Our Story
Rough Patch opened its doors on Gadigal and Wangal Country in so-called Sydney in August 2020 as a grassroots initiative with a clear mission: to provide affordable, accessible mental health support to people who need it.
Based on the Hard Feelings model from Canada and founded by Clinical Psychotherapist, Amber Rules, the project emerged in response to the glaring gaps in affordable counselling and the overwhelming demand for mental health services, particularly when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
After 4 years of in-person service provision, Rough Patch has transitioned to a telehealth model. This has allowed us to expand our service nationally.
Our Impact
In the 4 years our clinic and mental health shop was open, we saved our clients almost half a million dollars and provided over 8000 low-fee counselling sessions.
We have also built a supportive, warm and collegial community for our counsellors. We believe in a symbiotic relationship where supported counsellors deliver better care, ultimately strengthening community well being.
Our Model
Rough Patch bridges the gap in mental health care, offering affordable counselling to those in need.
Our innovative social enterprise model enables therapists to do meaningful work while providing quality care on a sliding-scale fee basis. This approach ensures accessibility for clients and robust support for practitioners, creating a thriving ecosystem where both counsellors and those seeking help can flourish.
We saved our clients
We provided
At Rough Patch
Why Our Work Matters
Mental health challenges affect many Australians, with one in five experiencing difficulties annually and almost half at some point in their lives. Depression, anxiety, and substance use are the most prevalent issues, often co-occurring. Alarmingly, over half of those affected don’t seek treatment, despite its proven benefits for faster recovery and better overall health outcomes.
So what does this all mean?
Our mental health care system is strained. Psychology services often have very long waitlists while counsellors are often undervalued and underpaid. At Rough Patch, we address these challenges by providing affordable, accessible mental health care, supporting both our clients and our dedicated professionals.
Our approach aims to fill a critical gap in Australia’s mental health landscape, promoting wellbeing for all.
How it Works + Fees
Rough Patch exists to support people who can’t ordinarily afford the cost of counselling.
Our experienced, professional counsellors reduce their usual fees to provide clients with the counselling and support they need.
To keep waitlists short, clients are able to access up to 30 sessions per 12 month period. If more sessions are needed, the counsellor will work with you to find longer-term supports. This guide is to help you decide your fee for counselling at Rough Patch. Each person’s situation is unique, so this is a guide only. Your counsellor will discuss fees with you during your first session.
Together, you decide the appropriate fee for your sessions based on your circumstances.
You may fit at the lower end of the scale if...
- You frequently experiences barriers to paying for daily living costs, such as housing, food, healthcare, school or higher education, childcare, clothing and transportation
- You have high daily living costs due to family responsibilities or single income family
- You have casual or insecure employment, or no capacity to generate income
- You qualify for Centrelink assistance such as JobSeeker, Aged Care Pension, Austudy
You may fit at the higher end of the scale if...
- You live in a multiple-income household or have living arrangements which share financial burden
- You have few or no dependents
- You can consistently manage daily living costs
- You have consistent income
- You have little or no debt
- You want to support the ongoing financial viability of Rough Patch
How To Support Us
Make a
financial contribution
Donations help us grow and provide continuing care to people who need us. The simplest way to do this is with a monetary contribution which we can use to meet our specific needs – such as program development, employing staff and consultants, – as well as our day-to-day responsibilities.
Regular financial contributions mean that we can plan for staff wages, paying bills, program development and growth.
Pro-bono, consulting
and training
We’re currently seeking volunteers to assist with supervision, mental health training, grant writing, and identifying funding opportunities.
If you have experience in these areas and can donate your time, please contact us. In return for your support, you may receive discounts on our services or other benefits.
Volunteer
with Rough Patch
Share what we
do on socials
You can tell people about what we do by sharing and reposting our social media posts on your own channels and talking about what we do in the community.
If you need any extra info about what we do, get in touch so we can email you our information pack and social media tiles.
