Therapy jargon decoder
Plain meanings for words you'll come across on this site and when you look for therapy. Each one links to the page that covers it properly.
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Types of therapy
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
A practical talking therapy, said as the word "act". It helps you live well alongside hard thoughts and feelings, instead of waiting for them to go away first.
- Antipsychotic
The medications usually used when someone is seeing, hearing or believing things others don't. Only a doctor can prescribe them.
- Behavioural activation
A therapy that works on what you do. You and your therapist look at what a week actually contains, then plan specific things back into it. The planning comes first, and the motivation is expected to follow.
- CBT for ADHD
A version of CBT adapted for ADHD. It focuses on day-to-day organisation and self-management: planning, setting priorities and breaking big tasks into smaller steps.
- CBT for psychosis
A version of CBT for people who see, hear or believe things others don't. It helps you understand how your thoughts, feelings and actions connect with what you're experiencing, and usually runs for at least 16 sessions.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
A structured, practical form of talking therapy. It's built on a simple idea: what you think affects how you feel, and both affect what you do.
- Compassion-focused therapy (CFT)
A therapy developed for people with a lot of shame and self-criticism. It helps you build a supportive, caring relationship with yourself in place of a blaming, critical one.
- Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
A structured therapy for people whose emotions come on hard and fast, and who find it hard to settle again. It teaches practical skills, in a set order, for staying present, getting through a crisis, managing strong emotions and handling other people.
- Eclectic
A word therapist profiles use for a therapist who combines methods from different therapies. On profiles, it means much the same as integrative.
- EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing)
A structured therapy for memories that still feel raw. You bring a painful memory to mind for short stretches while your attention is split, usually by following your therapist's hand as it moves from side to side. The aim is for the memory to become less upsetting.
- Exposure (facing things in steps)
Facing what you've been avoiding, a bit at a time, and staying long enough for the alarm to settle. For fear and anxiety, it's often the part of therapy that does most of the work.
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP)
A kind of CBT for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). You gradually face the things that set off your anxiety, then hold off on the checking, washing or asking for reassurance you'd normally do to bring the anxiety down.
- Group therapy
A trained professional, sometimes two, working with several people at once. It's a way of running therapy, and many approaches work in groups.
- Integrative
A word therapist profiles use for a therapist who draws on more than one approach. Also called eclectic.
- Internal family systems (IFS)
A therapy that starts from the idea that your mind isn't one voice. It treats having different parts as normal, and works with those parts directly.
- MDMA and psilocybin
The two psychedelic drugs that approved psychiatrists in Australia can prescribe: MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psilocybin for depression that hasn't improved with other treatment. Neither is an approved medication.
- Mindfulness
Paying attention to what's happening right now, including what you feel, without being pulled into the past or the future, and without acting on it straight away. Several therapies teach it, including ACT and DBT.
- Mood stabiliser
Medications that help prevent the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. Only a doctor can prescribe them.
- Narrative therapy
A therapy built on one principle: you are not the problem, the problem is the problem. It works on the story you tell about your life, including what that story leaves out.
- Person-centred therapy
A therapy where you set the agenda. Your therapist follows where you go and stays with it, on the idea that being properly heard, by someone who isn't judging you, is itself the treatment.
- Psychedelic-assisted therapy
A treatment overseen by approved psychiatrists, where a measured dose of a psychedelic drug is given to support psychological treatment. In Australia it's rare and expensive, and it isn't a first treatment.
- Psychodynamic therapy
A therapy that looks at the parts of your life you can't quite see from the inside. Its core idea is that a lot of what shapes how you feel and act sits outside your awareness, and was laid down early.
- Schema therapy
A longer-term talking therapy that works on deep, long-standing patterns. A schema is a deep belief about yourself and other people, formed early, that shapes how you read situations.
- Somatic therapy
Talking therapies that pay close attention to the body. "Somatic" just means bodily. They work less with what you think about something and more with what your body does when it comes up.
- Trauma-focused CBT
A family of talking therapies that work directly on the memory of something that happened, using the ideas of CBT.
- Trauma-focused therapy
Therapies that work directly on the memory of what happened, rather than only on how you're coping now. Trauma-focused CBT is the family name for several of them.
