November 19, 2025 • 16 mins
Psychology under the NDIS often raises questions for participants, families and carers. Is it still funded? How does it actually work in practice? In this episode of Link Up and Learn with LiveBig, we discuss the role of psychology in NDIS plans.
Kylie explains when psychology is included, how it supports participant outcomes, and why it’s about more than just mental health diagnoses. You’ll learn practical ways psychology can help with everyday challenges, common goals participants work towards, and how it differs from behaviour support. Additionally, we examine cognitive assessments and the importance of flexibility in service delivery.
If you’d like to connect with us and learn more about LiveBig, visit livebig.com.au. Don’t forget to subscribe for more conversations like this.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah (00:06):
Welcome to Link up and Learn with Lif Big.
I'm Sarah and today we're addressing a topicthat has been causing quite a bit of confusion
lately.
The role of psychology in the ndis.
There's been a lot of questions about whetherpsychology is still funded and what it
actually looks like in practice.
Joining me is Kylie Thomas, team leader and
(00:27):
psychologist at LiveBig.
Welcome Kylie.
Kylie (00:31):
Thanks Sarah, for having me.
Sarah (00:33):
Kylie, to start us off, can you explain how psychology fits within the NDIS and why
there's sometimes uncertainty around whetherit's available to participants?
Kylie (00:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
So psychology definitely remains an important
support under the NDIS for participants, buttheir needs and goals need to adjust, justify
it.
So it's not automatically included in
participants plans.
It needs to be linked to the participants
(01:08):
goals and also linked to their disability.
So if a participant has a disability and has
goals relevant to psychology, then theyabsolutely can try and get psychology funding
included in their plan.
But there's also some confusion because NDIS
plans and processes can change.
(01:29):
So I recommend that the participant or the
family just keep up to date with the NDISguidelines.
But it's always best to speak with the supportcoordinator for any clarification about
whether they can access psychology funding ornot.
Sarah (01:45):
So when might someone have psychology included in their plan?
Kylie (01:50):
Yeah, so psychology will be included when it helps a participant work towards their
NDIS goals and especially if their disabilityimpacts on their daily life, so on their
independence or on their social participation.
But really importantly, psychology support is
(02:10):
not just about providing treatment for adiagnosis, it's about supporting functional
outcomes.
So this is a really key part of NDIS
therapeutic supports that they all need tosupport a client or a participant improve
their functional participation.
So functional participation means your daily
(02:33):
participation in life.
So that's, you know, getting out of the house,
going to see family members, being out in thecommunity.
So we might address anxiety that could be abarrier to leaving the house.
But as I mentioned before, not every plan willhave psychology.
It will depend on the participants individualneeds and goals.
(02:56):
And psychology funding will usually be takenfrom the improved daily living budget.
But this is not specific to psychology.
The improved daily living funding will also be
used for other allied health professionalslike speech therapists and ot.
So the support coordinator or the participantwill need to figure out what portion of that
(03:22):
can be used for psychology.
Sarah (03:24):
Can you give us some practical ways that psychology can help in everyday life?
Kylie (03:29):
Yes, this is a great question.
So again, psychology support is really focused
on helping people build long term skills andstrategies to overcome barriers caused by
their disability.
So again, psychology support is really linked
to the person's disability and supporting thatimproved everyday participation.
(03:54):
So some practical ways of how this might lookmight be the participant wants to get out of
the house more.
So we might work on anxiety management skills
to support this or we might work on supportingthat participant to improve their social
confidence.
(04:16):
And sometimes we might do some work on some
graded exposure so gradually getting thatperson used to being out of the house in
manageable ways, so starting kind of small andbuilding up to the longer term goal.
Another big focus we can have is on improvingdaily routines.
(04:37):
So often we might provide support withmotivation and planning and also that
realistic goal setting, so breaking tasks downinto more manageable steps so it feels
achievable for the participant.
And then another common area we can work is
building social skills.
(04:59):
So we'll often do this by practicing
conversations and role playing differentscenarios.
And we'll also look at developing some copingstrategies to deal with anxiety or social
anxiety in the situation.
And I think we try and focus on practical
(05:19):
application.
So actually playing out the skills rather than
just talking about them, but doing thatpractice together.
Sarah (05:28):
What sort of goals do you typically help people with?
Kylie (05:32):
Yeah, so this will of course really depend on the individual.
