Mental Health & NDIS Supports
Positive Behaviour Support for Mental Health and Complex Needs
Clinically informed, trauma-aware behaviour support for NDIS participants living with psychosocial disability, dual diagnosis and complex support needs. We work in areas across Western and South Western Victoria, Port Macquarie region and remotely Australia wide.
Positive Behaviour Support
Support that starts with understanding you
- Everyone deserves to feel safe, understood and in control of their own life. Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is about working together to make that happen, in a way that respects who you are and what matters to you.
What is Positive Behaviour Support?
- PBS is an evidence-based approach that looks at the whole person, not just their behaviour. We know that behaviour is communication. It can be a way of telling others you're overwhelmed, in pain, frightened, or needing something that isn't there yet.
- Rather than focusing on "fixing" behaviour, PBS focuses on understanding what's going on for you and building a life where you have more of what you need. That might mean more choice, stronger relationships, new skills, better routines, or spaces that feel calmer and safer.
Who we walk alongside
We support people who are living with mental health challenges and complex life circumstances, including people who:
- Live with psychosocial disability, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder or complex trauma
- Have an intellectual disability or autism alongside mental health challenges
- Are managing substance use alongside other support needs
- Have had contact with the justice system
- Have experienced changes in housing, frequent hospital stays, or support arrangements that haven't worked out
- Sometimes feel so distressed that it leads to hurting themselves or others, leaving places, or pulling away from people
Whatever your story, you are more than your diagnosis or your hardest moments.
How we work together
- Getting to know you. We start by listening. We want to learn about your life, your strengths, what you enjoy, what's hard, and what you'd like to change. You choose who else is involved, whether that's family, friends, support workers or other professionals.
- Understanding what's happening. We spend time with you in your home and community, where life actually happens. We talk with you and the people who know you well, to understand what helps, what gets in the way, and what might be sitting underneath difficult moments.
- Creating your plan, together. Your Behaviour Support Plan is built around your goals and your voice. It focuses on your quality of life, the skills and supports that help you, and clear guidance for the people around you on what to do and what not to do, including how to support you when things feel hard.
- Supporting the people around you. A plan only works if the people supporting you understand it. We spend time with your family, support workers and providers so they feel confident supporting you consistently and respectfully, every day.
- Checking in and adjusting. Life changes, and your plan should too. We review how things are going with you, celebrate progress, and make changes when something isn't working.
Your rights and safety
You have the right to be treated with dignity and to have as much freedom and choice as possible. If restrictive practices are part of your current supports, we work with you and your team to understand why they're there and to find safer, less restrictive ways to support you. Our aim is always to reduce and, wherever possible, remove them.
We follow the requirements of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, so you can trust that your plan meets national standards.
Why UFlourish?
- We understand mental health. Our PBS is led by an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with over 20 years' experience in mental health and disability, trained in trauma-informed care.
- You'll see the same face. As a small, local practice, the person who gets to know you is the person who writes your plan, supports your team and stays with you through reviews.
- We see the bigger picture. Housing, relationships, health and community all shape wellbeing, and we consider them all.
- Therapy and PBS in one place, if that suits you.
Funding and getting started
PBS is funded through the Improved Relationships budget in your NDIS plan (Capacity Building). We're a registered NDIS provider and work with NDIA-managed, plan-managed and self-managed participants. Before we begin, we'll talk through costs and give you a service agreement and quote, so there are no surprises.
You, a family member, your support coordinator or another professional can make a referral.
If you're not sure whether PBS is right for you, give us a call. We're happy to talk it through.
Therapy & Supports
A safe place to be heard, at your own pace
Reaching out for support can feel like a big step, and often it's the hardest one. Whatever brings you here, you'll be met with warmth, respect and no judgement. We'll take the time to understand you, your story and what you'd like to be different, then work alongside you in a way that feels right for you.
Individual Counselling
Life can feel heavy when you're dealing with anxiety, low mood, trauma, grief, stress or big changes. Counselling gives you space to slow down, make sense of what's happening, and find ways forward that fit your life.
We support people with:
- Anxiety, depression and low mood
- Trauma, PTSD and complex trauma
- Grief, loss and life transitions
- Stress, burnout and workplace injury
- Relationship and family difficulties
- Self-esteem, identity and emotional regulation
- Living with mental illness or psychosocial disability
Couples and Family Therapy
Relationships can be our greatest source of strength, and sometimes our greatest source of pain. We help couples and families communicate more openly, understand each other's needs, repair after conflict and hurt, and find new ways of being together. Everyone's voice matters in the room.
NDIS Therapeutic Supports
For NDIS participants, therapeutic supports can help you build emotional wellbeing, manage distress, strengthen relationships and work towards the goals in your plan. We work closely with the people you choose, including your support coordinator, psychosocial recovery coach, family or support workers, so your support feels connected.
If you also receive Positive Behaviour Support, therapy and PBS can work hand in hand, sometimes with the same clinician.
Early Childhood Supports
Every child grows in their own way. We work with young children and the families who love them, using play and relationship-based approaches to support emotional development, connection and wellbeing. Families are always partners in this work, because you know your child best.
Workcover Support
Recovering from a workplace injury affects more than your body. Stress, worry and changes to your routine and identity can take a toll on your mental health. As an approved Workcover provider in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, we offer counselling to support your recovery and help you return to work with confidence. Sessions are available in person or via telehealth.
