Couples counselling health insurance

Most mid-range extras health insurance policies can cover couples counselling. This can include psychological, psychiatric and counselling services for both individuals and families including couples.

Private health insurance that covers counselling

All the health funds listed below can cover couples counselling through their extras policies. The maximum claim limit and waiting period varies from fund to fund.

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Name	Product	Counselling cover	Limit	Wait period	Price Per Month	Hide CompareBox	Apply
Medibank Healthy Start Extras			$500	No wait period	$26.50		1300 179 942 Go to Site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
HBF Complete 60			$500	2 months	$44.67		Go to Site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
ahm lifestyle Extras			$250	No wait period	$53.90		1300 670 233 Go to Site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Qantas Lifestyle Extras			$300	2 months	$55.83		1300 641 719 Go to Site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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*Quotes are based on single individual with less than $90,000 income and living in Sydney. Always check for combined limits.

How does private health insurance cover couples counselling?

Mid-range and comprehensive extras policies can pay benefits paid towards consultations with a recognised psychologist or recognised counsellor, plus cover you for others services like dental, physio and optical. This can include:

• Individual consultations
• Couples consultations
• Family consultations
• Group consultations

Policy prices start from around $27 per month and come with an annual claim limit of around $500 to $750. You will generally have a 0 or 2 month waiting period. Some providers and programs may not be recognised by your health insurer – in which case, it won't not cover you, so make sure you check with them before you receive counselling.

How much is couples counselling?

With extras insurance

Couples counselling costs range from around $120-$200 per session in Australia but you can claim around $500 to $750 back per year with extras cover. If you need several sessions, it's likely that you'll have some out of pocket expenses but there's generally no waiting period so you can start claiming straight away.

Without extras insurance

Couples counselling isn't covered by Medicare so you'll have to pay for it all yourself. Prices can vary depending on where you go. For example, Relationships Australia offers online counselling from $120/hr. However, if you're seeing a qualified psychologist, they could charge anywhere from $100/hr to $250/hr – New Vision Psychology charges $230 and $250 for a registered and clinical psychologist respectively.

Can you get free couples counselling?

Unfortunately, the answer is probably not. While mental health plans do exist under Medicare to assist people with mental health issues in seeking professional assistance, these are restricted to individuals.

Couples counselling, while inarguably a very difficult and mentally taxing process to go through, doesn't fall under this definition and won't be covered by a mental health plan. That said, there are a few limited situations where Medicare may be applicable – such as when one partner suffers from a condition like bipolar or depression and couples counselling may help to address it directly.

What to expect in a couples counselling session

It can be daunting to sign up to a group counselling session like this, but remember the entire point is to provide you with a comfortable and safe environment where you can navigate your relationship. According to Relationships Australia, here's what you might expect from your first session:

• Establishing a basic working relationship and trust between you and your partner
• Answering a variety of questions to figure out what's causing you and your partner concern
• Answering a variety of questions to sort out what some of the underlying issues in your relationship might be
• Establishing goals for what you hope to get out of counselling and what you hope to achieve in future session

Compare more health insurance options from Australian funds

Use this free tool to see more options from Australian health funds. Counselling services are usually covered under 'Psychology' – you can select it when you click refine search.

FAQs about couples counselling

• Does Medicare cover couples counselling?

  No, Medicare doesn't cover couples counselling. Australia's public healthcare system only covers the services of a clinical or registered psychologist who provides counselling to an individual and you'll usually need a referral from your GP to receive this.

• Do I need a GP referral for couples counselling?

  No, you generally don't need a referral from your GP to receive any counselling services that are covered by extras insurance.

• How much is couples counselling?

  Couples counselling costs around $120-200 per hour but prices can vary depending on where and who you receive care with. How many sessions you end up needing depends on the couple involved, but you might expect a standard set of 10 sessions to cost up to $1,000-$1,200 on average, without any insurance. You might be able to pay less for couples counselling with a not-for-profit organisation like LifeWorks – prices are scaled depending on your annual household income.