For athletes of any age and level, their parents and their clubs. Neuropsychological assessment and recovery support after concussion, sleep for training and recovery, and psychological care for the pressures, setbacks and transitions of sport. We work within your doctor-led team.
Recently concussed? Our concussion page covers the urgent-care signs and the first weeks of recovery.
Refer when recovery after concussion is complex or slow, when you want a cognitive and psychological picture to inform a return-to-play decision, or when sleep, mood or pressure is affecting an athlete's training or performance. The report returns to you.
Private, or Medicare Better Access for psychological treatment with a mental health treatment plan. WorkCover Queensland and motor accident insurers where an injury is covered.
Online referral form or email. For concussion, include the date and mechanism of injury, previous concussions, the sport and level, the question you want answered and the funding source. Every referral is acknowledged on receipt.
Not an emergency or sideline service: if a concussion has just happened, the urgent-care signs are on our concussion page. Not a return-to-play certificate on its own: clearance is a medical decision. Not sports medicine or physiotherapy, which lead where neck, balance or exercise tolerance are the main problem. And not an endorsed sport and exercise psychology service: Elie Walsh is a psychologist and clinical neuropsychology registrar who works with athletes, within a team of clinical neuropsychologists.
The sport and level, training load, injury and concussion history, sleep, mood and pressure, and what the athlete wants to get back to. It ends with an explanation and a first plan.
After concussion, standardised assessment of attention, memory, processing speed and thinking, paced around symptoms, with the factors that shape the picture weighed in: sleep, mood, fatigue, pain and medication. Testing is never used alone to diagnose concussion or to clear a return to sport.
Cognitive behavioural strategies for worry, low mood and symptom-related distress; sleep timing and routines; a graded return to school, work and training agreed with the treating doctor; and psychological skills for training and competition, attention under pressure, routines, confidence and recovery from setbacks.
Progress checked at agreed points. A plain-language letter or report to the treating doctor and, with consent, the club, and a written plan for what to do if symptoms return or after a future head knock.
Elie Walsh's practice centres on athletes, within a team of clinical neuropsychologists. Qualifications and AHPRA registration are on the team page.
Psychologist · Clinical Neuropsychology Registrar
Doctoral research with elite Australian sporting teams on sleep, circadian health and mental health in athletes; mental health programmes delivered to young athletes, their parents and coaches; concussion and return to play. Cases are discussed with our senior clinical neuropsychologists as part of the registrar programme. Elie Walsh's profile
No referral is needed. Consultations are 50 minutes, charged at the clinician's hourly rate of $250 to $290. A neuropsychological assessment is quoted individually, with a written estimate before booking and a booking fee credited to the total. Fees and policies.
Psychological treatment is rebated under Better Access with a mental health treatment plan from your GP, paediatrician or psychiatrist. Medicare does not rebate a concussion assessment.
Where an injury is covered by WorkCover Queensland or a motor accident insurer, we invoice the insurer with the claim details.
No. Return to play is a staged medical process and the clearance decision belongs to the treating doctor. We provide the cognitive and psychological picture that informs it, and the plan for getting back to school, work and training.
We offer baseline and post-injury cognitive assessment for athletes, interpreted individually. Current guidance treats baseline testing as useful but not essential, and it is never used on its own to diagnose or manage a concussion.
That decision is made with the treating doctor. We contribute a detailed picture of thinking and mood, and support the athlete and family through it.
Yes. Pressure, confidence, concentration, setbacks and the demands of training and travel are psychological work in their own right.
Clubs can refer players in for assessment and recovery care, and we work with the club medical staff and the treating doctor. Reports go to the athlete and their nominated doctor; club access is by the athlete's explicit consent. Talk to us about arrangements for your club.
Tell us the sport, the level and what has happened. We reply within two working days with a first appointment, or with who to see first if that is not us.
Prefer to start by email? Write to enquiry at brainandmind.com.au. Referring doctor, physiotherapist or club? Make a referral. Phone enquiries are welcome during business hours on 0452 452 262.
Australian Institute of Sport, Concussion and Brain Health Position Statement; the full concussion sources are on our concussion page; MBS Online, Better Access items for psychological therapy.