And we'll be working to develop individualgoals specific to their circumstances that
also fit with the overarching NDIS goals.
So the psychology goals need to be related to
the broader goals in the plan.
(05:54):
But some common goals we might see are
developing skills to manage mood and anxiety.
And again, the aim is to support that person
through improved mood and less anxiety thatthey can then do more of the things that they
enjoy and improve their quality of life.
(06:15):
Another common goal is around this adjustment
to disability.
So often there's some grief and loss around
functioning or changes in symptoms orprogression of symptoms.
There might be some identity work and we'reworking to address these things with the aim
to improve that person's quality of life andsupport that person to re engage in things
(06:41):
that matter to them.
Other goals are often around building
confidence.
So that might be confidence to go to a day
program or go to a community group or a socialgroup.
So having the confidence to do some of thethings that they might be feeling anxious
about.
(07:01):
And then often a goal might be around emotion
regulation.
So supporting person with skills to deal with
stress and change.
But yeah, I think it's important to stress
here that we will tailor the goals to theparticipants personal circumstances.
Sarah (07:24):
There's sometimes confusion between say psychology and behavior support.
Can you tell us how they're Different?
Kylie (07:31):
Yeah, this is a great question and comes up a lot.
So psychology work can only be completed by aregistered psychologist who have done training
in that field.
And psychology work focuses on mental health
and emotional well being and focuses onbuilding skills for daily life.
(07:55):
So we'll be targeting things like anxiety anddepression, you know, motivation, maybe some
social skills work and psychology workerstypically completed one on one with the
participant, so the therapist and theparticipant together.
Sometimes there can be some extra sessions toupskill family members and support workers in
(08:19):
supporting the person to implement thestrategies.
Behaviour support, on the other hand, targetsspecific behaviours of concern or challenging
behaviours.
So some examples of challenging behaviours
might be things like aggression or selfharming behaviors.
And the behavioural therapist will develop abehaviour support plan aimed to reduce risk to
(08:47):
the participant and perhaps those around them,and teach alternative behaviours.
Behaviour support will have a big focus onupskilling the support team, you know, family
members and how to work well with theparticipant and how to support them to manage
behaviours of concern.
(09:08):
So a participant can actually have both
supports and a plan.
They can have psychology support for emotional
and mental health and then they can also havebehaviour support for managing challenging
behaviours.
So those two supports can occur together and
are often quite complementary.
Sarah (09:28):
So where do you usually deliver psychology services and why is that
flexibility important?
Kylie (09:35):
So at LiveBig, we deliver psychology support wherever the client needs it, really.
So we often will go to the client's home ifthat's where they feel comfortable.
But we can also have the psychology session ata school if it's a young person or a child, or
we'll even use some community spaces.
(09:57):
So that might be a community centre or public
library.
Just bearing in mind that, you know, in
psychology sessions we might have somesensitive conversations or some private
conversations, and we'll always make surethose conversations are in a private space.
So typically we'll be in a private room, butin saying that, often we'll be doing some
(10:21):
skills building work.
So for example, working to gradually expose
the participant to maybe something that's alittle bit fearful for them.
So we might actually go on a bus ride, forexample, to get that person used to public
transport and practicing in the moment some ofthe skills that they've learned in session.
(10:44):
So that practical application of strategies ina real world setting, so that flexibility is
really important because it helps theparticipant actually practice skills in real
life settings.
And having this flexibility reduces barriers
to access and is making therapy more relevantto their daily life.
(11:08):
So we're not just talking about Things we'reactually going out in the community and
practicing them.
Sarah (11:14):
So what are some of those common psychological barriers and how do you help
people overcome them?
Kylie (11:21):
Yeah, so some common barriers for participants might be, of course, anxiety or
low mood, which then impacts on, you know,motivation to get out of the house or to do
different activities.
There'll often be some low confidence, maybe
some difficulty coping with change or somepast trauma.
(11:43):
And all of these things will impact thatperson's ability to complete everyday living
tasks and different activities.
So psychologists will help by first even
identifying what the barriers are and thenteaching the participant some coping
strategies.
(12:04):
So for example, relaxation to manage anxiety
or problem solving skills and also somedifferent techniques to challenge their
thinking and maybe develop a differentperspective which will support them to do some
of their feared situations.
