By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A NARRE Warren mother who organised a local bulk-billing psychologist to speak with her 10-year-old son believes the service is pivotal for those in the Casey community who cannot afford the full cost of counselling.
When Melissa McCrae was told by staff from her son’s school that Alexander was having “behavioural issues” in the classroom, she felt it was important to get a second opinion because she and her husband, Gavin, weren’t seeing the same behaviour from their son at home.
Wanting to find out more but unsure whether to spend top dollar on professional advice, in 2013 Melissa sought out psychologist John Jakupi, who runs four bulk-billing mental health facilities in Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston.
“We started going to see John, we made our appointment and the rebate system was made available,” Ms McCrae said.
“It was extremely beneficial, we didn’t have to worry about finding the money, it stopped the stress of that process.
“It’s a lot of money for a full-priced session, so we thought we’d try the bulk billing service and see what the process was like.”
Mr Jakupi’s facilities, which were started two years ago under the banner of South Eastern Counselling and Psychology, were inundated with patients from all throughout Casey and Cardinia and had upto a three-month waiting list.
The South Eastern Counselling and Psychology service now has a team of 26 staff working across its four facilities and caters for all age groups, including adults, seniors and children under 13.
Ms McCrae said Alexander, who suffered from anxiety, had benefited greatly from the service, and at only 10 years old had still been able to implement the strategies advised by Mr Jakupi and the team at South Eastern Counselling and Psychology.
“It’s been amazing, it’s another person to talk to, another adult he can trust knowing it’s completely confidential, that really helped him,” she said.
“You’d see him at times with his anxiety coming into play and Alexander would even say to us, I think I need to go back and see John.”
Ms McCrae said she was reassured by Alexander’s positive response to the counselling, as he was only eight years old when he started seeing Mr Jakupi.
“People have this stigma attached to seeing a psychologist, taking children can be discussed in this whispered tone but we need that to change, especially for boys so when they become men they don’t have that stigma attached,” she said.
“It doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you, it’s just another avenue to have a chat.”