Conditions
These describe patterns, not people. Only a proper assessment can say whether one applies to you, and whatever it's called, it can be treated.
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Long-standing differences in attention, activity and impulse control. It can mean trouble focusing, forgetting things and being disorganised, feeling restless, acting before thinking, or a mix of these.
- Bipolar disorder
A long-term condition in which mood shifts between highs and lows. It can be managed, and with the right treatment and support, most people with bipolar disorder live full lives.
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
A pattern of very intense emotions that are hard to manage. Relationships can feel unstable, with a strong fear of being abandoned, and your sense of who you are can shift or feel empty. A diagnosis describes a pattern, not who you are.
- Burnout
The World Health Organization describes burnout as a result of long-running stress at work that hasn't been successfully managed. It isn't a medical diagnosis.
- Complex PTSD
A particular pattern of difficulties some people develop after trauma that happened again and again, or went on for a long time. It builds on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Cyclothymia
Milder ups and downs that still get in the way of life. One of the main kinds of bipolar disorder.
- Depression
Depression is common and treatable, and it doesn't always look the way people expect. For some it's a heavy sadness. For many others it's flatness, a tiredness that sleep doesn't fix, or a shorter fuse than usual.
- Generalised anxiety
Worry that's there most of the time, about many different things. For a lot of people it's been around so long it feels like part of their personality. It's treatable, and it can change.
- Hypomania
A milder high than mania. It's part of bipolar II.
- Mania
A high: a lot more energy than usual, much less need for sleep, racing thoughts, and doing things on impulse. It lasts at least a week. Hypomania is a milder high.
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Unwanted thoughts, images or urges that keep coming back and cause distress, and things people feel driven to do to bring that distress down, such as checking, washing or asking for reassurance.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Something that can follow a frightening or traumatic event. It involves the memory coming back uninvited, avoiding reminders, and feeling constantly on guard or easily startled. Most people who go through a traumatic event recover without developing PTSD.
Who does what
- Clinical psychologist
A psychologist with an extra endorsement, which usually means two more years of training aimed at more complex problems.
- Counselling psychologist
A psychologist with additional recognised training and supervised experience in providing counselling. Counselling psychology is one of nine areas a psychologist can be endorsed in. It's different from being a counsellor.
- Counsellor
Someone trained to help people talk through and work on difficulties. The title isn't protected in Australia, so it's worth checking a counsellor's training and registration. Medicare doesn't give a rebate for counsellors.
- GP (general practitioner)
For most people, where getting help starts. A GP can write a Mental Health Treatment Plan, prescribe medication and refer you on, and some are trained to deliver a small number of structured therapy sessions themselves.
- Mental health occupational therapist
An occupational therapist with a mental health endorsement. Their focus is on daily life, such as getting back to work, study and routine, alongside the therapy itself.
- Mental health social worker
A social worker with an extra mental health accreditation. They're trained in therapy, and in the practical things around it, such as housing, money, family services and the systems people get stuck in.
- Paediatrician
A medical specialist in children's and young people's health. If you already see one, they can refer you directly for rebated sessions with a psychologist, without a GP plan.
- Psychiatrist
A medical doctor who has specialised in mental health. Psychiatrists can diagnose, prescribe and do therapy, though many spend most of their time on medication and diagnosis rather than weekly sessions.
- Psychologist
Someone trained to assess mental health problems and treat them with therapy. It takes at least six years of study and supervised practice, and they're registered with Ahpra, the national regulator. Psychologists can't prescribe medication.
- Psychotherapist
Someone trained in therapy, often for longer-standing patterns. Like counsellor, the title isn't protected in Australia, and Medicare doesn't give a rebate for psychotherapists.
Medicare and paying
- Better Access
The Medicare program that gives rebates on mental health sessions with psychologists and some other professionals, through a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
- Bulk billing
When a practitioner charges only the Medicare rebate and nothing on top, so the session costs you nothing.
- Gap fee (out-of-pocket cost)
The part of a fee that Medicare doesn't pay back: what the practitioner charges, minus the rebate. Fees vary, so the gap varies with them.
- headspace
A national youth mental health service for anyone aged 12 to 25, with centres around Australia and support online and by phone. It's free or close to it, you don't need a referral or a parent, and you can book it yourself.
