Professional Counselling
for children & parents

Call 0409-024-485

Anxiety | Depression | Low self-esteem | Sleep disorders
Social difficulties | Phobias |  School Refusal  | Behavioural problems |
Oppositional behaviour | Anger management problems | Self harm
Family conflict | Parenting difficulties | Grief and loss
Drug and alcohol | Offending behaviour |  Adjusting to parental separation/divorce

Benefits of Counselling

  • Changing a students limiting beliefs about school
  • Tools and strategies you can use right away
  • Support for parents throughout the process
  • Improved school attendance outcomes
  • Relief from depression, anxiety, addiction, loneliness
  • A clinician to coordinate a cooperative dialogue between parent, school and child
  • Evidence based therapeutic methods
  • Improved self confidence at school
  • A realistic strategy to return to healthy school attending behaviour
  • A more connected relationship to school
  • Confidentiality
  • Greater self-esteem
  • Mental and physical health benefits
  • Improved self-knowledge

John Chellew

 Clinical Social Worker & Family Therapist

John has provided evidence-based therapeutic solutions for children & adolescents for over 20 years.  Her offers regular counselling and school refusal counselling learn more

Contact John:
john@schoolrefusal.com.au  | 0409-024-485


Kerry Milligan

Educational Consultant

With over 20 years' experience teaching & training, Kerry will advocate for your child's needs at school. Kerry also supports our 'School Refusal' Professional Development training program for schools.

learn more:
- School Refusal & School liaison support
- Professional Development opportunities

We tackle kids problems head on

We're Australian Accredited Mental Health Social Workers.

General Counselling

We comprehensively screen for & treat all mental health, social and behavioural issues in children & adolescents.+ Parental support: we provide the information & skills you need to help your child.

School Refusal Counselling

We can help to resolve any underlying issues that are making school attendance difficult for your child.  Our approach includes advocacy & liaison with your school, which helps us to negotiate the perfect 'back to school plan'.

​0409024485

Jake, 7

Jake had butterflies in his belly before school. But after 3 sessions, he learned a new way to understand and manage his feelings. He's back at school and has become very good at 'catching' and talking about his butterflies with Mum.

Angela, 14

Angela 'always' felt anxious at school and prefers to stay at home. After a few sessions, and a friendly chat with the school. Angela has a 'Back To School Plan' and some tricks up her sleeve to manage her negative self-talk and panic attacks.

Jacob, 16

Jacob is often very tired before school, he plays computer games until late at night and isolates himself in class. With a shiny new alarm clock, social-skills training and some fair bed time boundaries, Jacob is less tired and has found a new friend who also likes video-games.

Treating School Refusal - with Kerry & John

In just 6 minutes, learn about the common problem of school refusal.
John & Kerry also discuss how our evidence-based model of therapy works. 

Find out if your child is school refusing.

Parents can complete this 24 question online questionnaire prior to making an appointment.  
Your child will also complete a similar survey during their first session. 

Parents are a part of the solution

Be proactive

When you notice problems that are interfering  with your child's well-being or schooling, that's your prompt to give us a call. Treatment is most effective when sought early.

30 minutes for free

 We offer a free 30 minute phone consultation.
That gets things rolling. If you then decide to make a booking,
we'll email you a free online assessment which will mean we hit the ground running in your first session.

early intervention experts

As a parent, you're best placed to notice both early and advanced indicators which may indicate an underlying mental health, social and behavioural problem.  We can help you make sense of it all.

Evidence-Based

Modern counselling is all about evidence-based solutions. Our methods are developed using leading Australian child psychiatry research. Clinical breakthrough's can occur in as few as 3 sessions, with difficult cases taking between 6 to 10 sessions.
Each session marks real progress, we don't waste your time.

ANXIETY

butterflies in the belly
to crippling panic attacks.

DEPRESSION

moodiness, irritable, fatigued, tantrums
and feelings of worthlessness.

LOW-SELF ESTEEM

Negative self-talk, ignoring achievements,
Thinking you're worse than others, rejecting compliments
sadness, angry,  ashamed.

In primary school, some students miss on average 3 weeks of school per year,
That's half a year of school by the end of year 6.

missed school days by the end of grade six
Victorian State Government - Dept. of Ed & Training (2016)

have you noticed more than 3 of the following signs?
​Signs of the home​
  • Complaints of physical symptoms when getting ready for school, e.g. headaches
  • A reluctance or refusal to get dressed for school
  • Negative comments about school
  • ​A reluctance to talk openly about their experiences at school​​

​​Signs at school​
  • Frequent and unexplained absences from school
  • Frequent lateness to school
  • Absences on significant days (e.g. assessment days or specific classes)
  • Frequent requests to go to sick bay
  • Frequent requests to call home or to go home during the day

We also offer Professional Development sessions for schools