Coming Soon: Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback is a gentle, non-invasive form of brain training. It uses real-time feedback from your brainwaves to help your brain learn more settled patterns. It's often used for focus, sleep, stress, emotional regulation and trauma recovery, usually alongside counselling or other care.
How we work
There's no single approach that fits everyone, so we tailor therapy to you. Depending on your needs and preferences, we may draw on:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): noticing and shifting unhelpful thinking patterns
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): living by your values, even alongside difficult feelings
- DBT-informed strategies: skills for managing intense emotions and relationships
- EMDR: processing traumatic memories so they feel less overwhelming
- Mindfulness: staying grounded in the present
- Family systems therapy: understanding patterns within relationships and families
- Trauma-informed care: underpinning everything we do, with safety, choice and trust at the centre
You're always welcome to ask why we're suggesting something, or to say if something isn't working for you.
Fees and funding
Funding - What it costs you
Private $150 per session
Medicare $150 per session, with an $89.50 rebate with a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan
Private health Rebates may apply with Extras cover (check with your fund)
NDIS Charged according to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements
Workcover No out-of-pocket cost with an approved claim
You don't need a doctor's referral to see us. A referral is only needed if you'd like to claim a Medicare rebate. Medicare and private health rebates can't be claimed for the same session.
Getting started
You can refer yourself, or be referred by your GP, insurer, support coordinator or another professional. If you're not sure what kind of support is right for you, give us a call and we'll talk it through together.
Meet our Team
Leanne Mitchell, Director
Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner | Accredited Mental Health Social Worker
BSocSc(Hons), MSW, GradCertFamSysTher, GradDipPsych
Member AASW – AMHSW
NDIS Behaviour Support Practitioner
Leanne is a Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner who specialises in supporting people with mental health challenges and complex support needs. She believes behaviour is communication, and that when people feel safe, understood and in control of their lives, meaningful change follows.
Positive Behaviour Support experience
Leanne has more than 20 years' experience across mental health and disability. For the past few years she has focused on Positive Behaviour Support for NDIS participants whose needs sit where mental health, trauma and disability meet. Her PBS work includes:
- Functional behaviour assessments in people's homes and communities, drawing on her clinical mental health background to understand what sits beneath the behaviour
- Interim and comprehensive Behaviour Support Plans that are person-centred, practical and built around quality of life
- Reducing restrictive practices: working with providers to find safer, less restrictive ways to support people, in line with NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission requirements
- Training families, support workers and provider teams, so plans are understood and used consistently on every shift
- Complex and high-risk situations, including self-harm, aggression, absconding, hospital admissions, justice involvement and support arrangements under strain
- Dual diagnosis: supporting people with intellectual disability or autism alongside mental illness
Industry experience
Before and alongside her PBS practice, Leanne has worked across:
- Public and community mental health: Area mental health services, Private Mental Health and AOD
- Disability services: Disability support organisations
- Trauma and family services: Child and family services, Mental Health
- Justice and forensic settings: Corrections, forensic mental health
- Leadership and supervision: Team leader roles, supervising practitioners, staff training
This means she understands the systems people often have to navigate, including the NDIS, hospitals, housing and justice. She works closely with support coordinators, psychosocial recovery coaches, GPs, psychiatrists, case managers, SIL providers and families, bringing everyone together around the person.
What makes her PBS different
Because Leanne is also a trained mental health clinician, her behaviour support is trauma-informed and grounded in an understanding of mental illness. She draws on approaches such as ACT, DBT-informed strategies, family systems therapy and EMDR (she is working towards EMDR accreditation). This helps her create plans that respond to distress, not just behaviour.
She also offers counselling for individuals, couples and families. Some people benefit from having therapy and PBS with the same clinician.
Leanne believes everyone has the capacity to grow and heal when they feel safe, heard and supported. She offers a warm, non-judgemental space where people can make sense of what they're going through and move towards the life they want.
Fees
Individual Session (Non NDIS)
The Australian Association of Social Workers recommends fees of up to $289 for a 50-minute session, while the Australian Psychological Society recommends up to $311. However, at Uflourish, our individual counselling rates are $150 per session, a rebate of $89.50 with a current mental health treatment plan from your GP.
A doctor's referral is NOT required to access Uflourish's therapies. However, for Medicare rebates to apply you will need to be referred by a doctor under a GP Mental Health Care Plan.
If you are insured with a Private Health Fund and have Extras cover, you may be eligible for a rebate. To determine your eligibility, call your fund.
Please note: You cannot obtain a health fund rebate AND a Medicare rebate in the same session.
Workcover
According to the Allied Health Fees for your State Scheme, there are no out-of-pocket fees for your sessions, whether you are seeking couples counselling, individual counselling, or telehealth therapy, as these services are fully covered by Workcover.
NDIS
According to the NDIS Price Guide, individuals seeking support can access a variety of services, such as individual counselling, Positive Behaviour Support and options for telehealth therapy.
Payment methods
Our preferred payment methods for services such as couples counselling, individual counselling, and telehealth therapy include credit card, debit card, and EFTPOS. In exceptional circumstances, we can also accept bank transfers (EFT) and cash, with the correct amount appreciated.