Referring to HeadwayHealth

We welcome enquiries about how our service may be able to assist you in your care of your clients. If you would like to discuss our service please call our our friendly practice on (02) 9453 3027, or if you would like to discuss a specific situation, please ask to speak directly with Dr. Hodgkinson or one of our clinicians.

HeadwayHealth is keen to talk with health professionals who share our passion for client care, so please contact Dr Katharine Hodgkinson if you would like to find out more.

Clients can refer themselves by contacting our service directly or health professionals can facilitate contact by completing our Online referral form.

Information on accessing services through Medicare MBS

Medicare Referral Requirements   – To be eligible to receive a Medicare rebate for consultations with a psychologist you will need to ask your GP if you are eligible for a referral letter and a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP); a MHTP is a plan created by you and your GP to provide treatment to assist you.  This plan allows for 10 rebates for consultations per calendar year; your GP will usually refer you for six consultations initially and you will need to book in with them again for a ‘review’ if you are seeking another course of treatment.  Your psychologist will need to communicate/write to your GP and keep records, and will seek your consent regarding confidentiality and communication requirements. If you choose to access a psychologist without a referral you can be billed privately or use private insurance cover (please check your entitlements as policies vary).  Relationship counselling is not covered and needs to be privately billed or provided by an alternative service. 

It is necessary for GPs to create a MHTP and provide a referral letter if accessing Medicare, it is optional and helpful, but not required, to provide us with a copy of your MHTP.  So that we can provide a Medicare rebate for your appointment, it is a Medicare requirement that we have a copy of a referral letter for each course of treatment from your GP.  For the referral letter to be valid and meet Medicare requirements, it must contain the following: 

• Date 
• Patient’s name and date of birth 
• Patient’s address 
• An eligible mental health diagnosis (such as anxiety, adjustment disorder or depression, not ‘counselling’ or ‘stress’)
• A request for the psychologist to provide services to the client 
• The referring GP’s Medicare Provider Number and signature 
• The number of consultations that you are being referred for in a course of treatment

It is helpful to ask the reception staff at the GP practice if you need to book a longer appointment with your GP to complete the above paperwork.

Ordering Flyers and Tip Sheets

Please contact us if you would like multiple copies of flyers and resources or click here to use our order form.

Intimacy & Sexual Health Clinic at HeadwayHealth (Flyer)

Clinical Psychology Services at SAH Wahroonga (Flyer)

Strategies for Managing Offers of Support (Tip Sheet)

Communicating Effectively with Your Health Care Team (Tip Sheet)

Emotional Side Effects – Brain Cancer (Tip Sheet)

Research Measures: Assessing Unmet Supportive Care Needs in Cancer Care – The CaSUN and CaSPUN

Dr. Hodgkinson and colleagues developed two empirically validated tools to assess unmet supportive care needs in cancer survivors and their partners, the Cancer Survivors’ Unmet Needs Measure (CaSUN) and the Cancer Survivors Partners Unmet Needs Measure (CaSPUN). 

 The measures are being used in internationally in research studies and cancer care centres. The CaSUN research paper is considered a high‑impact, field‑defining measure with 300 plus citations (Scopus, September 2026), and one of the most influential supportive‑care needs instruments over the past two decades. The CaSPUN has a moderate citation impact (≈80–120 citations, Scopus Sept 2026) and is a recognised partner‑needs measure in psycho‑oncology research; its smaller impact reach which may be reflective of the comparatively smaller volume of research focused on partners and loved ones affected by cancer.

The measure:  

The CASUN questionnaire

The CaSPUN questionnaire

Manual for the CASUN and CaSPUN questionnaires

Please contact Dr. Hodgkinson for permission for use in both clinical and research settings via [email protected].

International translations:  As of 2026, the CaSUN has published translations in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Dutch, Spanish, Persian and Turkish, with emerging non‑validated adaptations in Thai, Malay, Portuguese and Hindi. Enquiries have also been received to translate the measures into Swedish, Greek and Icelandic languages, and permission has been granted to use the measures in Holland, Canada, America, Australia, Taiwan, England, Wales, Ireland, Singapore, India, France, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Multi-media resources

A number of the clinicians who practice with HeadwayHealth have widely recognised skills in the provision of health care, and have been invited to contribute to projects over the years to assist patients and health professionals, and a snap-shot of some of these is provided below:

Encouraging psycho-oncology referrals in your clinic. 2021.  https://melanomaeducation.org.au/courses/melanoma119/  This session is part of a series of short educational videos developed by Melanoma Institute Australia to help equip clinicians to screen, assess and intervene with patients experiencing distress; the videos are available on the MIA clinician-only portal.

