Children’s Counselling

Counsellors are committed to working respectfully and collaboratively with children, young people, parents, caregivers and other service providers in ways that build on the individual’s strengths. Any counselling with the child or young person is conducted with their consent.

This service is funded by Department of Social Services.

Our Supports

Guided by a trauma-informed and child-focused approach, our children’s counsellors provide support and therapeutic intervention on issues impacting wellbeing, such as:

• anxiety,
• depression, 
• social skills, 
• grief and loss,
• family issues/ breakdown, 
• relationships, 
• neglect, violence and abuse.

Our therapeutic clinicians are trained in a range of trauma-informed modalities, including: 

• Play Therapy,
• Mindfulness, 
• Sandtray Therapy, 
• Narrative Therapy, 
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and 
• Groups.

Safety and Confidentiality

Centacare takes the safety of families very seriously. Please discuss any safety concerns with your counsellor.

Confidentiality and privacy are of the utmost importance in counselling services. All our counsellors must work within the Family Law Act (FLA) 1975—Section 10B, which states that communications made in a counselling session cannot be disclosed and are inadmissible in court unless required or authorised under the FLA.

Counsellors are required to disclose information to appropriate authorities where suspicions of safety to a person or property are revealed. Under section 67za, information disclosed indicating reasonable grounds of suspicion that a child/ren has been or is at risk of being abused must also be reported.

Eligibility

Children and young people aged 5-17 living in the areas covered by our service.
If children are subject to family court orders, copies of the orders will be required before counselling can commence.

Cost

Fees are charged on a sliding scale with provision for those who are in financial difficulty. 

Referrals

We accept:

• self-referrals,
• referrals from clinical and non-clinical service providers.