The Victoria University Psychology Clinic operates as part of the professional training for postgraduate psychology students at the University. Assessment and treatment is provided by provisional psychologists who are supervised by experienced psychologists.

You can access the service without a referral, but you can also be referred by local agencies, doctors, health professionals or teachers.

The Clinic was established in 1993. It reflects the commitment of Victoria University to western Melbourne by providing discounted psychological services to the community.

Victoria University Psychology Clinic - Transcript

Services provided

Psychologists equip people with the skills needed to function better and to prevent problems such as work stress, relationship troubles and coping with illness that's seriously affecting your life.

The Clinic specialises in cognitive-behavioural therapy and psychodynamic therapy. We provide assessment and treatment of:

  • depression
  • anxiety
  • child behaviour problems (some)
  • grief and loss
  • learning difficulties
  • family difficulties
  • challenging life events.

Individual therapy and some group treatments are available.

Sessions are available in-person and online.

If you are unsure whether we can help you with your problem do not hesitate to contact us. We will also provide information and referral for other services, if appropriate.

Please note:

The VU Psychology Clinic is a service for the general public.

The Clinic does not provide medical treatment or a crisis intervention service. We do not provide a 24 hour service. If you are looking for immediate assistance, you should call LifeLine on 13 11 14.

We do not provide assessments or reports for legal, Transport Accident Commission (TAC), or Workers Compensation proceedings.

If you are a VU student, you also have access to counselling through the Student Counselling Service.

VU Elevenses daily wellbeing

VU Elevenses is a unique initiative to support the safety, mental health and wellbeing of attendees through 'mini interventions'. These recorded 15-minute sessions provide meaningful ways to help people feel supported, connected and validate the extraordinary challenges brought on by the pandemic.

Managing stress, physical health and healthy relationships are some of the topics covered in VU Elevenses.

Group programs

The Psychology Clinic specialises in the delivery of education and therapy groups with a wellbeing focus. Our groups are for members of the community to explore and improve skills in particular areas. They are facilitated by two of our provisional psychologists and you will have an individual meeting with someone before the group starts, to ask any questions and ensure the group is right for you.

Each group is usually run once per semester, with the start date arranged once enough spots are filled. Our group programs are held online and face-to-face.

Who is the Insomnia Clinic for?

The Insomnia Clinic is designed for individuals who have had trouble sleeping for many months or more and their poor sleep interferes with their daytime functioning.  People may have problems falling asleep, staying asleep and/or waking up too early with trouble falling back to sleep. It is a Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) based program specifically adapted for insomnia. Referrals are accepted from a wide range of sources, including self-referrals. 

Those wishing to undertake the program will be contacted by phone prior to the clinic commencing. Part of this phone conversation with a clinician will involve an initial screening interview for possible untreated sleep apnea or another sleep disorder that would require different treatment. We do not exclude people who may be experiencing some mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, who may be taking sleeping tablets on an ad hoc basis or who are using a CPAP machine. 

How will it run?

The Insomnia Clinic is a six week program, undertaken entirely online using Zoom. It involves two contact periods each week and these are arranged at a time that is convenient to the participants, often in the late afternoon or early evening.  The first is a 45-60 minute educational session on a Monday or Tuesday each week which discusses a wide variety of issues related to sleep and how it can be improved, run by two clinicians with 2-6 participants. This is immediately followed by a 30-minute relaxation and stress reduction session, which introduces a new technique each week.  Each participant will also have a weekly one-to-one session with their assigned clinician to follow up on issues raised in the educational session and discuss treatment strategies most relevant to their particular circumstances and sleep problems.  This one hour session is arranged to be at a mutually agreeable time.

Participants will be asked to keep a daily sleep diary on which they record aspects of each night’s sleep.  Questionnaires are also completed at the beginning and end of the six-week program.  This clinic is pioneering in the sense that, while the effectiveness of CBT for insomnia programs in improving sleep quality and quantity is very well-established, there is no published data on its effectiveness using an entirely on-line format with weekly educational and one-on-one sessions.  Each participant will be given the option of having their self-report data included in a research study assessing the effectiveness of the six week online program (after giving signed informed consent).  Opting out of the research study component does not affect participation in the clinic in any way. 

Clinicians are all post-graduate provisional psychologists undertaking their training in clinical, community or general psychology and all are closely supervised by a psychologist with over 30 years of academic, research and clinical experience with sleep disorders (Emeritus Professor Dorothy Bruck).

This program has been running at Victoria University since 2018 and we have a proud record of our participants reporting significant improvements in their sleep as a result of their engagement with the behavioural and cognitive treatment strategies that this program includes. 

The program is free of charge but we do ask everyone to commit to weekly participation for the six weeks.

When are the programs run?

Victoria University offer two intakes of the Insomnia Clinic.  The first six week program will commence in late June and the second one will begin in late October.  We recommend submitting your registration form at least two weeks before each program begins as there is a screening process (for non-insomnia sleep disorders) as well as some sleep diaries to be completed prior to starting. 

We will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the program in your first phone contact with one of our clinicians. 

Please complete the Victoria University Psychology Clinic registration form if you are interested in taking a positive step towards better sleep.

The Parenting group is a free 5-week online or face-to-face program for parents of children aged 5-12 years old, run by provisional psychologists from Victoria University.

Program outline

The Parenting group aims to increase understanding of:

  • child behaviour and increasing desirable behaviour
  • giving effective instructions and managing sibling conflict
  • responding to misbehaviour
  • managing strong emotions
  • parent self-care.

