Our Telehealth Psychiatry Service

Access treatment with one of our expert psychiatrists

Telehealth Psychiatry Service provides specialist diagnosis and treatment for a range of mental health concerns. Psychiatrists are medical doctors with an in-depth understanding of both physical and mental health. Psychiatrists have a minimum of 10 years of training, which includes a medical degree and extensive specialist experience. Psychiatrists can prescribe medication, including a range of psychiatric medications to manage mental and behavioural concerns.

As part of their work, psychiatrists provide both urgent care for mental health crises and ongoing care to help people manage their mental health condition long term. A psychiatrist can work with you individually, or with you and your partner, family or carers. Psychiatrists often provide second opinions and advice to other doctors and health professionals. They are also able to refer you to other health professionals and arrange admission to the hospital if required.

It may be particularly beneficial to seek help from a psychiatrist if your mental health condition is complex or difficult to diagnose, severe or happens suddenly, involves risk of harm to yourself or others, requires medication or isn’t improving with standard treatment through your GP.

Common reasons why someone might see a psychiatrist include:

• Problems adjusting after major life stressors
• Excessive anxiety, worry or fear
• Depressed or low mood that doesn’t go away
• Constant negative or obsessive thoughts
• Thoughts of suicide or hurting other people
• Self-harm, emotional outbursts or other risky behaviour
• Addictive behaviours, including drug and alcohol use and gambling
• Agitation, feeling on edge or unable to wind down
• Hyperactivity, poor concentration and attention
• Sleep disturbance
• Eating and body image concerns
• Seeing or hearing things that aren’t really there (hallucinations) or fixed beliefs with no basis in reality (delusions)

Whatever your reason for seeking help, your psychiatrist at Epsychiatry will work closely with you and your care team to develop a management plan for your treatment and recovery.

Private health insurance and psychiatrist services

When you see a psychiatrist at Epsychiatry, you are seeing a private medical specialist in an outpatient setting. Private health insurance does not currently cover outpatient consultations with a psychiatrist, however, Medicare will fund the full or partial amount. Depending on your level of cover, private health insurance may cover you for hospital or inpatient admissions.

What if I call after hours?

If you call at night or early in the morning, you will probably hear a recorded message. Take a note of the after-hours number that is mentioned. After-hours you will be speaking to a mental health clinician, however, there can sometimes be a bit of a wait. If it is an emergency, call ‘000’.

Who will I speak to when I call?

During business hours your call will be answered by a receptionist. Generally, the person answering will not be a mental health clinician. However, they are likely to be experienced and will know where to direct you. If you are calling for the first time, they will probably direct you towards triage.

Mental Health Triage

Most of these clinics have experienced mental health clinician triage referrals and calls. They work locally, Sydney psychologist, social workers and mental health nurses usually perform this role. The person working in triage will want to know your contact details. They will also ask you lots of clarifying questions to better understand your concerns.

Can I get an appointment to see a Sydney Psychiatrist at these clinics?

Generally, when you call these numbers you will be directed to the local triage mental health clinician. It’s unlikely that you will be speaking to a Sydney psychiatrist straightaway. The triage person is based locally; either a Sydney psychologist, nurse or social worker. They will take your details, ask you a lot of questions to try to understand what’s going on for you.

In most cases, someone from their triage team will get back to you in the next couple of days. Their local team might do an assessment in person and a psychiatrist may be involved.

Can I get a case managed at one of these clinics?

Each clinic has its own unique way of working. Case management is provided for a longer-term client of these services. For clients who are being seen at the clinic for 3 or more months generally. Case managers are mental health clinicians. Over time, they develop close professional relationships with their clients. They provide support, mental health education advocacy and help link their clients in their local area.

Sydney psychologists that provide case management

As mentioned earlier each clinic is slightly different. Some clinics have a psychologist who provides case management services and therapy for their case managed clients. If you are a public case managed client you can also see an external psychologist in Sydney privately for therapy.

Knowing where to get care in Sydney

It’s hard knowing where to turn to get help. Your family doctor or GP is probably your best bet. We hope this list of public mental health services has helped. We do our best to keep the list up to date, and apologies in advance if any phone numbers have changed.

Knowing where to get care in Sydney

At Epsychiatry we work with Psychiatrists in Sydney and Psychologists. However, after the COVID19 outbreak, we are now an entirely telehealth based service. We no longer run our regional clinics. If you would like to see a Sydney Psychologist or Psychiatrist send our friendly support team a message to book an appointment.