PECS OVERVIEW

Psychological and Educational Consultancy Services (PECS: established 1999), as its name suggests, is a consultancy service which conducts psychological and educational assessments for both children and adults, and provides appropriate intervention relative to the outcome of the assessment, or as requested by the referring health professional.

PECS currently receives the majority of its referrals from the medical fraternity (e.g., Paediatricians, Psychiatrists, General Practitioners), educational domain (e.g., School Psychologists, Teachers) and family network (e.g., parents, spouses).

Academic Qualifications

PECS’ director and sole practitioner, Dr Shane Langsford, completed a PhD and First Class Honours in Educational Psychology at the University of Western Australia, therefore, all referred clients are ensured of being seen by a highly qualified and experienced Registered Psychologist.

Due to the nature of Dr Langsford’s PhD thesis, he has an excellent appreciation of a large number of psychological/psychiatric disorders, as well as the associated differential diagnosis and comorbidity implications.

Dr Langsford completed a Diploma in Education majoring in School Psychology and worked for the Department of Education for 2 years thus providing him with the imperative background of what is required within the school domain.

As part of the Diploma in Education, Dr Langsford completed a minor in Personal and Vocational Education which has given him a strong background in vocational guidance and occupational counselling.

Dr Langsford also completed a Bachelor of Science at UWA, majoring in Human Movement & Exercise Science, therefore he also has a strong academic background and appreciation for the positive benefits to an individual’s health and well-being that exercise and nutrition can provide.

Training

Dr Langsford has been extensively trained in a variety of counselling techniques (e.g., Solution Focus, Brief Strategic Therapy, Play Therapy) and recently completed the Workshop on Advanced CBT Training delivered by the Australian Psychological Society.

Please click here for a copy of Dr Langsford’s curriculum vitae.

Assessment Services

PECS conducts assessments for a wide range of disorders and has at its disposal a test library containing in excess of 150 assessment tools.

PECS encourages referring professionals to request specific assessment tools and intervention methods in accordance to their preferences.

PECS' Managing Director, Dr Shane Langsford, is the chief author of the Child & Adolescent PsychProfiler (ACER, 2007) and the Adult PsychProfiler (ACER, 2007) and continues to utilise it for all assessments.

PECS encourages current or former clients to contact them for advice or follow-up information, free of charge.

Reports

At the conclusion of either a brief or comprehensive assessment, PECS provides a report detailing specific recommendations.

At the conclusion of a comprehensive assessment, a full report is written, for which the charge does not exceed 3 hours regardless of the time it took to compile.

Fees

Although the Australian Psychological Society’s Recommended Fee for the 2007/2008 financial year is $192 per hour, accounts settled at the completion of the session, or assessment, receive a prompt payment discount.

Many of PECS’ assessments are provided at a predetermined set fee to ensure that clients are aware of the total cost to be incurred.

Services provided by PECS attract a rebate from almost all Private Health Insurers and are rebatable through Medicare under the Medicare Plus programme.

PECS allows clients to pay their accounts in instalments if in financial difficulty.