- Medicare
Australia's public health insurance scheme. For mental health, it gives rebates on sessions with psychologists and some other professionals, usually through a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
- Medicare Mental Health
A free mental health service funded by the Australian Government. You can phone for advice and help finding support, or walk into one of its centres without an appointment or a referral.
- Medicare Safety Net
Once your out-of-pocket costs for Medicare services outside hospital pass a set amount in a calendar year, Medicare pays back more for the rest of that year.
- Mental Health Treatment Plan
A document your GP writes with you. It makes you eligible for a Medicare rebate on up to ten individual sessions a calendar year: six, then a review with your GP, then the remaining four. The plan itself isn't therapy.
- Primary Health Network (PHN)
A regional body that buys health services for the people who live in its area. Most fund free or low-cost counselling through community health services and local providers. Your GP can tell you what's on offer where you live.
- Private health insurance extras
Some extras policies pay a benefit towards sessions with some mental health professionals. What they pay, and for whom, varies between funds and policies, so check with your fund.
- Rebate
The amount Medicare pays back towards a session. It comes back to you after you've paid, so what you pay yourself is the fee minus the rebate.
- Referral
A letter from a GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician that you need for the Medicare rebate. You can see a psychologist without one if you pay the full fee.
- Telehealth
A session by video or phone instead of in person. Medicare gives the same rebate for a session by video as in person.
Checking someone out
- Ahpra
The national regulator for health practitioners, including psychologists and psychiatrists. Its public register shows whether someone is registered now, what kind of registration they hold, and whether any conditions have been put on their work.
- ARCAP register
The national register of counsellors and psychotherapists, run jointly by the Australian Counselling Association and the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia.
- Australian Counselling Association (ACA)
One of the two national associations for counsellors and psychotherapists. It sets training and supervision standards, and takes complaints.
- Australian Psychological Society (APS)
The professional association for psychologists. Its Find a Psychologist directory lists psychologists who are registered with Ahpra and belong to the society.
- Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA)
One of the two national associations for counsellors and psychotherapists. It sets training and supervision standards, and takes complaints.
- Registered
For psychologists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists, registration with Ahpra is required, and using the title without it is an offence. Counsellors and psychotherapists can register with their national associations, which is voluntary.
In therapy
- Approach (modality)
The kind of therapy someone uses, such as CBT or psychodynamic therapy. You'll also see it called a modality.
- Between-session tasks (homework)
Things some therapists give you to practise between sessions, such as tracking when a mood shifts or trying a different response to a situation. You go through how they went at the next session.
- Confidentiality
What you tell a therapist is kept private, within limits. Broadly, the limits are a serious risk to your life or someone else's, and a court order for your records. There may also be a legal duty to report concerns about a child's safety.
- Formulation
Your therapist's working picture of what's going on for you and what keeps it going. They'll often sketch it out and ask whether it fits.
- Informed consent
Agreeing to treatment once you understand what it involves, including what it costs and what stays private. You can ask questions before you agree.
- Psychoeducation
Learning about a condition: what can trigger it, the early warning signs, and how treatment works. It's for you and the people close to you.
- Rupture and repair
Researchers call a strain in the working relationship with your therapist a rupture, and sorting it out a repair.
- Therapeutic alliance
The working relationship between you and your therapist. Research finds it's a better guide to how well therapy goes than which method the therapist uses.
Research words
- Control group
The group in a study that doesn't get the treatment being tested. Comparing the two groups is what separates what the therapy did from what life did.
- Evidence levels
Strong: many good-quality trials and reviews, with consistent results. Moderate: good trials and reviews, but fewer of them, or results that vary. Emerging: early research that looks promising but isn't settled. Limited: little good-quality research so far.
- Evidence-based
Supported by good-quality research. On this site, each therapy page rates the research as strong, moderate, emerging or limited.
- Meta-analysis
A study that combines the results of many earlier studies on the same question, to get a clearer overall answer than any one study gives.
- Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
A study where people are put into groups by chance, one getting the treatment and one getting something else, so the groups can be fairly compared.
- Systematic review
A study that finds and assesses all the research on a question using set methods, so the answer doesn't depend on which studies someone happened to pick.