• Hodgkinson K. 2016. Psycho-oncology/communication, Malignant Breast Disease and MDTs [E-learning Lecturette], Graduate Certificate of Surgery, University of Sydney.
• Hodgkinson K. 2014. Cancer: Addressing Sexuality and Body Image [Video Learning Activity]. Ausmed Education.
• Hodgkinson K. 2014. Cancer: The Psychosocial Impact Across the Disease Continuum [Video Learning Activity]. Ausmed Education.
• Hodgkinson K, Van Lloy R. 2014. Cancer: Talking to Children About a Parent or Guardian’s Cancer Diagnosis [Video Learning Activity]. Ausmed Education.

Selected invited presentations

• Hodgkinson K, Pallay P. Annual guest lecturer, Masters in Clinical Psychology, University of Technology Sydney.
• Hodgkinson K. Guest Lecturer, Graduate Medical Program, Sydney Adventist Hospital Clinical School.
• Hodgkinson K. In‑services for staff on the Oncology Ward and Day Infusion Service, Sydney Adventist Hospital, GenesisCare sites and other hospitals on request.
• Hodgkinson K, Jones J. 2025. Addressing intimacy in the context of cancer.. Cancer Conference, SAH, Wahroonga.
• Hodgkinson K. 2023. Contributing To The Team Care of Those With Life Limiting Illness. Palliative care nursing and allied health, Northern Area Sydney.
• Hodgkinson K. 2021. Strategies to support the emotional care of our cancer patients and their families. 1.5 hour Seminar to Cancer Support Professionals, Sydney Adventist Hospital Wahroonga.
• Hodgkinson K. 2021. Supporting melanoma patients: a cause for optimism.  Invited speaker, Australasian Melanoma Conference.
• Hodgkinson K. Medd J. 2019. Sex talk: facilitating communication about desire in couples and singles after cancer. Cancer Survivorship Conference, COSA Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA), Sydney.
• Hodgkinson K. 2019. Managing fears of cancer recurrence: ConquerFear. Staff in-service, Northern Cancer Institute, St Leonards and Frenchs Forest, NSW.
• Hodgkinson K. 2016. Adapting clinical skills to work with people affected by cancer. Australian Psychological Society, South Australian Clinical College Seminar Program.
• Hodgkinson K. 2016. Offering interventions to assist with the emotional impact of cancer. Ausmed Cancer and Women Nursing Conference, Sydney.

HeadwayHealth provides education and training to health professionals across oncology, psychology, nursing, and general practice. We value meeting with fellow health professionals and our referrers, so please contact HeadwayHealth to organise how we can best connect. Past topics have included:

• Assessment and communication skills
• Providing psychological interventions to patients and families
• Making effective referrals
• Self‑care and wellbeing for clinicians
• Addressing intimacy and sexuality in healthcare
• Supporting families and partners through illness

Funded Professional Development for Health Professionals

• Boyle F, O-Reilly M, Hodgkinson K. 2019. The provision of training and education to oncology staff on the assessment and provision of psychological support to assist wellbeing and manage psychological distress in patients. Supported by The Friends of the Mater Hospital, North Sydney.
• Hodgkinson K. 2018. Lead Site Investigator, Sydney Adventist Hospital. The ADAPT Program to support the management of anxiety and depression in cancer patients: a cluster randomised trial to compare different implementation strategies of the Clinical Pathway for Screening, Assessment and Management of Anxiety and Depression in Adult Cancer Patients. Supported by The Sydney Adventist Hospital Foundation, SAH Wahroonga.

Contributions to Research 

Dr. Hodgkinson has provided consultation with the following projects:

• SexFICC (Sexual Functioning and Intimacy Concerns in Cancer Care). 2026. Project leads: Profs. Kate White, Claudia Rutherford, Cancer Care Research Unit, University of Sydney 2026
• ADAPT Anxiety and Depression Clinical Pathway. 2000. Site Coordinator SAH Wahroonga, University of Sydney.
• Multiple perspectives on sexuality and Intimacy post‑cancer, leading to the development and evaluation of supportive interventions, 2009-10. Ussher J, Perz J, Gilbert E, Batt G, Sundquist K, Wain G, Kirsten L, Hobbs K. University of Western Sydney.
• Provision of Fidelity Rating for Therapist Compliance with Treatment Manual – In: The efficacy of an intervention for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among illicit drug users, 2009-10. Teesson M, Mills K, Sannibale C. ND&ARC

Supervision Available

Experienced Clinical Psychologists Avnee Lagad, Jessica Medd, Pallavi Pillay and Dr Michelle McElduff are all AHPRA Board-Approved Supervisors who provide professional clinical supervision for psychologists and other health care professionals.  All are warm and supportive clinicians who offer guidance to colleagues in the delivery of best practice care for one-off or ongoing supervision needs. They bring many years of expertise in general psychology, health care settings and cancer care, and further information is available on their profiles: Our Team – HeadWayHealth.

Appointments are available in person, or via telehealth/telephone to colleagues across Australia, and contact us to find out more.