Practical, person-centred support for mental-health recovery and everyday life

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching provides practical, recovery-oriented support for people living with psychosocial disability, ongoing mental-health challenges or barriers that affect everyday life.

At Pop’In Health & Recovery, we recognise that recovery is personal and does not always follow a straight path. Our role is to work alongside you, understand what matters to you and help turn your goals into realistic, manageable actions.

Support is shaped around your strengths, preferences, circumstances and pace. You remain at the centre of decisions about your recovery, services and future.

What Is Psychosocial Recovery Coaching?

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching is an individualised service that helps people strengthen their ability to manage the practical effects of mental-health challenges.

Recovery Coaching may support you to:

• Understand your strengths, needs and priorities

• Identify meaningful personal goals

• Build routines and practical strategies

• Recognise barriers affecting your recovery

• Strengthen confidence and self-advocacy

• Prepare for appointments and important meetings

• Connect with suitable health, disability and community services

• Understand and implement relevant parts of your NDIS plan

• Develop recovery, wellness and relapse-prevention strategies

• Build greater independence and control over everyday life

The service is not based on a fixed program. Your support is adapted to your goals, current circumstances and what is most useful to you.

Who May Benefit From Recovery Coaching?

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching may be suitable for people who:

• Live with psychosocial disability

• Experience ongoing mental-health challenges

• Have difficulty maintaining routines or appointments

• Feel overwhelmed navigating services

• Want practical support to work toward recovery goals

• Need help understanding and implementing an NDIS plan

• Are preparing for a change in services, housing, work or education

• Want to strengthen communication and self-advocacy skills

• Need support coordinating mental-health, disability and community services

• Want to build confidence managing their own recovery

• Have experienced repeated disruptions in treatment or support

• Need help turning professional recommendations into practical actions

You do not need to have every aspect of your recovery worked out before beginning. The first stage of support can focus on understanding what is happening now and identifying where to start.

What We Can Help With

Recovery Goals and Personal Priorities

Your recovery coach can help you identify what matters most to you and break larger goals into practical, achievable steps.

Goals may relate to:

• Health and emotional wellbeing

• Daily routines

• Relationships

• Housing

• Community participation

• Education

• Employment

• Independence

• Confidence

• Managing services

• Reconnecting with meaningful activities

Building Sustainable Routines

Mental-health challenges can make everyday routines difficult to establish or maintain.

Support may include developing practical systems for:

• Sleep and morning routines

• Attending appointments

• Remembering agreed tasks

• Meal planning

• Household responsibilities

• Exercise and movement

• Community participation

• Managing paperwork

• Responding to correspondence

• Maintaining contact with services

Appointment Preparation

Your recovery coach can help you prepare for healthcare appointments, NDIS meetings and service reviews.

This may include:

• Identifying the main issues you want to discuss

• Organising relevant information

• Preparing questions

• Summarising changes since your last appointment

• Clarifying your goals and preferences

• Identifying practical barriers to treatment

• Planning how you will follow through afterward

Practical Follow-Through

Understanding a recommendation is not always the same as being able to put it into practice.

Recovery Coaching may help you:

• Organise follow-up appointments

• Create reminders

• Develop manageable routines

• Understand agreed instructions

• Communicate with providers

• Track concerns or progress

• Identify barriers early

• Ask for clarification where needed

Your recovery coach does not change clinical instructions. Their role is to help you understand and practically implement the agreed plan.

Service Navigation

Recovery Coaching may include support to understand and connect with:

• General practices

• Nurse practitioner services

• Psychology

• Psychiatry

• Allied-health services

• Community mental-health services

• NDIS providers

• Housing services

• Employment and education services

• Peer-support services

• Social and community programs

Self-Advocacy and Communication

Support can focus on helping you communicate your needs, choices and concerns more confidently.

This may include:

• Preparing for difficult conversations

• Understanding your rights

• Expressing preferences

• Asking questions

• Raising service concerns

• Setting boundaries

• Participating in care-planning discussions

• Making informed decisions

Recovery, Wellness and Relapse-Prevention Planning

Your recovery coach may work with you to develop practical plans that support stability and early intervention.