(12:25):
We'll also support gradual exposure to some of
the situations that are making them anxious.
So again, this is where that community work
and community sessions is really beneficialfor the participant because they're actually
able to practice these things in the settingthat they want to.
(12:46):
And we'll also build self esteem andresilience.
So really improving the participants belief intheir own ability to cope and manage these
situations.
Sarah (12:57):
Can you explain what cognitive assessment is and when it might be useful?
Kylie (13:02):
Yes. So the cognitive assessment service we've just implemented at Live Big,
which is really exciting, and cognitiveassessments will measure things like memory or
problem solving skills and also look atcomprehension.
So for example, a cognitive assessment couldfind that someone has memory difficulties.
(13:23):
So we'll then use this information torecommend practical strategies for their
support team.
So for example, we might recommend that the
team uses visual reminders to support thatperson's memory or we might recommend breaking
instructions down into steps to support thatperson's comprehension.
(13:46):
Cognitive assessments are only funded whenthey help inform a person's support needs or
identify their cognitive strengths andweaknesses.
So a cognitive assessment under the NDIS isnot just for a diagnosis, it's to inform their
supports.
Sarah (14:07):
Finally, is there a misconception about psychology and the NDIS that you'd like to
address?
Kylie (14:15):
So psychology is not just for treating mental health conditions in the ndis, it's
really about building practical skills andconfidence to live a fuller life and improve
their quality of life?I think also NDIS psychology is, yeah, it's
(14:36):
not just about crisis support or again,diagnosis, but really that skill building and
the skill building and support is directlylinked to the participant's disability.
So that's what makes it distinct from otherfunding streams.
(14:57):
And importantly, funding isn't unlimited.
Similar to other allied health professionals.
The allocation of psychology funding will bebased on the participants individual needs and
goals, so it will be tailored and appropriateto that person.
Sarah (15:16):
Thanks so much for joining us Kylie.
Now, I hope this conversation has given you
some helpful insights to into psychology andthe ndis.
If you'd like to connect with us and learnmore about live big, visit livebig.com and
don't forget to subscribe for moreconversations like this.
(15:37):
Thanks for listening and we'll catch you nexttime.
We acknowledge the traditional owners of thisnation whose country we work and live in.
We recognise Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslanders as traditional custodians and their
ongoing connections to land and sea.
We pay our respects to elders past, present
and emerging as law keepers of the world'soldest living culture.
(16:02):
We celebrate the stories, culture andtraditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders so we can, in the true spirit ofreconciliation, continue the journey together.
Welcome to Link up and Learn with Lif Big.
I'm Sarah and today we're addressing a topicthat has been causing quite a bit of confusion
lately.
The role of psychology in the ndis.
There's been a lot of questions about whetherpsychology is still funded and what it
actually looks like in practice.
Joining me is Kylie Thomas, team leader and
(00:27):
psychologist at LiveBig.
Welcome Kylie.
Kylie (00:31):
Thanks Sarah, for having me.
Sarah (00:33):
Kylie, to start us off, can you explain how psychology fits within the NDIS and why
there's sometimes uncertainty around whetherit's available to participants?
Kylie (00:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
So psychology definitely remains an important
support under the NDIS for participants, buttheir needs and goals need to adjust, justify
it.
So it's not automatically included in
participants plans.
It needs to be linked to the participants
(01:08):
goals and also linked to their disability.
So if a participant has a disability and has
goals relevant to psychology, then theyabsolutely can try and get psychology funding
included in their plan.
But there's also some confusion because NDIS
plans and processes can change.
(01:29):
So I recommend that the participant or the
family just keep up to date with the NDISguidelines.
But it's always best to speak with the supportcoordinator for any clarification about
whether they can access psychology funding ornot.
Sarah (01:45):
So when might someone have psychology included in their plan?
Kylie (01:50):
Yeah, so psychology will be included when it helps a participant work towards their
NDIS goals and especially if their disabilityimpacts on their daily life, so on their
independence or on their social participation.
But really importantly, psychology support is
(02:10):
not just about providing treatment for adiagnosis, it's about supporting functional
outcomes.
So this is a really key part of NDIS
therapeutic supports that they all need tosupport a client or a participant improve
their functional participation.
So functional participation means your daily
(02:33):
participation in life.
So that's, you know, getting out of the house,
going to see family members, being out in thecommunity.
