Chris Mackey and Associates Newsletter

Happy New Year from Chris Mackey and Associates

Many people will have had a new year's resolution for this year, but research indicates that only a small fraction of people will implement a long-lasting change based on a new year's resolution. That doesn't mean it's not worth trying to make positive changes in our life, and new year's resolutions are one way that we do this.

We discussed this in our podcast last year in the episode, Gaining Gratification Through Goals. You may wish to listen to that episode if you're looking for a nudge towards completing your new year's resolution for this year.

Reminder About Changes to The Number of Rebated Medicare Sessions for 2023

In December, the Government announced that there would be a reduction in the Medicare-rebated psychology sessions from a maximum of 20 to 10 per year.

This is bringing the number of Medicare-rebated sessions back in line with the number allowed before the pandemic.

We are disappointed in the Government's decision to ignore the widespread expert advice and research that suggested the extra sessions provided benefit at a time when more mental health support was desperately needed in the community.

Now that the decision has been made to reduce the number of rebated sessions to 10 per calendar year, it's worth discussing with your psychologist what an optimal frequency for appointments will be. Many people who saw a psychologist for the first time in the past three years will have been used to receiving 20 rebated sessions each calendar year and so may have to adjust the frequency of sessions so as not to run out of rebated sessions before the end of the year.

Click here for more information on the recent changes to the number of sessions rebated each year.

Virtual Screening of How to Thrive Documentary

There will be a virtual screening of How to Thrive, the documentary that Chris was involved in filming for over two years.

The documentary has received widespread positive reviews following a series of premiere screenings throughout Australia at the end of last year.

Those who haven't seen the documentary will have their chance on Tuesday, the 17th of January 2023, at 7pm.

Use code THRIVETRIBE for 50% off tickets.

Click here to watch the trailer for How to Thrive

Click here for tickets to the virtual screening on Tuesday 17 January at 7pm.

The Coincidence Project Launches New Website

The Coincidence Project, an international organisation of which Chris sits on the board, has recently launched their website.

The Coincidence Project is a global non-profit founded to encourage people to share their stories of synchronicity and meaningful coincidences. The Coincidence Project involves a cohort of “Coincidence Ambassadors” – writers, researchers, therapists and other professionals with a deep background in the experience and study of coincidence, synchronicity and serendipity.

There will also be a Launch Party for The Coincidence Project that will take place on Zoom at 3am AEDT on the 19th of February 2023. It will be the first of many events associated with The Coincidence Project, including many that will be more convenient to Australian timezones.

Click here for The Coincidence Project's new website
Click here for the details of The Coincidence Project's Launch Party

The practice opinion pieces for the Geelong Advertiser continue on Mondays monthly.

The most recent article was: Powerful Connection - January 16

It can be a powerful experience for people to feel a real-life connection with a deceased loved one. Sadly, this experience can be too readily pathologized. This article discusses the mental health benefits of openly talking about our experiences, even if they are a bit spooky or seem strange.

The previous article was: Cut Not Right Move - December 19

An article about the recent changes made to the Medicare Better Access scheme, which grants access to rebated sessions for psychological therapy. Our practice contributed to the report that was used to show the effectiveness of the scheme.

This article, along with many more, can be read here on our website or via our Facebook Page

The practice podcast, Psych Spiels and Silver Linings has continued to release fortnightly episodes.

We have been busy since our last newsletter, having released three episodes in that time.

In Benefits of Sharing Sacred Stories, Chris and Rowan discuss how we can benefit our well-being by sharing our most meaningful experiences, even if they can’t be explained rationally.

Over many years, Chris has heard clients sharing their personal stories and seen how they’ve gained personal meaning from those experiences. This is despite, at times, wondering if they are psychotic due to the strange nature of these stories. In this episode, we discuss what we can get from acknowledging and sharing these experiences.

The previous episode was called The Satisfaction of Spectator Sport, in that episode, Rowan took the lead and spoke about what he gets out of following sport and why it's worth following elite sport, even if you're not not very good at playing that game yourself. Most of the benefits that people speak of in relation to spectator sport relate to doing more sport yourself, but in this episode, we look at what you can get out of being a spectator of elite sport.

We also released the episode, Monitoring and Measuring to Promote Positive Change, where we discussed the idea that ‘what we monitor will change’ and how this relates to therapy and performance.

We look at how we can use different measurements in therapy to get a more objective sense of how therapy works. Plus, we look at how we can use these ideas to boost performance in other areas of our life.

You can listen to the podcast on your favourite podcast player or at psychspiels.com.au

If you've enjoyed the podcast, we would really appreciate it if you could rate and review and share the podcast with a friend as this will extend the reach to others who may benefit.