Find Addiction Psychotherapists in Sydney, Australia

Addiction covers alcohol, other drugs, and behaviours such as gambling. Psychological treatment is only one part of addiction care.

Screening, brief intervention and treatment all exist for hazardous drinking ¹. Those services do not reach most of the people who need them.

Treatments used include cognitive behavioural and behavioural therapies ². Some work through a person's social network and environment.

Guidelines recommend a range of treatments for opioid dependence ³. Those include maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine, alongside psychosocial treatment and support.

Detoxification alone is not treatment ⁴. Ask a practitioner what they treat, and where they refer.

Everyone on this page describes their work as psychotherapy. A psychotherapist works through talking with you about your thoughts, feelings and behaviours ⁵.

Psychotherapy usually runs longer than counselling and aims for clinical change. It works on patterns that repeat rather than on one current problem.

A psychotherapist trains in psychological treatment rather than in medicine. What that training covers, and which approach a practitioner uses, differ between practitioners. Ask which approach a psychotherapist trained in, and how long they usually work.

Sydney Local Health District Community Mental Health Service. Phone 1800 011 511. NSW public hospital and community mental-health services are free. The service is open to the public. You reach it through the NSW Mental Health Line, which assesses you clinically and refers you on. Local catchment areas apply.

Our records name no register for the title psychotherapist in Australia. See the Australia page for the professions that do carry a register there.