Families - Active Health Psychology

Sometimes the challenge belongs to all of you.

Support that holds the whole family in the room.

Family difficulties are rarely one person’s problem. Whether you’re navigating separation, parenting a child with complex needs, working through conflict, or facing a shared loss — Active Health Psychology provides family-centred support that addresses the dynamic, not just the individual.

FAMILY SITUATIONS WE WORK WITH

Separation & divorce

Supporting families through restructuring and co-parenting challenges

Parenting a child with complex needs

ADHD, autism, anxiety — supporting the whole family unit

Family conflict & communication

Patterns of conflict that repeat regardless of the topic

Blended & stepfamilies

Navigating new family structures and competing loyalties

Grief & loss

Families processing loss together — each member experiencing it differently

Parenting support

Building confidence, consistency, and connection as a parent

What family support

actually looks like.

“Family therapy” means different things to different people. At Active Health Psychology, it’s not one rigid format — it’s a flexible combination of approaches tailored to what your family actually needs.

Sometimes the most useful starting point is a parent consultation — understanding the family dynamic from the adults before any children are involved. Sometimes it starts with individual sessions for a child or teenager, with parent sessions running alongside. Sometimes, joint family sessions are where the real work happens.

Your psychologist will guide you through what makes sense for your situation — you won’t need to figure that out yourself.

Combined approaches

Most family support involves a blend — individual sessions, parent sessions, and joint sessions at different stages of the process.

Joint family sessions

Multiple family members in the session together — working through communication, conflict, and shared challenges with a neutral, skilled facilitator.

Parent consultation sessions

For parents to discuss concerns, develop strategies, and build understanding — without children present. Often the most useful starting point.

Individual sessions with family context

Individual work for a child, teenager, or adult — with the family dynamic understood and integrated into the support.

The family challenges

we most commonly support.

Every situation is unique — but these are the patterns we see most often and have the most experience working with.

Separation & Divorce

Separation affects everyone in the family differently. We support parents navigating co-parenting challenges, and children processing the change — often running individual and parent streams simultaneously.

Parenting Complex Needs

Raising a child with ADHD, autism, anxiety, or behavioural challenges is demanding. We work with the whole family — supporting parents with strategies and the child directly — so no one is doing it alone.

Family Conflict

Repeated patterns of conflict — between parents, between parents and children, between siblings — that feel stuck regardless of what's tried. We help families understand and break those patterns.

Blended Families

Stepfamilies bring competing loyalties, different parenting histories, and complex dynamics. We work with blended family structures to build understanding and connection at a realistic pace.

Grief & Shared Loss

Individuals and families can have different ways to cope with grief. We work with families to help process the difficulties that grief brings, supporting them to assist each other through times of tumult.

Parenting Confidence

We work from specific frameworks to help support parents to navigate the complexities of raising children and adolescents. Parenting support builds skill, confidence and connection without judgement.

How to get started

with family support

One person usually makes the first call on behalf of the family. Here’s what happens from there:

5 - 10 MINUTES

Call or Enquire

Tell us a little about your family situation and what you’re hoping to address. One person can make the initial contact — you don’t need everyone on board yet.

WITHIN 1 BUSINESS DAY

We discuss a plan

We talk through your situation and suggest a starting point — whether that’s a parent consultation, individual sessions, or joint family sessions. No one-size-fits-all approach here.

We do our best to get you an appointment straight away, otherwise we will place you on the waitlist with frequent check-ins.

50 MINUTES

First Session

Usually starts with the adults or the person who initiated contact. The psychologist builds a picture of the family dynamic and develops an initial plan together with you.

Who works with families

at Active Health Psychology

Our team has experience across the full range of family situations — from parenting support to complex family dynamics.

RD

Reece Danaher

Principal Psychologist

Performance & Active Psychology

Teens & Adults

Assessments

Trauma

10+ Years Experience

RM

Rebecca Malcolm

Registered Psychologist

Teens & Adults

Depression & Anxiety

Neurodiversity

Performance & Active Psychology

NC

Naomi Coleman

Registered Psychologist

Children & Teens

Trauma

Neurodiversity

Active Psychology

Depression & Anxiety

Questions families

commonly ask us.

The things families most often want to know before taking the first step.

Want to talk through your situation before booking?

1300 069 955

Does everyone in the family need to come to sessions?

No. Family support doesn’t require every member to attend every session — and sometimes it works better when they don’t. We’ll discuss what format makes sense for your situation. Often we start with just the adults, then bring in children when appropriate. The goal is to make the process as manageable as possible for your family.

What if my partner or family member refuses to come?

This is common, and it doesn’t mean support is impossible. Individual work — even with just one family member — can create meaningful change in family dynamics. You don’t need everyone’s buy-in to get started. Call us and we’ll talk through what’s realistic given your specific situation.

Do you work with separated parents who aren't in a relationship?

Yes. We work with separated co-parents — sometimes in the same session, sometimes separately, depending on what’s most useful. The focus is on the children’s wellbeing and on creating a functional co-parenting relationship, regardless of what the adults’ relationship looks like. All family structures and configurations are welcome at Active Health Psychology.

Are Medicare rebates available for family sessions?

Medicare rebates are available for individual sessions (including parent consultations) with a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan. Joint family sessions where multiple people are present may have different rebate arrangements — call us and we’ll clarify exactly what applies to your situation before your first appointment.

We're a blended family — is that something you work with?

Absolutely. Blended and stepfamily dynamics are genuinely complex — competing loyalties, different parenting histories, and the challenge of building connection across family boundaries that weren’t chosen. Our team has experience with blended family dynamics and approaches this work without assumptions about what the “right” outcome should look like.

Every family deserves

support that actually fits.

No referral needed. No pressure to have everything figured out before you call. Just a conversation about your family and how we might help.

Medicare Rebates May Apply . No Referral Needed