Your mental health should be in your control. You don’t need a referral or mental health treatment plan to start working with soft story.

We know that life doesn’t always go as expected. And our approach to cancellations helps us ensure our practice is sustainable as a chronically ill person with a small business.

We send appointment reminders by sms and email 3 days before each appointment, and ask that you cancel within 24 hours of receiving that sms.

During this time, cancellations or changes in bookings can be made without a fee up. In other words, 48 hours prior to your session.

Less than 48 hours notice of a change in your booking will incur a cancellation fee of 25% of your scheduled appointment.

We offer each client 1 cancellation before we charge this fee.

And we know life can throw us curve-balls, so soft story may make exceptions under emergency circumstances.

We won’t charge this fee without discussing it with you first.

Sessions between 9-5 don’t work for everyone. We want to make sure we can fit your schedule.

At the moment, soft story can book appointments during these times

• Tuesdays 10am - 7pm

• Fridays 10am - 5pm

• Saturdays 11am - 4pm

Hopefully one of them works for you!

Fair question.

Rhiannon is a white settler, so regardless of what they think of their ability to work with people from different experiences, they live alongside you in a world shaped by white supremacy, queerphobia, ableism and capitalism.

Unlearning these ways of being, doing, and seeing is an ongoing process.

Rhiannon actively learns therapeutic modalities outside of the mainstream. For example Narrative Therapy, Intentional Peer Support, and body-based somatics.

Rhiannon undertakes peer reflection to aid in this unlearning, self-directed learning, and is always keen for feedback.

Click here to book in a no-strings-attached 15 minute intro call to see if you’re a good fit.

At soft story, we’re justice oriented. This means we don’t get to define what access means. We commit to working alongside you to help make therapy meaningful to you.

Some ways we’ve increased accessibility include

• sending reminders of appointment times,

• using visuals to aid the therapeutic process instead of just talking,

• sending session summaries to help you remember what we talk about,

• Additional support setting up telehealth systems,

• Inclusion of a support person, family member or friend in sessions or in communications,

• being open to spiritual or unseen experiences like hearing voices.

If your access needs aren’t listed here, feel free to reach out and discuss them. We’ll do our best to meet them.

Our first conversation

A short, no-cost phone call to get to know each other and talk about what brings you to soft story.

You can book through our software, Halaxy, by signing up through the platform.

Rhiannon will let you know in the session, or shortly after via email, if they feel your goals are aligned with what they bring to the table. If they feel they are not the best person to help, they will direct you towards alternative services that are more tailored to you.

Before we meet again

After our intro call, we encourage you to take some time to think about if you felt aligned with Rhiannon.

You will receive an email from us which includes all that is required for moving forward together.

When you are ready to book in another session, follow the link in our email which will take you to our booking platform and find a time that suits you.

Our first full-length session

Most people choose a standard length session as their first session. in this session, we will delve a little deeper than our introductory call. We will

• get transparent about our policies

• speak more about what brought you to soft story

• discuss what you are looking to get out of our sessions together

• talk about what has, and hasn’t worked for you in therapy in the past

Going through this information allows us to build a well informed path forward, together and ensure we are on the same page.

In-between sessions

Where the magic happens.

Depending on what works for you, you might take time to reflect on our sessions or implement strategies and skills we talk about.

You do not need a referral or a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP) to book an appointment. A MHTP is subsidised by Medicare for psychologists, occupational therapists, and some social workers. At this stage, counsellors, psychotherapists, and relationship therapists are not eligible to provide Medicare-rebated sessions.

The recommended fees for therapy with Psychologists, Occupational Therapists and Accredited Mental Health Social Workers is over $220 per hour. And Medicare provides about a $90 rebate for a limited number of sessions. This means you are out-of-pocket $130 per session, and only for a limited time.

Because of this, soft story fees of $160 per standard session are comparable to Medicare subsidised session.

We also have a set number of equity sessions available per month to provide quality care to those who may not otherwise have access. These quiet sessions can be accessed by new or existing clients.