Phone/Fax: (08) 9844 3528 Mobile: 0417 663 530 Email:roger.summers@westnet.com.au		ALPHA PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES Postal Address: PO Box 944, Albany WA 6331
Roger Summers is a Western Australian trained Clinical and Forensic psychologist offering a wide range of professional clinical services to the public. He is a registered Clinical Psychologist with a Master of Clinical and Health Degree in Psychology. He is a member of both The Australian Psychological Society and The British Psychological Society. His services include counselling, assessment and therapy. He also provides a range of services to the legal profession as well as people experiencing legal problems. These services include legal reports and expert witness testimony in court. Roger is a practicing Christian but respects others right to their own beliefs.  While believing that the spiritual aspect of total health is important, he will not bring spirituality into counselling unless requested to do so. For a full resume of Roger Summers see below: Roger Summers  M.Psych (Clinical); MAPS RECENT NEWS Medicare Rebates – From 1st November 2006 most services provided by clinical psychologists are covered by Medicare rebates. This service is available to all patients who are referred by a treating Psychiatrist or by a General Practitioner who have prepared a care plan. Therapy – Roger Summers, while having a busy schedule does have some vacancies for new clients. See the counselling and therapy link page for more information about what he does and who he works with. Lynette Summers is a trained counsellor specialising in grief and bereavement counselling. Lynette is not a registered psychologist but she is skilled in using several modes of therapeutic delivery including pets and art. Her fees whilst not rebatable on Medicare are quite modest. Résumé of Roger Summers I have worked as a psychologist for about 11 years within a state government department. Recently I have become self–employed in private practice. Prior to that I was fully employed by organisations specialising in drug and alcohol treatment. I have Western Australian registration to use the specialist titles of clinical psychologist. The university training I have completed includes Master degree in Clinical and Health Psychology, and a Bachelor of Science – Psychology with Honours. I have completed further training in Eye Movement Desentisation Reprocessing (EMDR) and Clinical Hypnosis amongst other techniques. Whilst working in the UK I received training in the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE). My professional work entails a combination of both general clinical practice and forensic work. The clinical work involves using therapy and counselling techniques to assist people overcome problems. I have a broad area of interest including depression, trauma and PTSD, anxiety, relationship issues, self–esteem, addictions, and grief. The most commonly used technique I apply is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy although I do use many others such as; • Solution Focused Brief Therapy • Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (for personality disorders) • Schema Focused Therapy • Motivational Interviewing (useful for persons with addictions) Through experience and training, I have obtained specialist knowledge in the area of assessment for intellectual functioning (IQ), neuropsychological functioning, personality, and/or criminal behaviour. I have completed training of several risk assessment instruments such as the Psychopathy Check List (PCL-R). In my work with offenders, both here and in the UK, I have interviewed several thousand offenders, completed numerous comprehensive psychological assessments of offenders for the various departments, courts or parole reviews. I have particular interest in violent crime and personality disorders. A recent interest of mine is offender profiling.   What is a Clinical Psychologist? A clinical psychologist should not be confused with a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has completed specialist training in mental illness. They can prescribe medications and usually work with the more severely disturbed and the mentally ill. Sometimes I will recommend that we have the support of a psychiatrist or doctor in helping with major problems. Clinical Psychology shouldn't be a mysterious affair, and I don't want you to feel anxious about coming to see me.  Your initial consultation will begin with describing what is troubling you.  I am interested in aspects of your behaviour, thinking, emotions and relationships which are creating difficulties for you now, how these difficulties have developed, and how you have attempted to manage these up until now. Psychological Counselling Types of Problems Addressed I work with people who have difficulty coping with various problems including stress, anxiety, panic, depression, grief, sexual problems, past or current traumas (assault, abuse), habit problems (weight, smoking, addiction etc), and relationship issues. In general most people who come to see me are just not coping with life at the moment. Something is just not quite right. If you are not sure that therapy can help you, please contact me for an opinion as to whether I can assist the problem. What Happens During Therapy Before you first attend I invite you to think forward to the time when you don’t have the problem.  What changes do you want to make in your behaviour, emotions, ways of thinking and (perhaps) relationships.   Take some time to reflect on what you really want in your life, what values you ideally want your life to reflect.  Try to get specific as possible about this.  Bring any notes you make along to your first appointment.  I will listen carefully, clarify the issues, then share with you my understanding of the problem, and how it can be overcome.  I will also try to give you an indication as to how long this might take. My type of therapy has an emphasis on the short term resolution of problems. It is my experience that most people do not seek help from a clinical psychologist until “something is wrong” in their life. They usually only want to overcome their current dilemma and to “feel better about themselves”. I will attempt to do this through our time together and with you practicing new skills between sessions. This work will involve such things are reading, doing exercises to identify and change the patterns of thinking or feeling and keeping a record of events which trigger off the problematic reactions, and so on. This home practice work is a vital part of your therapy. “How can I help you to help yourself?” One of my main approaches is Solution Focused Brief Therapy and one of my motto’s is “How can I help you to help yourself?” In a nutshell, the therapeutic contract is that you learn how to solve your problems, and my task is to teach you how to do so, so that they become redundant. The more effectively you can work on your side of the contract between sessions, the more rapidly we will both achieve our goal.  As you can see, I encourage you to take an active role in changing, and if this is something you are not willing to take on, then you may not like my approach to therapy.   I will not ignore your past, as it is often very important in understanding how you have got to the present, but I will not spend long hours discussing it. Therapy involves three main aspects: • Initially we meet to discuss the nature of your problem and examine the factors which may be causing it. Sometimes I may conduct some psychological tests to gain further insight into the nature of the problem (these tests are usually questionnaires or special puzzles) but usually we simply have a detailed discussion. Until the cause of a problem is understood, treatment will be limited. • Once we have an understanding of the problem, we begin the change process. This involves identifying the patterns of dysfunctional thoughts or behaviour, understanding the consequences of the behaviour, and then seeking to change them. • Experience has shown that current problems are often caused by emotional traumas or experiences from the past which have not been resolved. These may need to be resolved before the current behaviour will change. Therapy techniques I commonly use to resolve past emotional trauma include: 1. Counselling and insight – Talking about things which are worrying you can bring a great sense of relief. This is enhanced as new perspectives are discovered and new approaches developed. 2. EMDR – This is a special technique which is used to reprocess the emotions associated with traumatic incidents. Further explanations would be given prior to using this therapy technique. 3. Grief counselling – We live in a society that does not encourage “grieving”. It may be that all you need is space and support to release pent up emotions.  Are There Side Effects From Therapy? Therapy from an experienced and qualified therapist is generally a safe and interesting process. I try to make sure that therapy progresses at a pace you can handle. However, looking at problems, or talking about painful memories, can be unpleasant so some people may feel a bit worse before they start to improve. It is important that you talk about your feelings so we can minimise any distress which may arise. If you have major life events about to happen please advise me so we can manage the emotional processes to minimise interference with your life. Length and cost of Treatment Sessions are generally for one hour. This includes 50 minutes of counselling and 10 minutes of summarising the session and writing notes. Most treatments can be completed within 6 to 10 sessions although more serious problems may take longer. I normally charge $130 per hour for general clinical work and either Medicare or private health funds allow most of these costs to be reimbursed to you. Forensic work is charged at the same rate. However, court appearances may incur extra charges. Please contact me to discuss potential treatment and costs. Top of Page Alpha Psychological Service Phone: 9844 3528  Mobile: 042 881 7237