The Deer Park office for Choices Mind & Body was closed permanently as of 1 August 2021 and Union Co, Essendon in April 2024.  You can continue to work with Dr Zammit if you are able to travel to the new Essendon office or by telehealth. If this is not convenient for you, it is recommended that you speak to your GP or contact Dr Zammit to obtain information for alternate referral options which may be more convenient. Once you have obtained an appointment with a new psychologist, you or your new psychologist can request transfer of relevant information to your new psychologist. You will be required to sign an Authority to Release information form if you request this to occur. We apologise for any inconvenience which may be caused due to the closure of the Deer Park office. For further referral and support options, including for any crisis, visit the Resources page.

Choices Mind & Body has relocated to: 

Cervus, 1 Woodland Street, Essendon, VIC 3040

All contact needs to be directed to the Essendon office via the details below:

Mobile: 0474 149 909     Fax: (03) 9957 8121

Email: admin@choicesmindandbody.com 

Telehealth is the delivery of psychological treatment remotely using telecommunication technology such as internet video conferencing and the telephone.

One of the benefits of telehealth is that the client and clinician can engage in services without being in the same physical location. This can be helpful in ensuring continuity of care if the client or clinician moves to a different location, takes an extended vacation, or is otherwise unable to continue to meet in person such as during restrictions associated with COVID-19.

Medicare, TAC, Worksafe and private health insurance rebates following impact of COVID-19 restrictions, have also been allocated to support access to psychological treatment sessions via telehealth if you have a valid referral. The access to such rebates may cease or have different requirements in the future and Dr Zammit will advise you if there is any change in access to your support.

Click here to find the general consent form which includes considerations associated with privacy during telehealth services.

Click here for tip sheet to support your use of telehealth services.

Dr Zammit utilises a secure program called Coviu to provide telehealth appointments – on the front page you can find the link to waiting room or via https://choicesmindbody.coviu.com/join

You can read a step by step guide to use Coviu, watch an instructional video, or read about privacy and security here.

You will need a working tablet, computer or smart phone which has a working microphone and camera. You also need access to internet via mobile data or Wi-Fi.

You do not need to download or install any software. A link is sent to your previously provided email and this opens in your internet browser such as Google, Chrome or Safari.

You will be asked to take a photo for verification purposes each time you start a session. You will also be asked to sign a consent form by ticking consent at the bottom. If you have any concerns, please discuss these directly with Dr Zammit.

Try to position the camera so Dr Zammit can see your face and ideally upper body and hands.

Dr Zammit can guide you to change the view so you can not see your own video view during the session if you feel uncomfortable.

Please let Dr Zammit know if you have any trouble hearing or seeing her during your consultation.

If you are having trouble opening a link, please text or call Dr Zammit on

0474 149 909 or email Sonia.zammit@choicesmindandbody.com

You may be asked to wait until Dr Zammit opens the room if she has been delayed on a prior call. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Yes, you can access support via telephone counselling. Medicare, TAC, Work Cover and private health insurance rebates following impact of COVID-19 restrictions have also been allocated to support access to psychological treatment sessions via phone if you have a valid referral. The access to such rebates may cease in the future, however a specific date is not known.

Telehealth includes delivery of psychological support via telephone or video conferencing technology. It is preferred however that video conferencing is utilised as it allows additional information such as our body language and facial expressions to support our conversation. However if you do not have access to technology to allow for video conferencing, or you are having technical difficulties on the day, telephone support is an alternative option.

Please contact reception as soon as possible by phone or text message on  0474 149 909 or email admin@choicesmindandbody.com. We will be able to help you to reschedule your appointment and find a more appropriate time. However please remember there are cancellation/non-attendance fees of 50% of your full consultation fee with less than 48hrs notice. If it is an emergency or extreme circumstance, please ensure you discuss these with reception or your psychologist.

Please see our Forms page for a copy of our forms which further explain our Policy for Management of Personal information and confidentiality agreements, including

• Policy for Management of Personal Information
• Various Consent Forms for Psychological Service based on referrals/claims
• APS Client Charter

They will be adapted slightly if you receive services using TAC or Workcover funding. You will be asked to view and sign the confidentiality form via an online registration form, or during your first visit along with some other forms. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us or please ensure you discuss these with Dr Sonia Zammit. Dr Zammit will also generally seek written consent to speak with another person, including your GP. Please note that many referrals which assist access to medicare rebates or funding via TAC or work cover immediately provide consent for communication with the referral and funding source.

For further information regarding how psychologists are required to handle your personal information, as well as your rights as a mental health consumer the following links may be of assistance

• Victorian Privacy Act and Principles 
• Mental Health Act

Yes, please do not let outstanding cancellation or non-attendance fees prevent you from accessing support. Your psychologist can help develop an achievable payment plan if this is necessary as you continue to attend treatment. However please note that if you have rescheduled with less than 48 hours notice or not attended for 3 sessions in a row or this occurs regularly, your psychologist may discuss alternate treatment options which may improve your access to support and help you avoid accumulating large debts.

