How Does a Psychologist Support NDIS Participants With Behaviours of Concern?
When a participant presents with behaviours of concern, Support Coordinators and families often ask the same question: should we refer to a psychologist, a behaviour support practitioner, or both? So how does a psychologist support NDIS participants with behaviours of concern? In short: a psychologist works with the internal experience — emotions, thoughts, trauma, mental health — that often sits beneath the behaviour. That internal work, combined with the environmental and behavioural work of Positive Behaviour Support, is often where the fullest outcomes happen.
Here's a simple guide to what NDIS psychology looks like, and when it complements behaviour support.
The Role of a Psychologist in the NDIS
A psychologist is a university-trained, AHPRA-registered clinician who provides assessment and evidence-based therapy for mental health, emotional and cognitive concerns. Within the NDIS, psychology is usually funded under Capacity Building — Improved Daily Living, and is designed to help participants build the skills, insight and regulation that support independent living.
Psychology services at Allied Health 2U are delivered in-clinic, mobile (at your home or in the community) and via telehealth — whichever works best for the participant and their support network.
How Psychology Helps With Behaviours of Concern
Behaviours of concern are rarely just behaviours — they often sit on top of emotional, cognitive or mental health factors. Psychology supports participants by:
- Providing psychological assessment to understand underlying anxiety, depression, trauma, grief or adjustment difficulties.
- For participants who intersect with the legal or justice system, we also provide forensic psychology assessments including cognitive capacity reports and expert reports for courts and tribunals.
- Delivering evidence-based therapy for emotional regulation, coping skills and cognitive strategies.
- Working with trauma responses and the behaviours that can stem from them.
- Supporting transitions — diagnosis, grief, loss of a carer, moving into SIL, ageing.
- Offering psychoeducation to the participant's family and support team about how mental health affects behaviour.
This work is collaborative, trauma-informed, and scaled to the person's communication and cognitive profile. The Australian Psychological Society has more on what evidence-based psychological therapy looks like in practice.
Psychology vs Positive Behaviour Support — What's the Difference?
Both services improve quality of life, but they focus on different layers:
- Psychology focuses on the internal experience — feelings, thoughts, mental health, trauma, and the coping strategies a person uses to navigate them.
- Positive Behaviour Support focuses on the external — understanding and shaping behaviour in the person's environment, through strategies the whole support team can implement consistently.
A Behaviour Support Practitioner looks at why a behaviour is happening in terms of function and environment. A psychologist looks at what the person is experiencing underneath it. Both are valuable; they answer different questions.
When Psychology and Behaviour Support Work Together
For many participants with behaviours of concern, the most effective approach is integrated — psychology and PBS running in parallel, informing each other.
A typical integrated presentation looks like this: Positive Behaviour Support assessments identify environmental triggers and teach the support team practical strategies, while psychology addresses trauma responses or emotional regulation that behaviour support on its own can't reach. When both sides are aligned, progress is usually faster and more durable.
Where a participant is on psychotropic medication, psychology can also support the person's internal experience during medication reduction, alongside the PBS practitioner and prescribing clinician.
How to Refer an NDIS Participant for Psychology
Referral is straightforward:
- Check the participant's plan for Capacity Building — Improved Daily Living funding (or Improved Relationships in some cases).
- Contact our team with the participant's goals, any existing reports, and Support Coordinator details.
- AH2U will match the participant with a suitable psychologist, confirm delivery mode (in-clinic, mobile or telehealth), and start sessions.
Need a psychologist for an NDIS participant? AH2U provides clinic-based, mobile and telehealth psychology across Greater Sydney, Illawarra and the Central Coast. Call 1300 24 2428.
Positive Behaviour Support
