Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Couples counselling health insurance
A couples counsellor can help from around $75 to $150 per session, which can be covered by private health insurance from around $27 per month.
Who is this cover for?
No contact details required
Compare 40+ funds
Same price as going direct
Back
Close
I'm Tim, your insurance expert.
Here to help you find the right cover for you!
Step 1/2 - About your cover
Which state do you live in?
QLD
NSW
ACT
VIC
TAS
SA
WA
NT
What's your age?
Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated September 2024, in line with Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices reflect the cheapest available for a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
Why compare with us
You'll pay the same price as going direct - we don't
charge fees
We don't ask for your phone number to see prices
Hang tight - we're fetching policies just for you!
Medicare does not cover couples counselling, even with a Mental Health Care Plan.
Extras cover that includes a benefit for psychology can be used to help with the cost of couples counselling sessions.
Only part of the cost will be covered by your health fund, but every dollar helps.
Private health insurance that covers counselling
All the extras policies below have a benefit for psychology, which can be used for couples counselling. The maximum claim limit and waiting period varies from fund to fund. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney.
Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated March 2024, in line with Finder's
database of health insurance policies. Prices are based
on a single individual with less than $93,000 income and
living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
Email me my results (optional)
To get a copy of your results for later, add your email below
You'll pay the same price as going direct - we don't
charge fees
We don't ask for your phone number to see prices
Hang tight - we're fetching policies just for you!
Comparing quotes from 40+ funds...
Finder survey: Do Australians feel like their extras insurance is good value for money?
Response
Somewhat
46.14%
Yes
34.56%
No
19.31%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023
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.
Claiming couple councelling on a couple policy
You've got a few options to claim couples councelling on your extras. I contacted a couple of health funds to get a vibe of the general approach - this is the response I received from ahm that seemed to represent the majority of the fund's policies:
If your policy includes psychology consultations and the provider you see is registered with us, then for couple consultations, claims can be processed to either:
The member,
Their partner, or
Both the member and their partner; split the cost of service in half and pay half the benefit to each person. Separate receipts will need to be submitted for both parties to claim.
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
FAQs about 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. You'll need a Mental Health Care Plan for this from your GP. Even if 2 people have a Mental Health Care Plan, it still doesnt' qualify for couples councelling.
No, you generally don't need a referral from your GP to receive any counselling services that are covered by extras insurance.
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.
Was this content helpful to you?
Thank you for your feedback!
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.
Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio
Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 682 Finder guides across topics including:
Remedial massage can help ease pain from general wear and tear as well as specific injuries. This treatment isn’t covered by Medicare but is included in private health insurance extras cover. Find out how private health insurance can cover you for remedial massage therapy.
Physiotherapy services can be beneficial at any life stage, so it could be worth considering and comparing extras health insurance that can cover the cost of this type of treatment.
If you're wondering what pharmaceutical costs are covered by private health insurance, we've got a guide to health cover for non-PBS pharmaceuticals here.
Discover more about accessing naturopathy, herbal remedies, traditional Chinese medicine and other alternatives with coverage through your health insurance.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.