• Any referral information
• The means to make full payment for your consultation (unless bulk billing or other means of payment have been arranged)
• To claim a Medicare rebate for the sessions – letters of referral, a copy of your mental health care plan and your Medicare card is necessary
• Details of your TAC or work cover claim and number as well if these are relevant to you
• It can be helpful to think about what you would like to achieve from the sessions – your goals and how you would like your life to be different. Feel free to make some notes and bring these along to the first session
• It may be helpful to bring past support letters or reports from prior treatment or assessments as they will support your psychologist to develop an appropriate treatment plan

Prior to your session, you will be emailed a link to complete an online registration form from our online booking system ‘Halaxy’ via admin@choicesmindandbody.com. If a link was not received within 24 hours of scheduling your appointment, please check your spam or trash folder or contact reception. Alternatively, you may request these to be sent by post.

If the forms were not completed prior, you will be asked to complete these during or immediately following your appointment (see: forms for copies of some of these documents)

These forms include:

• Patient registration form with general demographic details
• Forms detailing how your personal information is held
• Privacy information and confidentiality agreements
• You will also be given some brief questionnaires which may help the psychologist understand the difficulties that have brought you to the session. You will have an opportunity to discuss these with your psychologist

Your psychologist will review any referral letters you have and will require a copy of your mental health care plan, chronic disease management plan, TAC or Worksafe claim number if you would like to claim associated rebates or funding.

The main aims of the initial assessment session are to:

• Discuss the issues that have brought you to seek support
• To explore how we can support you, and to give you an opportunity to see if you feel personally comfortable with your particular psychologist

You will likely be asked a series of questions about the main problems that you have been experiencing including your feelings, physical symptoms, thoughts, and what you have been doing to cope. We will likely discuss the impact on your daily life and what stressful events you may have experienced in the years prior to the problems developing. We will also attempt to cover your family and medical history, your relationships, your interests and any past support you have received. At the end of the session, there will be a brief discussion about a general treatment plan and to check that you feel your psychologist has identified a helpful approach for future sessions. Depending on how things go, some of the above information may be collected across a number of sessions.

You will be asked to finalise the payment for the consultation at the end of the session and offered your next appointment time if you would like to book another appointment.

All sessions, including the initial assessment, are 50 minutes duration. EMDR is a specific treatment method that may be scheduled for a 90minute session. Sonia will discuss this with you in advance 

It depends on the complexity of the problems that you are experiencing as well as how chronic the issues are. Following an initial, comprehensive assessment, your psychologist will aim to develop an individual treatment plan which can assist them to guide treatment sessions to meet your priorities and goals. Your psychologist can discuss the length of treatment or number of sessions based on this plan. The number of sessions may also be influenced by the type of referral you have received to help you pay for consultations. While you are welcome to continue to attend private consultations, we understand that due to financial limitations, you may need to base attendance to treatment on accessibility to rebates and funding sources. Your psychologist will help develop a plan that sets reasonable treatment goals based on the number of sessions you can access.

Dr Sonia Zammit works toward being punctual and to commence your session at your scheduled time. However at times, urgent safety concerns for clients or the community arise. Reception or Dr Zammit will aim to advise you if any issue has resulted in your session commencing late. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and understand if you would prefer to reschedule your appointment with no fee charged if this was to occur. If you are waiting for your session in person or via telehealth for longer than 10 minutes, please contact reception on 0474 149 909 in the event an error or miscommunication about your appointment has occurred.

The information within each client file includes personal information such as name, address, contact phone numbers, written reports or letters as required as part of treatment services, and other information which is relevant to the assessment process and psychological service being provided. All client information is stored securely within Halaxy online data base, which is maintained with password protection. Please see https://support.halaxy.com/hc/en-au/articles/360044013354-Data-Security-in-Halaxy and https://www.halaxy.com/article/privacy  for detailed information regarding Halaxy data storage and privacy policy.

Please also see Policy for Management of Personal Information for privacy information on our Forms page

If you have any concerns about storage of information within Halaxy data base, please discuss this with Dr Sonia Zammit as the option of alternate storage on local computer and back up files is available.

For information on storage of card details for payment of accounts within Halaxy, click here.

It is hard to know if treatment or a particular psychologist’s style will be helpful for you until you begin accessing support. After all, we are all human and we don’t feel comfortable with everyone we meet. Dr Sonia Zammit uses evidence based treatment approaches, which means there has been research indicating the particular therapy style is more likely to be helpful for particular difficulties. However it is important that you feel comfortable to tell your psychologist if you do not feel your treatment is helping, if you do not like something that is occurring in treatment, or do not feel comfortable working with them. Dr Zammit will not be offended by this conversation. Rather she will discuss with you options to change the particular approach being utilised to better meet your needs. Or alternatively, she may discuss referral to alternate services which may better meet your needs and help facilitate these.

Please also remember the first session is focused mainly on assessment and getting to know you and what has brought you to treatment. It may take a number of sessions for you to begin to notice benefits of the treatment and the hard work you’re putting in between sessions. If you have any concerns, always raise these with Dr Zammit and she may be able to help you identify what progress is being made, or options if alternate support may be indicated.

Your psychologist is bound by strict confidentiality and privacy laws. Generally they will not speak with anyone without your permission, and will often obtain written consent to do so. Please note that many referrals which assist access to medicare rebates or funding via TAC or work cover immediately provide consent for communication with referral and funding sources. For any concerns speak with your psychologist. Psychologists also have an ethical obligation to protect an individual’s and the communities’ safety. Therefore there may be some extreme circumstances when they may have permission to breech your confidentiality without your full permission. For details of these circumstances, see below on our Forms page.

• Authority to Release Information Choices Mind & Body