FAQs
General Questions
Helm is a behavioural health service that helps men with problems such as difficulty handling emotion, excessive use of drugs and alcohol or gambling. Helm offers counselling and other support services that can be accessed quickly, confidentially and without judgement.
Helm is a specialist service developed by Caraniche – a psychology organisation that’s been in operation for over 25 years delivering mental health, drug and alcohol treatment to men, women, youth and workplaces. Helm is our latest service offering and is delivered by our extensive team of counsellors and backed by our research and program development team.
Yes, all conversations and sessions are confidential. We’ll only use your information, with your permission, to help improve our service.
Yes, if you’re happy to have your sessions over the phone or online, you can access Helm from anywhere in Australia.
No, not at this time. Clients need to be 18 years or older to access Helm.
No, you don’t need a Mental Health Care Plan to access the service. However, if you want to receive the Medicare rebate you will need one to be eligible. You can get a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP. Alternatively, you can get one via InstantScripts noting there are associated costs through that website. If you’d like to know more about Mental Health Care Plans, click here.
Usually you’ll be able to make a booking to see a counsellor within 7 days, often sooner.
Yes, you can speak with our Client Services Team between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday on 1300 388 576
Every Helm client who has confirmed their booking has a Helm account and can update their account at anytime with a referral. Alternatively, if you’re sending a referral to Helm to support a client to access one of our counsellors, please address it to Helm, 1/260 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford, 3067 and send it via h[email protected] to our team.
If you would like to provide feedback, please access our contact page. Or send us an email at [email protected]
Please acess the WISE portal via the Agenct Referral menu option on the home page.
How Helm Works
Click on the book now button on any page and you’ll be taken through to the booking page, where you can choose a counsellor, time and day that suits you.
Counselling sessions run for 50 minutes.
A Power to Change session runs for 40 minutes.
The number of sessions will depend on the program your counsellor designs for you and will take into account the goals you want to achieve with the support of Helm. If you’ve elected to do the Power to Change program, this is a 6-session service.
Yes, how you do your program is entirely up to you. Although, please note that our in-person sessions are only available in Abbotsford, Victoria.
Yes, sessions are available 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday. We also offer sessions with one of our counsellors on Saturday morning.
Our Client Service team is available 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday.
At this stage, we don’t offer sessions for couples or family groups
About Our Team
Yes, all Helm counsellors are qualified and registered. Our team includes a mix of counsellors, coaches, psychologists and social workers who are all licenced to work in Australia and have experience helping men with problem behaviour.
The team is currently based in Victoria, but we will be expanding interstate in the near future. Through telehealth we can support people across Australia.
For the 50 minute individual counselling sessions, you can change your counsellor at any time. For the Power to Change program, due to the nature of that service, you will need to stay with the same counselling throughout.
We would love to hear from you. Please visit the careers page through this link https://caraniche.com.au/candidates/
Pricing & Payment
Prices for our services vary and are listed on the pricing page.
Payment can be made via Visa, Mastercard, Google and Apple Pay. Afterpay is also available and can be accessed by calling our Client Services Team on 1300 388 576.
All sessions are paid for in full upon booking.
For individual counselling sessions you can choose to book and pay for all your required sessions at the start of your program or you can choose to pay as you go.
For the Power to Change program you will need to book and pay for all 6 sessions at the start, however you can re-schedule a booking with 24 hours notice.
For 50 minute individual counselling sessions and 20 minute advisory sessions, if you need to change or cancel your booking just give us 24 hours notice and no charges will apply. If you change or cancel within 24 hours, the full-service fee will apply. You can change your booking any time via your profile which makes it quick and easy. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more details.
For Power to Change you can change your appointment time free of charge as long as you provide us more than 24 hours notice. We’re not able to give refunds for no-shows or cancellations, however you will still receive all program content by the planned session date whether you attend the session or not. Clients who elect to withdraw from the program before completion are not eligible for a refund for any remaining sessions.
When you pay for services, you will receive a description in your bank statement stating ‘Caraniche-Helm’
You may be eligible for a Medicare rebate if you have a valid GP referral. Medicare rebate approximately $88 back each session for up to 10 sessions each calendar year.
We do not require a referral for you to access Helm services, but if you wish you can obtain a referral at any time.
If you have private health insurance, depending on your level of cover – rebates may also be available. We would recommend getting in touch with your insurer.
Please view our Counsellor page to check which Counsellors have rebates available: https://takethehelm.com.au/counsellors
For the Power to Change program, there are no Medicare rebates available.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our Client Services team.
