Counselling
Counselling is the most common treatment type for clients’ who received treatment for alcohol or other drug use. Psycho-social counselling refers to evidence-informed talking therapies, aimed at helping the person develop skills (whether that be psychological skills, and/or practical skills) to reduce alcohol or other drug consumption and/or harms, in line with the person’s own goals. For more information on counselling see glossary.
In 2022–23:
- Counselling was reported as a main treatment type in 34% (79,689) of all treatment episodes.
- Over 1 in 3 (34%) episodes for people receiving treatment for their own alcohol or drug use involved counselling as the main treatment, a decline from 36% in 2021–22.
- For treatment episodes where the client received support for someone else’s drug use, more than 1 in 3 (34%) episodes involved counselling as the main treatment type, a decline from 36% in 2021–22.
- Among clients who received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, counselling as a main treatment was most commonly provided where the principal drug of concern was alcohol (41%), amphetamines (24%) or cannabis (23%) (tables Trt.3, Trt.16).
Client profile
In 2022–23, for clients whose main treatment was counselling:
- More than 3 in 5 (61%) people who received counselling for their own alcohol or drug use were male,
- More than half (53%) of people who received treatment for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were female (17% did not state their sex).
- Over half (52%) of people receiving counselling for their own alcohol or drug use were aged 20–39.
- Almost 3 in 5 (57%) people who received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use were aged 40 and over.
- Almost 1 in 5 (17%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people received treatment for their own alcohol or drug use, and 8.9% of First Nations people received counselling for someone else’s alcohol or drug use (tables SC.18–20).
Treatment profile
Counselling treatment is provided for a client’s own alcohol or drug use, as well as those who received support for someone else’s alcohol or drug use.
Over the 10-year period to 2022–23 for clients who received counselling:
- Treatment episodes for counselling were longer than all other treatment types, ranging between a median length of 52 and 71 days. In 2022–23 the median length was 67 days (over 9 weeks) (Table OV.11).
- For their own alcohol or drug use, the proportion of treatment episodes that ended within 1 month fell from 32% to 28%.
- For someone else’s alcohol or drug use, the proportion of treatment episodes ending within 1 month fell from 32% to 20%. In contrast, the proportion lasting 3 to 6 months increased from 19% in 2013–14 to 25% in 2022–23 (Table Trt.21).