diagnosed and labelled early on in your experience just to have access to affordable counselling.

Meaningful change takes time and commitment. To honour that we suggest booking a block of sessions. We offer a 6 session package and this is what we often recommend for a lot of families that come to SKATTLE. During that time our sessions are setup to help you find your own insights and strength so that you hold all the tools to make the changes in your life. How long this will take depends on the person and the nature of the problems they’re going through. When to end therapy will be something we will actively discuss and decide together during your time at SKATTLE.

Generally we recommend telling your child’s teacher and other key members of the school (Principal, Guidance Officer) so they can be aware of your child’s schedule. However if you have reservations about this we can discuss it more in your session as we realise that everyone’s situation is unique.

We’ve found that during school hours is the most beneficial time for kids to have sessions. We find they’re more energetic and receptive in these sessions as opposed to sessions where they’ve finished school for the day and have mentally clocked out.

We’ve found if their teachers are on board and your child knows when their therapy sessions are then therapy can become an important and empowering part of their schedule, rather than a disruption to it.

If you have any other questions that we haven’t answered here please hit the contact button to call or email us.