It's a non-descript shop front. Bare brick, large windows, Apple products on the standing desk inside the window. I've passed it hundreds, if not thousands of times as I've walked down the major thoroughfares of Richmond. I've never really thought about the building, it it's that unremarkable, situated between a barbers and a barbeque shop and down the road from a McDonalds.
Who puts a psychologist's office next to a McDonalds? I suppose it's convenient for those seeking solace in fat and sugar after coming out of a session. But I'll get to that.
On entry, I spoke to the person at the desk, paid for my session and checked they had my Medicare details. What they don't tell you about mental health plans is that your six to ten sessions with a psychologist are not free, but subsidised. Medicare pays a rebate of about $90. Most psychologists charge out at $220-250 an hour.
Yeah.
The offices of the psychologists run deep. A real rabbit warren of a building. I was shown to one of the pokiest sets of stairs that I've seen out of The Netherlands and asked to wait in the waiting area, in which there were some comfortable couches and a radio set to a banal pop station. The rooms were warm, comforting, but plain. A bit like your Nana's nursing home, just without the stale urine smell.
A few minutes later, I was greeted by my psychologist, and we started on the session.
Fifty minutes later, I reversed the procedure, carefully making my way down the pokey stairs, and with another appointment set for three weeks' time.
We didn't do any work last night, we just talked about what was going on, letting her know my story, talking about what I wanted to get from this.
She stirred up a lot of muck - stuff that I don't talk about - don't like talking about. But then again, this is why you see a psychologist. If you don't leave feeling slightly unsettled, but hopeful, then there's something not quite right. I've done enough therapy over the years to know this.
And yes, a stop at McDonalds for some nuggets occurred on the way home.
It's going to be a journey, but I'm glad that the process has started.
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