So we might address anxiety that could be abarrier to leaving the house.
But as I mentioned before, not every plan willhave psychology.
It will depend on the participants individualneeds and goals.
(02:56):
And psychology funding will usually be takenfrom the improved daily living budget.
But this is not specific to psychology.
The improved daily living funding will also be
used for other allied health professionalslike speech therapists and ot.
So the support coordinator or the participantwill need to figure out what portion of that
(03:22):
can be used for psychology.
Sarah (03:24):
Can you give us some practical ways that psychology can help in everyday life?
Kylie (03:29):
Yes, this is a great question.
So again, psychology support is really focused
on helping people build long term skills andstrategies to overcome barriers caused by
their disability.
So again, psychology support is really linked
to the person's disability and supporting thatimproved everyday participation.
(03:54):
So some practical ways of how this might lookmight be the participant wants to get out of
the house more.
So we might work on anxiety management skills
to support this or we might work on supportingthat participant to improve their social
confidence.
(04:16):
And sometimes we might do some work on some
graded exposure so gradually getting thatperson used to being out of the house in
manageable ways, so starting kind of small andbuilding up to the longer term goal.
Another big focus we can have is on improvingdaily routines.
(04:37):
So often we might provide support withmotivation and planning and also that
realistic goal setting, so breaking tasks downinto more manageable steps so it feels
achievable for the participant.
And then another common area we can work is
building social skills.
(04:59):
So we'll often do this by practicing
conversations and role playing differentscenarios.
And we'll also look at developing some copingstrategies to deal with anxiety or social
anxiety in the situation.
And I think we try and focus on practical
(05:19):
application.
So actually playing out the skills rather than
just talking about them, but doing thatpractice together.
Sarah (05:28):
What sort of goals do you typically help people with?
Kylie (05:32):
Yeah, so this will of course really depend on the individual.
And we'll be working to develop individualgoals specific to their circumstances that
also fit with the overarching NDIS goals.
So the psychology goals need to be related to
the broader goals in the plan.
(05:54):
But some common goals we might see are
developing skills to manage mood and anxiety.
And again, the aim is to support that person
through improved mood and less anxiety thatthey can then do more of the things that they
enjoy and improve their quality of life.
(06:15):
Another common goal is around this adjustment
to disability.
So often there's some grief and loss around
functioning or changes in symptoms orprogression of symptoms.
There might be some identity work and we'reworking to address these things with the aim
to improve that person's quality of life andsupport that person to re engage in things
(06:41):
that matter to them.
Other goals are often around building
confidence.
So that might be confidence to go to a day
program or go to a community group or a socialgroup.
So having the confidence to do some of thethings that they might be feeling anxious
about.
(07:01):
And then often a goal might be around emotion
regulation.
So supporting person with skills to deal with
stress and change.
But yeah, I think it's important to stress
here that we will tailor the goals to theparticipants personal circumstances.
Sarah (07:24):
There's sometimes confusion between say psychology and behavior support.
Can you tell us how they're Different?
Kylie (07:31):
Yeah, this is a great question and comes up a lot.
So psychology work can only be completed by aregistered psychologist who have done training
in that field.
And psychology work focuses on mental health
and emotional well being and focuses onbuilding skills for daily life.
(07:55):
So we'll be targeting things like anxiety anddepression, you know, motivation, maybe some
social skills work and psychology workerstypically completed one on one with the
participant, so the therapist and theparticipant together.
Sometimes there can be some extra sessions toupskill family members and support workers in
(08:19):
supporting the person to implement thestrategies.
Behaviour support, on the other hand, targetsspecific behaviours of concern or challenging
behaviours.
So some examples of challenging behaviours
might be things like aggression or selfharming behaviors.
And the behavioural therapist will develop abehaviour support plan aimed to reduce risk to
(08:47):
the participant and perhaps those around them,and teach alternative behaviours.
Behaviour support will have a big focus onupskilling the support team, you know, family
members and how to work well with theparticipant and how to support them to manage
behaviours of concern.
(09:08):
So a participant can actually have both
supports and a plan.
They can have psychology support for emotional
and mental health and then they can also havebehaviour support for managing challenging
behaviours.
So those two supports can occur together and
are often quite complementary.
Sarah (09:28):
So where do you usually deliver psychology services and why is that
flexibility important?
