Why choose an assessment-only psychology practice?
If assessments and psychosocial support recommendations are what you are seeking, it makes sense to choose a practice that specialises in it, offers good value for money, and is able to eliminate long wait-lists.
The Psychosocial Disability Report released by the NDIS in June 2021 showed that there was a 28% increase since June 2020 of participants with an approved plan with a primary psychosocial disability in the Scheme. However, as with all allied healthcare sectors during the pandemic, psychology as a field has struggled to keep up with demand and already lengthy wait-lists have become longer.
Why is there a gap between disability supports and psychological practice?
One of the many reasons why the disability sector struggles with getting input from psychology in a timely manner, is because of the wide gap that exists between how psychological support is delivered under the NDIS and how a standard psychology practice is structured. Psychological input within the NDIS takes different forms:
- Recovery coaching
- Positive behaviour supports
- Assessment, diagnosis, and recommendations
- Brief and long-term treatment for mental illness and behavioural issues
A standard psychology practice prioritises treatment (compared to other forms of input) which comes with a 5 -10 session commitment - hence the long turnaround times. Offering the full range of disability supports requires a certain degree of scaling up, which may not be a viable option for most smaller private practices. One solution to this, is for participants and service providers to seek out niche or specialised practices.
The benefits of going with an assessment-only practice like Disability Psychology
No wait-lists - assessments take anywhere between 2-3 sessions, and reports take approximately 6-8 hours. So the average turnaround time for each participant’s assessment and reporting needs is approximately 3-4 weeks.
NDIS-compliant - because Disability Psychology specialises in psychosocial disability assessments, it is our job to have in-depth knowledge of the language, legislation, and requirements of the NDIS. We take care to differentiate between reports for support planning vs. a plan review vs. a SIL application vs. a funding increase request, etc.
Combining all existing assessment data - we do not operate as an island. We take care to liaise with other health professionals involved in the care of the participant, we use assessment data from the past, get a comprehensive history, and contextualise it to the present. That way, the report you have in hand, is useful to you not only in the present but also in the future.