Our Advisory Committee
Rough Patch is a non-profit social enterprise, and as such, does not legally require a Board of Directors. However, in order to maintain a high quality of care, transparency and governance, we are grateful for the support and wisdom of the following people who make up our Advisory Committee.
We are always looking for talented people to support Rough Patch. If you are interested in joining our Advisory Committee, please contact us.
Amber Rules
Clinical Supervisor
Amber specialises in the support and treatment of individuals and families impacted by substance use and behavioural addictions. She manages the Community of Practice and day-to-day operations of Rough Patch.
Kelvin Wang
Certified Practising Accountant
KLW Tax
Kelvin is a business tax and accounting specialist, and the Director of KLW Group. Kelvin provides guidance for the financial management and sustainability of Rough Patch.
Amber Hopkins
Solicitor
Amber brings 14 years experience as a solicitor. She has worked in the community legal sector, and now specialises in contracts and assisting small businesses with their legal needs.
Glen Brack
Counsellor and Educator
Glen has extensive experience working in the not-for-profit, community and teaching sectors. He brings a wealth of experience in the management, governance and supervision of counselling and social justice organisations.
Dr Jadey O’Regan
Musicologist, Writer, Academic
Jadey brings 14 years experience as a lecturer, manager and researcher. She is a passionate mental health advocate, and supports the management and counsellors of Rough Patch with administrative and management advice. She is also the Counsellor Liaison Officer.
Dr Tim Byron
Music Psychologist, Writer, Academic
Tim brings 16 years experience as a psychology researcher, lecturer and writer. He advises and supports Rough Patch on research, anonymous data collection and other development strategies
Paul Andrews
Media and Communications Specialist
Paul has managed the media communications needs of some of Australia’s most trusted not-for-profit brands for more than 25 years. He supports Rough Patch with media, communications and PR advice.
Our Main Sponsors
Rough Patch couldn’t exist without the generous support of the following businesses and people, who have donated their time, resources, labour, skill and financial support to help build better mental health in our community.
KLW Group
Sydney Addictions Recovery
Love Is A Sign
Hand painted signs and design, specialising in traditional signwriting techniques.
Vu Consulting
A boutique PR and communications team of senior experts driven by impact.
Studio Together
FAQ
Booking your appointment
All potential clients are required to attend an initial intake session with a counsellor of their choice.
This session ensures that the Rough Patch approach will work best for you.
During this intake session, your counsellor will:
- Gather necessary information
- Answer any questions you have
- Make any necessary referrals
- Determine if Rough Patch is the right fit for your needs
If you or the counsellor determine that Rough Patch isn’t the best fit, they will provide alternative ideas and referrals to other services.
Initial sessions are always $70 for an individual or $80 for a couple and are non-refundable, regardless of whether you continue counselling with a Rough Patch counsellor. This fee covers the cost of the counsellor’s time, including the session itself and any additional work they do to ensure you receive appropriate referrals or support.
Take a look at our counsellor profiles here and see who might be a good fit for you.
Rough Patch offers affordable medium-term counselling and mental health services, of up to 30 sessions in a 12-month period. We do this so we can increase access for anyone who needs us without long waiting lists. You’re welcome to come back for another round of counselling after 12 months, if you like.
Medium-term counselling is a great way of getting support and looking at some of the things in your life that cause distress, worry or other difficult feelings. We can find you a counsellor who has experience working with whatever it is you want to address, including depression, anxiety, stress and worry, relationship, family and parenting difficulties, childhood issues, work and professional issues, and communication difficulties. We have counsellors who specialise in helping people who have experienced violence, sexual assault, disordered eating, and addictions in the past.
You’ll be able to do great things in 30 sessions, but might find you want to continue counselling to get even more benefit. For some people, medium-term counselling won’t be long enough to address trauma, complex issues and healing, and that’s totally normal. If this is the case for you, your counsellor will work with you to find longer-term supports.