Depending on your needs, this may include:

• A personal recovery plan

• A wellness plan

• A relapse-prevention plan

• An early-warning-sign plan

• A psychosocial crisis or safety plan

• A plan for maintaining important routines

• A communication plan for family or providers

• A step-by-step plan for periods of increased stress

These plans are developed with you and reflect your own experiences, preferences and support network.

A psychosocial safety or crisis plan does not replace professional clinical assessment, emergency care or a formal mental-health treatment plan.

How the Service Is Provided

1. Initial Enquiry and Intake

The first step is to understand why you are seeking support, what is happening in your life and whether Psychosocial Recovery Coaching is the most appropriate service.

You may be asked about:

• Your current goals

• Mental-health and recovery needs

• NDIS plan and funding arrangements

• Current providers

• Existing clinical supports

• Communication preferences

• Risks or urgent concerns

• Any barriers affecting your participation

2. Understanding Your Current Situation

During the initial sessions, your recovery coach will work with you to understand:

• What is currently going well

• What has become difficult

• Your strengths and existing strategies

• Important relationships and supports

• Your daily routines

• Your current services

• What you would like to change

• What may be getting in the way

3. Agreeing on Goals and Priorities

Together, you and your recovery coach will identify realistic priorities.

You will not be expected to work on everything at once. Goals can be reviewed and changed as your circumstances change.

4. Developing a Support Approach

Your support approach may include:

• Regular coaching sessions

• Recovery planning

• Appointment preparation

• Service coordination

• Skills development

• Practical goal tracking

• Communication with agreed providers

• Progress reviews

• Written plans or summaries

5. Regular Recovery Coaching Sessions

Sessions may take place weekly, fortnightly, monthly or at another agreed frequency.

The frequency may change depending on:

• Your goals

• Current needs

• Available funding

• Risk and stability

• Upcoming appointments or reviews

• Your progress

• Your preference

6. Reviewing Progress

Your recovery coach will regularly review:

• What has changed

• What strategies are helping

• What barriers remain

• Whether goals are still relevant

• Whether the support frequency remains appropriate

• Whether another service should be involved

7. Transitioning or Completing Support

Recovery Coaching may reduce or finish when:

• You feel more confident managing your recovery

• Your goals have been achieved

• Another service is more appropriate

• Your funding changes

• You choose to end the service

• The service is no longer providing meaningful benefit

Where possible, completion of the service will include a clear transition or follow-up plan.

What a Recovery Coaching Session May Look Like

A session may involve:

• Reviewing how things have been since the last appointment

• Discussing current challenges

• Identifying progress

• Updating goals

• Planning upcoming appointments

• Developing practical routines

• Working through a service problem

• Preparing questions for a health professional

• Reviewing an NDIS plan or service agreement

• Developing a wellness or relapse-prevention strategy

• Practising communication or self-advocacy

• Identifying the next small steps

• Recording agreed actions

Sessions are intended to be collaborative rather than directive. Your recovery coach will provide structure, practical assistance and guidance while supporting you to make your own informed decisions.

NDIS-Funded Recovery Coaching

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching may be funded through an NDIS plan where the participant has suitable funding and the service relates to their disability-support needs and plan goals.

Before services begin, we may need to confirm:

• Your NDIS plan dates

• Your plan-management type

• Relevant available funding

• Your stated goals

• Whether the proposed support is appropriate for the funding category

• Plan manager details

• Nominee or representative details

• Any existing Recovery Coach or Support Coordinator

• Whether a service agreement is required

Having an NDIS plan does not automatically mean that every activity can be billed to the NDIS.

Services will only be charged where they are:

• Agreed with you

• Relevant to your goals

• Permitted by your funding arrangement

• Actually provided

• Appropriately documented

Private Recovery Coaching

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching may also be available privately for people who:

• Do not have an NDIS plan

• Do not have appropriate NDIS funding

• Prefer to pay privately

• Are waiting for an NDIS decision

• Want practical recovery support outside an NDIS arrangement

Private fees, appointment lengths and cancellation conditions will be explained before services begin.

