We provide psychology assessment and evidence-based intervention services for children, adolescents and families.

At The Jacaranda Centre we provide therapeutic support to parents or carers of children and young people of all ages for support with parental strategies to manage complex behaviours and emotional / psychological difficulties.

Emma Langham, our founding Director, began The Jacaranda Centre with a vision of providing high quality and personalised clinical services to children and their families throughout the Hunter in a warm, inviting environment that lets you know we care.

We have expertise in many areas of concern, including:

Counselling and Therapeutic Interventions

We work with children and young people from approximately 2 years and to 18 years for therapeutic support regarding the full range of concerns that present during these key developmental years. We believe in maximising the potential of each and every child, and employ techniques from a wide range of therapeutic models to assist the children and young people we are privileged to meet in their life journey. Therapies include Behaviour Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Family Therapy, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Sequential Oral Sensory feeding therapy interventions, and we frequently use creative play tools to assist our children to feel safe and engaged.

At The Jacaranda Centre we also provide therapeutic and intervention support to parents or carers of children and young people of all ages for support with parental strategies to manage complex behaviours and emotional / psychological difficulties.

We provide diagnostic opinion of children up to 16 years who are presenting with complex behaviours or concerns, including but not limited to disorders of attachment, mood, behaviour, trauma, autism spectrum, and developmental delay; see below for further information.

Please note that at The Jacaranda Centre we are unable to support children with serious mental health problems such as chronic and acute self-harming or suicidal behaviour as we believe these children and young people should have access to more care than we can provide between business hours. It is recommended that young people with these concerns are referred to the public health system to link them with an appropriate level of support via the Mental Health Access Line on 1800 011 511, or Headspace in their area. If risk assessment and crisis management processes are performed and indicate that a lower level of support is sufficient for care, then we will consider a referral for therapeutic support.

Assessment

At the Jacaranda Centre, we only use evidence based, standardised measures that have been peer reviewed and published with high standards of reliability and validity for use with your child.

Assessments are generally required to determine what kind of problems your child is facing, and to what degree this may differ from other children at their chronological or developmental level. An assessment may involve gathering information by parent checklist, or it may involve a more in depth direct assessment with your child.

An assessment by a Psychologist can generally determine whether your child meets the criteria for a mental health diagnosis and when provided in a report, this can then be used to support application through schools or other agencies for support (ie Department of Education, National Disability Insurance Agency).

Even with an established diagnosis, a re-assessment of a child’s functioning is often an important part of monitoring and evaluating their progress from support services and to track their development over time. Re-assessments are rarely needed within an 18 month – 2 year time frame from previous assessment however we can discuss this with you if an assessment has been recommended to you by another professional.

Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment

• For Autism Spectrum Disorder assessment, we utilise the ‘gold standard’ assessments – the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule, Revised (ADOS-2) and Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised (ADI-R). These assessments, combined with other information sources, allow us to determine if a client’s challenges meet the criteria for a diagnosis of ASD, and are sensitive enough to determine which Level (1, 2 or 3) that person requires support according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V;  APA, 2013).

We are also able to provide limited assessments for adults, particularly those with no prior diagnosis of ASD.

• Developmental assessments for children as young as 12 months and up to 6 years can be provided using the newly updated Griffiths-III developmental assessment (formerly Griffiths Mental Development Scales, Revised). This, along with other information, enables us to determine whether a child may have a Global Developmental Delay and/or a need for Early Intervention Support.

IQ / Cognitive Assessments

We have a full range of IQ / cognitive assessments for across the lifespan available including:

– the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) which can be  used to assess for school readiness in children starting school or to assist determining possible learning problems in children up to 7 years and 7 months. The WPPSI-IV can be administered to children as young as 2 years 6 months.

– We now also have the innovative digital version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Australian and New Zealand, Fifth Edition (WISC-V A&NZ) WISC-V intelligence test for children aged 6 years – 16 years 9 months which utilises ipad technology to administer the tests rather than relying on paper and pencil tests which may not engage to child’s interest as well as the new version.

– We now have the adult IQ assessment tool, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) which is suitable for young adults aged 16 years to older adults up to 90 years.

Developmental Assessments

• Developmental assessments for children as young as 12 months and up to 6 years can be provided using the newly updated Griffiths-III developmental assessment (formerly Griffiths Mental Development Scales, Revised). This, along with other information, enables us to determine whether a child may have a Global Developmental Delay and/or a need for Early Intervention Support.

Learning

Learning is a large part of growing up and difficulties with learning can create great difficulty in the school and home environment if left undiagnosed and untreated.  At The Jacaranda Centre, we have access to a range of learning and achievement based assessments including but limited to:

– the Wechsler Individual Acheivement Test, Australian and New Zealand Standardised, Third Edition (WIAT-III A&NZ),

– the NEPSY, A Developmental NEuroPSYchological Assessment (for ages 3 – 16 years) to evaluate neuropsychological development across six domains;

– the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC). 

To support the above assessments, or often as a stand alone method to gathering more information about your child in a standardised way to best direct interventions, we regularly use a wide range of clinical checklists, often described as behavioural, emotional or psychological assessment tools.

We are also adding new assessments to our test library continually to cater to the needs of our clients.

Groups for Children & Parents

At The Jacaranda Centre we recognise that not everyone wants or needs to see a therapist one on one. This is where groups can be a great avenue to accessing support and information, in a group of peers with similar difficulties which can be validating and may even facilitate change faster than from individual therapy in some cases.