What is a Provisional Psychologist?
A Provisional Psychologist is someone who is in the final stages of becoming a fully Registered Psychologist with AHPRA. More specifically, they have national, provisional registration with APHRA and have completed at least four years of very prescriptive academic study at university for the purpose of becoming a Psychologist . They are somewhere in the final two years of the six year process to become a Psychologist.
At BodyMatters, our Provisional Psychologists have been hand picked for their passion in helping people impacted by eating, body image and dieting concerns. In addition to completing appropriate academic study, many have had critical professional and life experiences before beginning their time as a Provisional Psychologist, often including previous experience in a counselling role and/ or the eating disorders field. They have also completed specialised eating disorder training.
Provisional Psychologists work under the “supervision” of a more experienced Psychologist, much like an apprenticeship in the final stages of completing a trade. This means that our Provisional Psychologists regularly consult with some of our most experienced Psychologists on our team to review their clients and thus ensure the delivery of best practice treatment.
Benefits of seeing a provisional psychologist
There are many reasons for consulting a Provisional Psychologist at BodyMatters. Three of these are:
- Quicker access to treatment. Given extensive waitlists for eating disorder treatment nationally, consulting a Provisional Psychologist as part of our Waitlist Policy means you can access treatment more efficiently. Earlier access to treatment is associated with positive treatment outcomes and so, when possible, we always recommend this over remaining on a waitlist.
- Provisional Psychologists carry a lower case load. This enables more time to research best practice treatment and consult with their Supervisor regarding their clients. As such, consulting a Provisional Psychologist enables access to the most up to date treatment available.
- Provisional Psychologists access regular supervision. Essentially this means that anyone who consults a Provisional Psychologist at BodyMatters actually has two Psychologists on their team.
Rebates are not available
Provisional Psychologists have limited capacity to offer rebates. A notable exception is NDIS. However Medicare and most private health insurers do not enable rebates for consulting a Provisional Psychologist. When this is the case, BodyMatters has adjusted our pricing to be equivalent to the gap fee that would otherwise be charged, should the rebate be available. Please contact us for more information on pricing.
Our Supervisors
Currently our Provisional Psychologists consult with our Director Sarah McMahon and Clinical Psychologist Dr Carmel Harrison for supervision.
You can read about our Provisional Psychologists here.