Recovery Coaching and Support Coordination

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching and Support Coordination can overlap in some areas, but they are not exactly the same service.

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching Focuses On

• Personal recovery

• Confidence

• Routines

• Self-management

• Practical strategies

• Psychosocial barriers

• Building independence

• Recovery and wellness planning

• Strengthening self-advocacy

Support Coordination Focuses On

• Understanding and implementing the NDIS plan

• Establishing services

• Researching providers

• Reviewing service options

• Coordinating provider communication

• Monitoring service delivery and budgets

• Resolving service problems

• Preparing for plan reviews or reassessments

Where both services are involved, roles will be agreed with you to avoid unnecessary duplication.

Working With Your Healthcare Team

Pop’In Health & Recovery aims to support coordinated care while respecting your privacy and choices.

With your informed consent, your recovery coach may communicate relevant information to:

• Your nurse practitioner

• GP or general practice

• Psychologist

• Psychiatrist

• Allied-health professionals

• Community mental-health services

• NDIS providers

• Support Coordinator

• Plan manager

• Family, nominee or chosen support person

Only information that is relevant, authorised and reasonably necessary should be shared.

You can withdraw or change your consent to information sharing, subject to any legal or immediate safety obligations.

Connected Nurse Practitioner and Recovery Support

Some people benefit from both clinical healthcare and practical recovery support.

Through Pop’In Health & Recovery, you may choose to access nurse practitioner services and Psychosocial Recovery Coaching separately or together.

Where you consent to coordinated support:

• The nurse practitioner conducts independent clinical assessment

• The nurse practitioner remains responsible for diagnosis and treatment

• The nurse practitioner makes all prescribing and investigation decisions

• Your recovery coach helps with practical implementation

• Each practitioner keeps their own professional records

• Each service has its own appointment and fee

• Only relevant information is shared

• Recovery Coaching is not compulsory to access clinical care

Your recovery coach does not diagnose, prescribe medication or alter clinical treatment instructions.

Telehealth and Face-to-Face Support

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching may be provided through:

• Telehealth

• Telephone

• Face-to-face appointments

• Community-based appointments

• Agreed meetings with other providers

• Case conferences

• A combination of these methods

The available format will depend on:

• Your location

• Your preferences

• Safety

• Accessibility

• Service availability

• Funding arrangements

• The purpose of the appointment

Telehealth can be suitable for planning, check-ins, service navigation, reviewing goals and preparing for appointments.

Face-to-face support may be recommended where practical skill development, community access or in-person engagement would be more helpful.

Non-Face-to-Face Work, Reports and Travel

Some Recovery Coaching work may occur outside a direct appointment.

This may include:

• Contacting agreed providers

• Preparing a recovery plan

• Reviewing relevant documents

• Completing progress notes

• Preparing an NDIS report

• Participating in a case conference

• Coordinating agreed follow-up

• Preparing resources requested during a session

Non-face-to-face work, reports and travel will only be charged where:

• It has been explained

• It has been agreed

• It is relevant to your goals

• It is allowed under the funding arrangement

• The activity is documented

What Psychosocial Recovery Coaching Does Not Provide

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching does not include:

• Medical diagnosis

• Prescribing medication

• Changing medication doses

• Providing clinical medical advice

• Replacing a GP, nurse practitioner, psychologist or psychiatrist

• Medicare Mental Health Treatment Plans

• Specialist psychological assessment

• Formal psychotherapy unless separately provided by an appropriately qualified professional

• Specialist behaviour support

• Authorising restrictive practices

• Legal advice

• Financial advice

• Independent medical examinations

• Medical certificates

• Medico-legal reports

• Guaranteed NDIS funding or plan outcomes

• A 24-hour crisis-response service

Your recovery coach may help you connect with an appropriate clinical or specialist service when your needs fall outside the Recovery Coaching role.

When Recovery Coaching May Not Be Appropriate

Recovery Coaching may not be the right service where:

• Immediate emergency intervention is required

• The person requires urgent medical assessment

• The primary need is diagnosis or clinical treatment

• The person requires inpatient care

• The person requires specialist behaviour support

• The requested service is outside the practitioner’s qualifications or insurance

• The service would duplicate another provider’s work

• Funding does not permit the requested activity

• A safe and workable service arrangement cannot be established

Where possible, we will explain the concern and suggest a more appropriate pathway.