We want to support anyone who might need us, but having said this, we aren’t a crisis centre or specialised service. We won’t be able to provide the necessary support you if you currently experience domestic violence, are having a mental health crisis, are experiencing severe substance dependency issues, or other acute crises. We will happily connect you with the places that specialise in these issues, so you can get the best possible care.
There are some people that our counsellors can’t work with – not because we don’t want to, but because we want you to have the best possible care.
If you currently experience domestic violence, are having a mental health crisis, are experiencing severe substance dependency issues, or other acute crises, we can’t provide you with the level of support you deserve. However, we will use your initial appointment to connect you with places that specialise in these issues, so you can get the best possible care.
A referral service simply means we will use our expertise and resources to connect you with another healthcare provider depending on your need. This might include speciality counselling services, GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, or other businesses and organisations that can help with counselling, advocacy, or health care.
To put it simply, all four practitioners aim to help people with emotional distress and improve mental health. However, their training and approaches differ.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who completes their training and then goes on to specialise in mental health medicine. They can diagnose mental illnesses, prescribe medication, and usually only see their patients for 30 minutes or so. Some psychiatrists are also counsellors, and see their patients once a week for a longer session, but this isn’t very common.
Psychologists complete varying degrees and can specialise in neuropsychology, forensic psychology, educational or developmental psychology, sport and exercise psychology, or counselling psychology. Sometimes, psychologists don’t see clients for counselling, but do things like psychology research or teaching. A Clinical Psychologist specialises in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues.
If you are experiencing extreme mental distress/illness and require a high level of support and mental health care, if you require any assessments or reports for criminal or family court, or generally speaking need a high level of care or specific expertise, a psychologist may be the best support for you.
Social Workers work in many different contexts, such as case work, advocacy, community work, social action, policy development, and education. Counselling Social Workers see clients for counselling, case management and advocacy and tend to be more hands-on with helping people get supports they need from government agencies such as housing, employment, disability support, etc.
Counsellors and psychotherapists have varying levels of training and approaches. Some counsellors and psychotherapists study for many years to complete Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees, and some do not have university degrees at all, although this is uncommon. Unfortunately, counselling isn’t regulated as heavily in Australia as psychiatry, psychology and social work. However, most counsellors are committed to ongoing learning and development, and have a unique approach because of their varied and eclectic training methods.
All Rough Patch counsellors are registered with a professional association, which means they are required to meet strict standards every year, including a certain amount of training, professional development, supervision and learning. They are bound by a code of conduct and ethics which they are required to uphold for their professional registration. All Rough Patch counsellors have a minimum of a Bachelors Degree in counselling or a related field.
At Rough Patch, regardless of a practitioner’s training, approach or registrations, they all work within our model and provide counselling for $70-$160 per individual session, or $80-$170 per couples/family session.
Online Counselling
Research shows that online counselling can be just as effective as in-person therapy for many issues. It offers convenience and accessibility while maintaining the quality of care.
You’ll need a device with a camera and microphone (computer, tablet, smartphone), a stable internet connection, and a private, quiet space for your sessions.
We strongly recommend using a computer wherever possible.
Your counsellor can provide technical support before and during sessions. If issues persist, we can switch to a phone session or reschedule.
Online counselling is suitable for many mental health issues. However, complex mental health experiences may require in-person treatment. We’ll assess your needs during the initial consultation and recommend the most appropriate care.
Payments
Our experienced, professional counsellors reduce their usual fees to provide clients with the counselling and support they need. In turn, Rough Patch provides professional supports to counsellors at a significantly lower rate than other clinics. This means counsellors can charge their clients less, making counselling more affordable.
To keep waitlists short, clients are able to access up to 30 sessions per 12 month period. If more sessions are needed, the counsellor will work with you to find longer-term supports.
Unfortunately, the Australian Government only offers rebates to clients of psychologists and some social workers. Our unique model does not rely on Medicare and still costs less per session than many psychologists, even after the rebate.
