Drug and alcohol counselling

No. Most people are still using when they first make contact, and waiting until you have already stopped would mean waiting for the hardest part to happen on your own. You can come in exactly as you are.

The first sessions are mostly about understanding what the substance is doing for you, because it is almost always doing something. Stress, sleep, pain, grief, trauma, or simply the only reliable break in the day. From there the work moves to what else could do that job, what triggers a return, and what a realistic next week looks like.

That is the normal shape of recovery rather than a sign it will not work. Relapse prevention is a specific part of the work here, and understanding what happened last time is usually more useful than starting again as though it did not.

Yes, and they do not need to wait for you. Partners, parents and adult children can book separately for their own support, whether or not the person using is ready to do anything.

No. Advance Minds is a registered NDIS provider and can deliver therapy funded through the CB Daily Activity part of a plan, but addiction therapy is not included in that. If you have an NDIS plan and want to understand what it does cover here, the NDIS page explains it.

No. You can book directly through the website without a referral and without going through anybody else first.

Your therapist works out the right option with you rather than deciding it in advance. There are two paths: monitored symptomatic care, or a monitored detox at a rapid detox centre. Which one suits depends on what you are withdrawing from and your circumstances, so we explore the options with you case by case.

Yes, with limits, and we set those out with you at the start rather than leaving you to find them later.

All our therapists are ACA-registered counsellors in private practice, so your clinical notes and client information are confidential and protected by privacy law. We work within three frameworks at all times:

• Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). The primary NSW law covering how health information is collected, stored, used and disclosed by health service providers, including private counselling practices. It sets out 15 Health Privacy Principles and requires health information to be kept secure.
• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW). Regulates the handling of personal information and works alongside the HRIP Act.
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, which also apply to many private health service providers.

At the start of therapy you will be told the limits of confidentiality, including the circumstances where information may need to be disclosed.