Services

The full picture of care.

Comprehensive psychiatric and psychological assessment, diagnosis and treatment, the clinical foundation to holistic care. Everything else we offer is built on top of it, and reviewed against it.

Two ways in

Start with the door that fits where you are.

Most people arrive needing one of two things: treatment for a mental health condition, or support to restore and sustain wellbeing. Both are held by the same clinical team, and often run together.

What we offer

Comprehensive care, all under one roof.

Eight services, one care plan. Each is chosen for a clinical reason, delivered by specialists, and reviewed as your treatment progresses.

01

Day, Short & Longer Programs

Care here moves at the pace of real change: acute treatment when you need it, longer-stay aftercare when it matters, and space, every day, to rest, reflect, renew.

Some people come for a single day of assessment and treatment. Others stay for a structured week, or return over months as part of longer aftercare. The shape of the program follows the clinical need rather than a fixed timetable.

Whatever the length, the program is built around one care plan, so psychiatry, psychology and daily practice are all working toward the same goals. Progress is reviewed formally, and the plan changes when the evidence in front of us says it should.

Day programs · short-stay · longer aftercare · one care plan

02

Medicine-Assisted Therapy

Evidence-based therapy supported by medicine where clinically appropriate, with careful preparation, screening and integration at every step.

This is psychotherapy first. Where it is clinically appropriate, and only where a person is assessed as a suitable candidate, therapy may be supported by medicine prescribed and monitored within Australian regulatory frameworks.

Screening is thorough. It covers physical health, current and past medications, psychiatric history and risk. Preparation and integration sessions are part of the treatment rather than optional additions, and a treating psychiatrist remains responsible for care throughout. Where these pathways are not the right fit, we will tell you plainly and offer alternatives.

Full assessment · novel treatment pathways · clinician-led · monitored

03

Mindfulness & Meditation Training

Practical training in mindfulness and meditation, building the inner skills that help change take root and last.

Mindfulness is taught here as a clinical skill, in graded steps, with attention to what each person's nervous system can actually tolerate. Sessions cover attention training, working with difficult states, and self-compassion practice.

Training runs one to one and in small groups, and is adjusted for people who find stillness difficult or activating. The aim is a practice you can keep after you leave, in a form that fits your real life rather than an idealised one.

Individual & small group · trauma-sensitive · skills you keep

04

Medication Tapering

Careful, needs-led reduction of psychiatric medication, planned and supported, so you are never doing it alone.

Reducing psychiatric medication is a clinical decision made with a psychiatrist, at a pace set by how you respond rather than by a calendar. We plan the schedule together, monitor for withdrawal effects and early signs of relapse, and slow down or pause when that is the safer option.

Psychological support and practical skills are built in alongside the changes in dose, because the months of a taper are when they matter most. Tapering is always optional. For many people the right decision is to continue treatment, and we will say so.

Psychiatrist-led · paced to you · monitored · reversible

05

Preparation & Integration Support

Therapeutic support for people preparing for, or making sense of, significant experiences, wherever they happen. Skilled, non-judgmental care before and after.

Significant experiences often need somewhere to be understood. We offer structured preparation beforehand, and integration work afterwards: putting language to what happened, translating insight into changed behaviour, and holding safety while that settles.

Sessions are confidential and clinically grounded, and they are available to people whose experiences happened outside our care as well as inside it. This service is therapeutic support only. It does not include supplying, arranging or advising on anything beyond our own clinical services.

Before & after · confidential · non-judgmental · harm reduction informed

06

Immersive Therapies

Experience changes the brain in ways conversation alone cannot. Somatic, breath, virtual-reality and nature-based therapies that reach beyond words.

Somatic and breath-based work engages the body's own regulation, which is often where trauma and chronic stress are held. Virtual reality allows graded, controlled exposure and immersive states of calm, with the clinician adjusting intensity in real time.

Nature-based sessions use the landscape around Byron Bay as part of the treatment rather than as scenery. Each of these is selected for a clinical reason, introduced at a pace you set, and reviewed like any other intervention in your plan.

Somatic · breathwork · virtual reality · nature-based

07

Group Therapy & Retreats

From weekly groups to multi-day residential programs, therapeutic experiences shared with others walking a similar path.

Groups are facilitated by clinicians, run to a clear structure, and hold explicit agreements about confidentiality and support between sessions. Numbers are kept small so that everyone has room.

Residential retreats bring a small group together over several days of structured therapeutic work, practice and rest, with clinical screening before anyone joins. Group work runs alongside individual treatment rather than replacing it. For many people, being understood by others is what makes the work hold.

Weekly groups · residential retreats · clinician facilitated · screened intake

08

Family & Carer Support

Mental health never happens to one person alone. Guidance, education and support for the people who love and carry someone through.

We offer sessions for partners, parents, adult children and carers: understanding a diagnosis, learning what helps and what does not, and setting boundaries that protect everyone's wellbeing.

Where a client consents, family can be included in care planning and review. Where that is not possible or not wanted, carers can still receive support in their own right, because carrying someone else is real work with real cost.

Family sessions · carer education · support in your own right

Every pathway begins with comprehensive psychiatric and psychological assessment. Which services are appropriate, and in what order, is a clinical decision made with you after that assessment. Some services described here are available only to people who meet specific clinical criteria, and not every treatment suits every person.

Next step

Not sure which door is yours?

Speak with our team about what you are looking for, for yourself or for someone you care for. We respond within one business day.

Karuna is not a crisis service. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000. For 24/7 support: Lifeline 13 11 14 · Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36