We currently do not have any counsellors who are registered as NDIS providers, but we’re working towards this. However, depending on your NDIS plan, you may be able to engage with an NDIS provider outside of Rough Patch who can arrange brokerage or pay for your counselling sessions through their organisation. We recommend speaking to your NDIS Support Coordinator for more details – we’re happy to liaise with them where helpful.
We currently do not have any counsellors who offer medicare rebates or bulk bill, but we’re working towards this.
Why Rough Patch is different
A social enterprise is a business that uses its revenue to improve communities, the environment or contribute positively to social wellbeing and advancement. For-profit businesses give their shareholders, including the owners, dividends of the profit made. In non-profit organisations, profits are reinvested and dividends are distributed to the community in the form of services, programs, employment and other resources. A social enterprise strengthens the community by providing a service that benefits everyone.
A non-profit social enterprise is not a registered charity. There are no tax breaks for the business, and they are not eligible for government funding in the same way charities and non-government organisations are.
At Rough Patch, we reinvest any profit back into the business to provide further affordable counselling and mental health supports to those who need us.
Traditionally, mental health services in Australia are either full-fee, for-profit businesses which charge up to $250 per hour, or free services which are funded by faith-based charities or government departments. Often, the waitlists for free services are very long, and the organisations that provide them are underfunded, overstretched, and pay their counsellors a very low wage. They are also often faith-based organisations which isn’t the right fit for many people. At the other end, for-profit businesses charge high fees which aren’t affordable for many people, and generally only attract a partial Medicare rebate for a maximum 10 sessions per year.
Rough Patch provides a solution that sits somewhere between these two extremes. By offering a service that is subsidised by sales from our shop, by revenue from training, consulting to other health practitioners, organisations and businesses, and through donations and grants, Rough Patch provides counselling that is both affordable and accessible.
Absolutely. We firmly believe that mental health care is a basic human right, not a privilege determined by citizenship status. We welcome everyone regardless of their legal standing in Australia.
Because we do not receive any government funding, your details are not recorded on any government databases and we do not share your data with any other organisations.
As with other countries around the world, many Australians experience a range of mental health difficulties.
One in five (20%) of Australians aged 16-85 experience mental health difficulties every year. (1)
The most common mental health issues are depression, anxiety, and substance use, which often occur at the same time. (1)
Almost half (45%) of Australians will experience mental health difficulties at least once in their life. (1)
Over half (54%) of people with mental illness do not access treatment. (2)
People who do access treatment recover more quickly and have better mental and physical health outcomes. (4)
Health professionals are at greater risk of anxiety, depression and suicide. (3)
Early intervention reduces suffering, improves mental and physical health outcomes, and costs less. (5)
About our Founder, Amber
Amber began her career in addiction rehabilitation settings and specialist outpatient counselling clinics in Sydney. She is the Clinical Director of Sydney Addictions Recovery, a private counselling practice which specialises in supporting individuals and families affected by addiction.
Throughout her counselling career, Amber has worked across varying counselling settings in public health, not-for-profit, and private health. While doing this work, she noticed the disparities between these differing settings, and how clients who are able to afford private counselling tend to have better access and health outcomes than those who can’t. She also observed the sacrifices counsellors in community and not-for-profit settings make in order to do their job, often being paid far less than their privately-employed counterparts. These counsellors are also expected to work very long hours, pay for their own resources and training, and receive very little support and professional development, which leads to professional burn-out, compassion fatigue, and talented people leaving the industry.
All of these disparities led Amber to find a better way of providing counselling and mental health supports which relieved publicly-funded counselling services, paid counsellors a fairer wage for their expertise, and respected both the client and the counsellors doing the essential work of self-care and growth through therapy.
With the experience and support of Kate Scowen, a Canadian social worker who founded the Hard Feelings model, Amber opened Rough Patch in July 2020. She is joined by a team of passionate counsellors, volunteers and a Board of Advisors who make Rough Patch what it is.