Two services, two different approaches
Psychology focuses on what is happening inside the person. Positive Behaviour Support focuses on what is happening around them. They are different services, funded differently under the NDIS, and many people benefit from both.
“Should I be seeing a psychologist or a behaviour support practitioner?” It is one of the most common questions families, support coordinators, and participants ask. The answer depends on what the person needs.
This guide explains what each service does, when you need each, when you need both, and how the funding works.
What Does a Psychologist Do?
A psychologist works with the person directly. Their focus is on understanding and treating mental health conditions, emotional difficulties, and psychological distress.
This typically involves:
- Assessment and diagnosis of conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, or intellectual disability through standardised assessments
- Therapy through one-on-one sessions using approaches like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or trauma-informed therapies
- Cognitive and developmental assessment for intellectual disability, learning difficulties, or developmental conditions
- Crisis support during periods of acute mental health difficulty
The psychologist’s primary relationship is with the person. Sessions usually happen in a clinic or via telehealth. The work is internal: building the person’s understanding of their own thoughts, feelings, and patterns.
What Does a Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner Do?
A Positive Behaviour Support practitioner works with the person, their family, carers, support workers, and the broader environment. The focus is on understanding why behaviours of concern happen and building strategies to address the causes.
This typically involves:
- Functional behaviour assessment: observing the person across settings, interviewing the people around them, and collecting data to identify the function of behaviour
- Behaviour support plan development: a plan that includes proactive strategies, environmental changes, communication supports, skill-building goals, and reactive strategies for crisis moments
- Carer and staff training so everyone in the person’s circle delivers strategies consistently
- Implementation across settings: working in the home, school, group home, day programme, and community, not just a clinic room
- Restrictive practice reduction: developing plans to phase out restrictive practices where they are in use
The practitioner’s primary relationship extends beyond the person to the entire support system. The work is external: changing the environment, the routines, the communication supports, and the responses of the people around the person.
When Does Someone Need Psychology?
Psychology fits when the focus is the person's
internal world
A person is more likely to need psychology when:
- They have a mental health condition that needs diagnosis or ongoing therapy
- They are experiencing grief, trauma, anxiety, or depression
- They need psychological assessment for cognitive or developmental concerns
- They can engage in verbal therapy, or adapted therapy for their communication needs
- The primary concern is the person’s internal emotional state, not the behaviour of those around them
When Does Someone Need
Positive Behaviour Support?
Behaviour Support focuses on the person's
external world
A person is more likely to need Positive Behaviour Support when:
- They have behaviours of concern that affect their safety, relationships, or daily participation
- The behaviours are linked to unmet needs, environmental factors, communication barriers, or sensory processing
- Restrictive practices are being used and need to be reduced or eliminated
- Carers, support workers, or teachers need training in how to respond consistently
- The person needs support across multiple settings, not just in a therapy room
- The person has limited verbal communication and needs support through environmental and systemic changes rather than talk therapy
When Does Someone Need Both?
Often. The two services are complementary, not competing.
A person with autism might see a psychologist for anxiety management while a Positive Behaviour Support practitioner works with the group home staff on environmental strategies that reduce the triggers for that anxiety. A child might have therapy sessions with a psychologist for trauma recovery while a Positive Behaviour Support practitioner trains school staff on de-escalation strategies and sensory accommodations.
When both services are involved, coordination matters. The psychologist and the behaviour support practitioner need to communicate so their approaches align rather than contradict each other.
At Optimum Health Solutions, our Positive Behaviour Support practitioners work alongside our broader allied health team. If someone we support also needs psychology, we can coordinate with their psychologist to keep the approach consistent. Where we do not provide the service directly, we can refer to trusted providers.
How You Can Fund
Positive Behaviour Support
Positive Behaviour Support Funding
Positive Behaviour Support is funded under the NDIS, typically through Improved Relationships (Support Category 12) or Improved Daily Living (Support Category 15). It covers functional behaviour assessments, plan development, implementation, and carer training. A participant can have funding for both psychology and Positive Behaviour Support in the same plan. They are separate line items with separate budgets, and having one does not affect eligibility for the other.
Our Positive Behaviour Support
Team Is Ready to Help
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Positive Behaviour Support and psychology?
Psychology focuses on the person’s internal mental health through assessment, diagnosis, and therapy. Positive Behaviour Support focuses on the external environment, understanding why behaviours of concern happen and building strategies that involve environmental changes, communication supports, skill building, and carer training. They are complementary services, not alternatives.
Can someone have both a psychologist and a behaviour support practitioner?
Yes. Many people benefit from both services at the same time. Psychology addresses mental health and emotional wellbeing through therapy. Positive Behaviour Support addresses behaviours of concern through environmental and systemic strategies. The two practitioners should coordinate to make sure their approaches align.
How is Positive Behaviour Support funded differently from psychology under the NDIS?
Psychology is typically funded under Improved Daily Living (Support Category 15).
Positive Behaviour Support is typically funded under Improved Relationships (Support Category 12) or Improved Daily Living. They are separate line items, and a participant can have funding for both in the same plan.
When should I choose Positive Behaviour Support over psychology?
Positive Behaviour Support is the better fit when the primary concern is behaviours of concern linked to unmet needs, environmental factors, or communication barriers. It is also the right fit when carers and staff need training, when restrictive practices are in use, or when the person needs support across multiple settings rather than one-on-one therapy in a clinic.
Does Optimum Health Solutions Offer Psychology?
No Optimum Health Solutions does not offer psychology as a service. We do however have an experienced team of Behaviour Support Practitioners, many of who have qualifications and experience in psychology.
Reviewed by rachel hardcastle (BSP)
Reviewed by rachel hardcastle (BSP)
