Frequently Asked Questions
Every family’s journey with us follows a pathway of connection, understanding, and growth. From your first call to your last session, we aim to help you feel seen, supported, and hopeful.
1. Connection – “You’ve found the right place.”
Our intake team offers warmth, clarity, and reassurance from the first contact. We take time to listen, reflect emotion, and help you feel confident that support is available and possible.
2. Discovery – “We’re curious about your story.”
Your clinician will explore your family’s experiences, strengths, and challenges in your own words. Together, we’ll clarify what’s been happening and what you most want help with.
3. Understanding – “Let’s make sense of things together.”
Through assessment, observation, and conversation, we look deeper at your child’s development, relationships, and environment. We’ll share what we find in clear, compassionate language.
4. Growth – “Let’s try new ways of doing things.”
We’ll work alongside you to put insights into action—using practical strategies and therapy approaches that align with your family’s goals. Change takes time, and we move at your family’s pace.
5. Empowerment – “You’ve got the tools—and we’ve still got you.”
We celebrate progress, build ongoing supports, and reinforce the message that growth continues beyond therapy. You leave with confidence, community, and direction.
The assessment is one part of your journey—it helps us make sense of what’s been happening and how to best support your child and family.
We’ll meet for a feedback session to share findings about your child’s strengths and challenges, using everyday language you can relate to. Together, we’ll design a care plan that fits your needs. This may include therapy, parent coaching, school collaboration, or referrals.
Our aim is for you to leave with clarity, direction, and the reassurance that you’ve got this—and we’ve still got you.
Relational Minds provides psychological, therapeutic, and developmental care for children, young people, and families.
We specialise in:
• Therapy and family support
• Developmental and diagnostic assessments (e.g. Autism, ADHD)
• Trauma-informed and attachment-based care
• Support for children in out-of-home care
Everything we do is grounded in empathy, connection, and evidence-based practice.
- Complete and return your intake and consent forms.
- Gather any school, health, or diagnostic reports.
- Think about your goals and what’s most important to you.
- This helps us start from a place of understanding and collaboration.
Your clinician will take time to get to know you and your child, explore your story, and build safety and trust.
We’ll talk about your hopes and challenges, and may use questionnaires or activities to deepen our understanding.
It’s a gentle, curious space—no pressure, no judgment.
We use a secure platform called Halaxy to manage bookings, forms, and communication.
You’ll receive your own Halaxy Patient Portal login, where you can:
• Upload reports or school/medical documents
• Complete intake and consent forms
• View service agreements
• Access reports or clinician notes once available
You can log in to your portal at any time here:
https://www.halaxy.com/a/login
More info can also be found here: https://www.halaxy.com/patient
If you ever need assistance using Halaxy, our admin team is happy to guide you step-by-step.
Most sessions run for 50 minutes.
No referral is needed to access our services.
However, a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP can help you claim Medicare rebates.
We’ll guide you through the process if you’re eligible.
Our fees are based on the type and length of session or assessment.
We are a private clinic, which means we do not receive funding from government or other external sources. Our prices are set to ensure we can continue offering high-quality, relational care while keeping our services as affordable as possible.
If you’re concerned about costs, please speak with your clinician. We’ll explore available options together so you can still receive the care you need.
Funding and rebates:
- Medicare, NDIS, or other schemes (such as TAC, VOCAT, or Legacy) may cover part or all of your fees.
- Only Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, and Mental Health Social Worker appointments are eligible for Medicare rebates.
- NDIS may cover other services depending on your plan and support category.
Payment and invoicing:
- Payment is required on the day of your appointment.
- If another funding body (e.g. NDIS, VOCAT, TAC, Legacy) is paying for your sessions, receipts will be available through your Halaxy Patient Portal to support reimbursement claims.
- NDIS invoices must be paid on the day; you’ll receive an invoice to forward to your Plan Manager for payment.
- For any fee-related queries, you can email us at info@relationalminds.com.au.
- Note that fees may change at short notice.
Download current fee schedule (from July 1, 2026)
Halaxy and secure payments:
Once you receive access to the Halaxy Patient Portal (our secure online system), you’ll be asked to provide your payment details.
If your appointment is held via Telehealth, payment will be automatically processed using the consented information you provide.
Your card details are not stored by us—they are securely encrypted within Halaxy’s payment platform, which we cannot access.
You can read more about Halaxy’s security here: halaxy.com/article/security
Booking and cancellations:
- A booking fee is required to secure your first appointment.
- We ask for at least 72 hours’ notice for cancellations. Late cancellations or no-shows may incur a fee.
- Appointments cannot proceed if payment details are not up to date, if payment declines on the day, or if an account remains outstanding.
Fee updates:
- Fees may change from time to time to reflect rising operational costs.
Psychiatrists are medical doctors who focus mainly on diagnosis and medication.
Our model emphasises relational, developmental, and therapeutic work—often the foundation for lasting change.
If psychiatric input is needed, we’ll coordinate or refer as part of your broader care.
Dr Veloso provides leadership, supervision, and clinical oversight across all our services.
Most families are supported by our highly skilled team of clinicians.
If your case would benefit from his direct involvement, we’ll discuss that with you.
Our clinicians are registered professionals in psychology, clinical psychology, psychotherapy, or allied mental health.
Many hold postgraduate training in trauma, neurodevelopment, and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP).
While many of our clinicians are psychologists, our work is broader than standard psychological models.
We emphasise relational, developmental, and trauma-informed care—so we use the term clinician or therapist to better reflect this.
Yes. Your privacy is central to our practice.
Information is only shared with your consent, except where required by law (e.g. serious risk or court order).
We ask for at least 48 hours’ notice if you need to cancel or reschedule.
Late cancellations or no-shows may incur a fee—this will be clearly explained in your intake documents.
Relational Minds is a private clinic and we work via appointments only. We highly recommend you familiarise yourself with your local mental health crisis services. If you need immediate assistance, please call 000. Some common crisis contact numbers are:
- Orygen Youth Health (free) 1800 800 320
- Youth Beyond Blue (free 24hr advice line) 1300 224 636 (local call)
- Suicide call back service 1300 659 467 – local call (free 24 hr online support)
- Suicide line 1300 651 251 (local call: free 24 hr advice line)
- Victorian Nurse on Call (free 24 hr advice line) 1300 606 024 (local call)
- Emergency Service 000 (free 24 hr advice line)
We will always do our best to respond to you when you contact us, but we may not be able to respond quickly enough or in a manner that you require if you are in crisis. When contacting us emailing your clinician or the clinic (Mildura@relationalminds.com.au or Sunbury@relationalminds.com.au) is most efficient. We will always return your call or email you when you leave a message on our voicemail. Our appointments can book out early so we encourage you to plan with your clinicians a target number of sessions to achieve your goals and book them in advance.
Who better to describe DDP than the DDP team themselves from the DDP website.
“Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy has been developed by Dan Hughes over the past twenty years. It is based on a theoretical understanding of attachment and intersubjective relationships; and the impact of developmental trauma.
The therapy is provided within a model of Dyadic Developmental Practice. This provides network, school and parenting support.
It is important that children and families are supported within this practice framework for the therapy to be successful. Therapeutic sessions build upon and complement a DDP parenting approach.”