Kylie (09:35):
So at LiveBig, we deliver psychology support wherever the client needs it, really.
So we often will go to the client's home ifthat's where they feel comfortable.
But we can also have the psychology session ata school if it's a young person or a child, or
we'll even use some community spaces.
(09:57):
So that might be a community centre or public
library.
Just bearing in mind that, you know, in
psychology sessions we might have somesensitive conversations or some private
conversations, and we'll always make surethose conversations are in a private space.
So typically we'll be in a private room, butin saying that, often we'll be doing some
(10:21):
skills building work.
So for example, working to gradually expose
the participant to maybe something that's alittle bit fearful for them.
So we might actually go on a bus ride, forexample, to get that person used to public
transport and practicing in the moment some ofthe skills that they've learned in session.
(10:44):
So that practical application of strategies ina real world setting, so that flexibility is
really important because it helps theparticipant actually practice skills in real
life settings.
And having this flexibility reduces barriers
to access and is making therapy more relevantto their daily life.
(11:08):
So we're not just talking about Things we'reactually going out in the community and
practicing them.
Sarah (11:14):
So what are some of those common psychological barriers and how do you help
people overcome them?
Kylie (11:21):
Yeah, so some common barriers for participants might be, of course, anxiety or
low mood, which then impacts on, you know,motivation to get out of the house or to do
different activities.
There'll often be some low confidence, maybe
some difficulty coping with change or somepast trauma.
(11:43):
And all of these things will impact thatperson's ability to complete everyday living
tasks and different activities.
So psychologists will help by first even
identifying what the barriers are and thenteaching the participant some coping
strategies.
(12:04):
So for example, relaxation to manage anxiety
or problem solving skills and also somedifferent techniques to challenge their
thinking and maybe develop a differentperspective which will support them to do some
of their feared situations.
(12:25):
We'll also support gradual exposure to some of
the situations that are making them anxious.
So again, this is where that community work
and community sessions is really beneficialfor the participant because they're actually
able to practice these things in the settingthat they want to.
(12:46):
And we'll also build self esteem andresilience.
So really improving the participants belief intheir own ability to cope and manage these
situations.
Sarah (12:57):
Can you explain what cognitive assessment is and when it might be useful?
Kylie (13:02):
Yes. So the cognitive assessment service we've just implemented at Live Big,
which is really exciting, and cognitiveassessments will measure things like memory or
problem solving skills and also look atcomprehension.
So for example, a cognitive assessment couldfind that someone has memory difficulties.
(13:23):
So we'll then use this information torecommend practical strategies for their
support team.
So for example, we might recommend that the
team uses visual reminders to support thatperson's memory or we might recommend breaking
instructions down into steps to support thatperson's comprehension.
(13:46):
Cognitive assessments are only funded whenthey help inform a person's support needs or
identify their cognitive strengths andweaknesses.
So a cognitive assessment under the NDIS isnot just for a diagnosis, it's to inform their
supports.
Sarah (14:07):
Finally, is there a misconception about psychology and the NDIS that you'd like to
address?
Kylie (14:15):
So psychology is not just for treating mental health conditions in the ndis, it's
really about building practical skills andconfidence to live a fuller life and improve
their quality of life?I think also NDIS psychology is, yeah, it's
(14:36):
not just about crisis support or again,diagnosis, but really that skill building and
the skill building and support is directlylinked to the participant's disability.
So that's what makes it distinct from otherfunding streams.
(14:57):
And importantly, funding isn't unlimited.
Similar to other allied health professionals.
The allocation of psychology funding will bebased on the participants individual needs and
goals, so it will be tailored and appropriateto that person.
Sarah (15:16):
Thanks so much for joining us Kylie.
Now, I hope this conversation has given you
some helpful insights to into psychology andthe ndis.
If you'd like to connect with us and learnmore about live big, visit livebig.com and
don't forget to subscribe for moreconversations like this.
(15:37):
Thanks for listening and we'll catch you nexttime.
We acknowledge the traditional owners of thisnation whose country we work and live in.
We recognise Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslanders as traditional custodians and their
ongoing connections to land and sea.
We pay our respects to elders past, present
and emerging as law keepers of the world'soldest living culture.
(16:02):
We celebrate the stories, culture andtraditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders so we can, in the true spirit ofreconciliation, continue the journey together.
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