Canberra-based mental health services, established in 2011
Think Mental Health (previously Think Psychology Solutions) was founded in November 2011 by Canberra psychologists, Vanessa Hamilton and Jason McCrae. At the time, clinical psychologists were mostly private practitioners working independently in Canberra. Vanessa and Jason were looking for ways they could establish a clinic where they could work together to better support Canberrans living with mental illness and share evidence-based therapies, in a team environment.
In the early days, Think Mental Health (TMH) was a psychology service and collaboration started with simple ideas such as a common lunch hour, monthly supervision meetings and regular team education days, to learn from each other. Today, the organisation has evolved to include a wide range of services by listening to community demand and partnering with like-minded professionals to expand and adapt the range of services provided under the Think umbrella.
Psychologists, psychiatrists and a GP all under the same roof
Our psychologists are now part of a multidisciplinary team of more than 20 staff including psychiatrists and a GP. This gives us the unique opportunity to provide a holistic and evidence-based approach to mental health services, collaborate across disciplines and offer the Canberra community a central hub for their mental health needs.
Combining our years of training across a team of mental health care workers, means we can work with people living with a very wide range of conditions. With a medical doctor and psychiatrists in the same location, patients that require those services or prescribed medication, don’t have to go elsewhere for support.
Our vision, mission and values
Our Vision: A safe place to receive support, while you connect, heal and grow
Our Mission: Leading the provision of high-quality mental health care by increasing awareness and access to exceptional services
Our Values: Compassion, Relationship and Collaboration, Authenticity and Humanity, Inclusiveness and Predictability, Safety, Empowerment and Choice
Our commitment to our community and the launch of Canberra Head to Health
We are committed to delivering high-quality and safe healthcare services to the local community and recognise the importance of building collaborative relationships with stakeholders and engaging with our local networks to build awareness about mental health services. It was these relationships that have helped us to reach the local community and launch the Canberra Head to Health (H2H) Centre in 2022 and the Canberra H2H Pop-Up service.
Think Mental Health continues to manage H2H Canberra as part of the nation-wide H2H program which is supported by funding from the ACT Primary Health Network (PHN) through the Australian Government’s PHN Program. To find out about our services at Head to Health Canberra visit canberraheadtohealth.com.au.
You can expect well-supported telehealth services
For those who can not visit us face-to-face in our clinic, based in Deakin, we have substantial experience providing telehealth services, including video conferencing via the Australian platform Coviu. We have appropriate telecommunications, IT, and support for staff in delivering these services, and all services are provided in strict adherence to Australian privacy standards and legislation, in addition to relevant consent and confidentiality policies.
Our policies continue to withstand a pandemic
As with the establishment and delivery of Canberra Head to Health, we have a demonstrated track record in developing, documenting and implementing good clinical governance, including the full range of appropriate policy and practice standards, Infection Control Policy and associated COVID-19 Guidelines.
We continue to manage a service affected by the ongoing pandemic and have well-established staffing contingencies to enable continued operations. Having a large clinical team, including senior clinical staff has meant we have flexible options for staff to step in and assist as necessary, to minimise disruptions to ongoing service provision.
Governance
Think Mental Health has a comprehensive governance system that allows us to achieve service excellence, improve quality, and minimise risks in the delivery of services to healthcare consumers. Good clinical governance supports high-quality health outcomes through clinical leadership and accountability and effective partnerships to ensure services are both safe and effective.
At Think we have a Clinical Director and a Managing Director to allow for appropriate leadership and oversight of all aspects of our operations. This approach underpins the organisation’s commitment to assuring fairness, accountability and transparency in practice and service delivery. It clarifies and defines who has authority, decision making and accountability.