For further information please contact the Clinic on (03) 9919 2353 or by filling in the registration form.

 

 

The VU Psychology Clinic is a well-established provider of Social Skills Groups for children with challenging behaviours and ASD diagnoses. We run groups for children aged 5-14 years old. The groups are based on a manualised program and are tailored toward the specific needs of each group’s participants. Each client has an intake assessment with a Provisional Psychologist before the program starts, to allow for the family to discuss some learning goals of the group.

Program outline

The groups are facilitated by our provisional psychologists and are run in groups of 4-8 children. 

Group aims are often to teach foundation skills required for everyday relationships. Some of the skills taught include:

  • social interactions, greetings, farewells, non-verbal language
  • sharing and cooperative, collaborative play, “joining in”
  • understanding and responding to bullying or mean jokes
  • emotional regulation and frustration tolerance
  • relaxation or mindfulness training.

While the children attend a 2-hour session, parents are also involved in a separate group at the Clinic which focuses on assisting to implement some of the social skills strategies at home, and allows parents a supportive peer environment to explore the adjustment to parenting challenging children.

Some topics that may be covered include:

  • adjustment to parenting, the role transition to being a parent
  • self-care skills for high-demand jobs (such as parenting!)
  • practical mindfulness activities for your care and your parent-child relationship
  • implementing “social skills training” at home and school
  • parent behaviour management strategies.

Parents can refer their children directly by contacting the Clinic on (03) 9919 2353 or by filling in the registration form.

The Stress Management Program has incorporated Distress tolerance Crisis Survival Skills from Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT applies a broad range of cognitive and behavior therapy strategies to the problems of emotion dysregulation.

The program aims to provide participants who feel overwhelming emotions, experience uncontrollable emotions and not knowing what to do in certain situations. The program is skills based with the aim of teaching participants practical skills in tolerating intense emotions and emotional crises effectively. This group program is free of charge.

Program length

The program is 5 weeks in length and includes 5 weekly group and individual sessions.

Program structure

Participants attend one hour of group skills training plus one hour individual session per week throughout the 5 weeks.

Our program consists of the following:

  • mindfulness skills training
  • distress tolerance (DT) skills focusing on Crisis Survival skills.

Disctress tolerance training focusing on Crisis Survival skills teaches participants to cope with situations without making them worse.

The DT skills introduced are:

  • Exploration of Pros and Cons
  • STOP skill
  • TIP skills
  • WISE MIND Distract
  • Self-soothing using 5 senses
  • IMPROVE the moment

For further information please contact the Clinic on (03) 9919 2353 or by filling in the registration form.

The mindfulness group is a free 8-week online or face-to-face program for anyone, and is run by provisional psychologists from Victoria University.

Program outline

The mindfulness group aims to provide an understanding of mindfulness:

  • features and benefits of mindfulness
  • mindfulness of the senses
  • mindfulness of emotion
  • mindfulness of thoughts
  • mindfulness and compassion
  • integrated mindfulness.

For further information please contact the Clinic on (03) 9919 2353 or by filling in the registration form.

Register

Register your interest in one of our group programs.

Referrals

The Clinic provides services to people from school aged children to older adults from any location. Referrals can be made by local agencies, doctors, health professionals or teachers. Alternatively, you may ring the Clinic directly and refer yourself or a family member. For referrals for minors aged between 14-18 years, a clinic worker will need to speak with them directly. Treatment is only provided by appointment.

Once a referral is accepted, a clinic worker will contact you to arrange a first appointment at the most convenient location. Appointments can be scheduled after normal business hours if required.

For all referrals please contact the VU Psychology Clinic Office or complete our referral form.

Privacy & consent

You will be asked to provide written consent to the service at the Victoria University Psychology Clinic. This consent includes the use of audio/visual recording of your assessment and/or therapy sessions for training purposes.

Consent will be explained to you and is completely voluntary; however, we may not be able to provide a full service to you if consent is not given. Your Clinician and/or the Clinic Director will be happy to discuss any questions you have regarding privacy and consent.

Before or during your appointment, we may need you to complete one or more of the following forms. There is no need to complete a form unless instructed to by the Clinic.

Location, fees & opening hours

Location

The Psychology Clinic is located in Footscray (not on one of VU's campuses).

Access to the clinic is via 47 Paisley Street Footscray (through a shopping arcade).

Fees & pricing

We are a low-cost service.

  • Individual therapy attracts a one-off administrative fee.
  • The majority of our group programs are free of charge.
  • Learning assessments attract a flat fee.

Please contact the Clinic to discuss which fee applies.

Opening hours

Days: Monday–Friday
Times: 9am–5pm


Street entrance for the Psychology Clinic from Paisley Street


The Psychology Clinic front doors

Contact us

Victoria University Psychology Clinic Office
Enter via 47 Paisley Street
Footscray VIC
Phone: +61 3 9919 2353
Email:  [email protected]

Clinic director: Monika Naslund
Email: [email protected]

Clinic managers: Cindy Tanghal and Natasha Rogers
Email:  [email protected]

Community Psychology (AMAC) placement coordinator: Carolina Aguirre
Email: [email protected]

Clinical Psychology (AMAL) placement coordinator: Jelena Kilibarda
Email: [email protected]

Professional Masters of Psychology (HMPP) - clinic managers: Cindy Tanghal and Natasha Rogers
Email: [email protected]