When to Seek Immediate Help

Pop’In Health & Recovery is not an emergency or 24-hour crisis service.

Call 000 or attend the nearest emergency department if you or another person is experiencing:

• Immediate risk of suicide or serious self-harm

• Severe psychosis or mania

• Serious aggression or violence

• Loss of consciousness

• Severe injury

• A life-threatening medical emergency

• Any rapidly worsening or dangerous situation

Do not use the online booking or referral form for urgent assistance.

Preparing for Your First Appointment

It may be helpful to have the following available:

• Your NDIS plan, where relevant

• Your current goals

• Details of current providers

• Information about current supports

• Important upcoming appointments

• Any recent reports

• Your preferred communication method

• Details of a nominee or representative

• A list of current concerns

• Examples of situations you would like help with

• Questions about the service

You do not need to prepare everything perfectly. Your recovery coach can help organise the information with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an NDIS plan?

No. Psychosocial Recovery Coaching may be accessed through suitable NDIS funding or paid for privately.

Do I need a mental-health diagnosis?

A formal diagnosis may be relevant to an NDIS arrangement or another service, but you can still enquire about private Recovery Coaching without having every diagnosis or document finalised.

Is Recovery Coaching the same as counselling?

No. Recovery Coaching is primarily practical, goal-directed and focused on everyday recovery, routines, independence and service navigation.

You may discuss emotions and experiences, but Recovery Coaching is not a replacement for clinical counselling, psychology or psychiatry.

Can my recovery coach attend appointments with me?

This may be possible where it is agreed, appropriate, funded and helpful.

Support may include preparing beforehand, attending with you or helping you understand and implement the agreed next steps afterward.

Can my recovery coach speak with my providers?

Yes, with your informed consent.

Communication will be limited to relevant information and the agreed purpose.

Can I choose my own goals?

Yes. Your goals and preferences are central to the service.

Your recovery coach may help you make goals clearer or more manageable, but they should not impose goals on you.

How often are sessions?

The frequency is agreed with you and may depend on your needs, goals, funding, availability and current circumstances.

Sessions may be weekly, fortnightly, monthly or arranged around specific needs.

Can Recovery Coaching help with my NDIS plan?

Yes. Recovery Coaching may help you understand your goals, use relevant supports, communicate with providers and build confidence managing your recovery.

More complex plan implementation or provider coordination may be provided through Support Coordination.

Can I use Recovery Coaching without seeing the nurse practitioner?

Yes. Psychosocial Recovery Coaching can be accessed independently.

You are not required to use clinical services to receive Recovery Coaching.

Can I see the nurse practitioner without using Recovery Coaching?

Yes. Clinical care is available independently and is not conditional on purchasing Recovery Coaching or another service.

Will my information automatically be shared within the clinic?

No. Relevant information is only shared where you have provided consent or where disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law.

Can you guarantee an NDIS plan change or additional funding?

No. We can provide support, reports and relevant information where appropriate, but decisions about NDIS funding are made by the NDIA.

Can my family or support person be involved?

Yes, where you want them involved and appropriate consent or authority is in place.

Can services be provided by telehealth?

Yes. Many Recovery Coaching activities can be provided through telehealth or telephone.

Face-to-face support may also be available depending on location, suitability and funding.

What happens if Recovery Coaching is not the right service?

We will explain the limitation and, where possible, suggest another appropriate health, disability, community or emergency pathway.

Book a Psychosocial Recovery Coaching Appointment

Book an initial Recovery Coaching appointment when you would like practical support with mental-health recovery, routines, appointments, service navigation, confidence or personal goals.

The first appointment will focus on understanding your current circumstances, priorities and whether Psychosocial Recovery Coaching is the most appropriate service.

Important Booking Notice

Booking an appointment does not guarantee that the service will be suitable, NDIS-funded or able to provide every form of support requested.

Service suitability, funding arrangements, professional boundaries, fees and next steps will be discussed during the intake process.