A new approach to drought counselling is "cheeky, provocative but authentic".

The drought may have broken in some areas of the state, but the trauma to those on the land remains.

The long-term financial, farming and emotional impacts of a drought lasted long after it rains, Jeff Young, a counsellor at La Trobe University's Bouverie Centre, said.

Mr Young trains drought counsellors.

It can be a tricky job to engage rural people who would rather soldier on than seek help.

"They usually believe there is always someone worse off than them and tend to be suspicious of counsellors who are here today and gone tomorrow," Mr Young said.

His approach is called "No bull**** therapy".

"No bull**** therapy" goes against conventional counselling wisdom which says that a counsellor should make a connection with a client in the first session then do the work down the track.

"International research shows that a significant number of clients attend just one session of counselling," Mr Young said.

"At first people thought they had dropped out, but when the clients were followed up the feedback was that they only needed one session."

This finding led him to develop an approach that gets more out of the first session.

Instead of slowly working toward what's important to a client, drought counsellors are trained to be up-front, direct, honest and warm.

"You cut to the chase and people seem to like it," Mr Young said.

"It's provocative, even cheeky, but it leads to a real sense of authenticity.

"It is not enough in the bush to put up a brass plate and expect people to turn up," Mr Young said.

"Counsellors have to do community development work.

"They have to tap into existing support structures, make links, establish relationships and even do cold calls on farms.

"It takes at least six months to establish a service."

He said drought was a far more insidious catastrophe than other acute natural disasters.

Bushfires and floods attract an outpouring of community support and people are witnesses to the struggle.

With drought there is no obvious start or finish, no donations.

"People can also drop their bundle after the rains come or the acute crisis eases," Mr Young said.

Mr Young is doing his PhD helping the state's drought counselling program document its work.

Members of his research team visit services throughout the state for monthly meetings.

They discuss what works and what doesn't, compare notes and document the practice wisdom across the state in a newsletter called No Bull.

FamilyCare drought outreach workers Terry Reedy and Wayne Harris undertook "no bull" therapy training in February last year and they also now deliver that training to community volunteers.

Country News asked Mr Reedy how it worked and whether it was successful.

"There are moments where the direct `no bull' approach is called for and challenging is the go, but in a positive, tentative fashion without being apologetic," Mr Reedy said.

"When I'm taking this route I make sure I'm fluid in challenging and affirming their strengths and values.

"It's during these moments as it would be in any clinical situation, opportunities are provided for the client to have some new insight, take ownership of the problem and problem-solving process, potentially moving to a point where issues are seen as solvable.

"I have found that having a matter-of-fact way of discussing issues at the right moments, especially with men, is about working or doing the job on something and seeing it as fixable in a rational way."

Mr Reedy believes the approach has been effective judged by the engagement of families and individuals from a hard to reach population who do not normally reach out to counselling services.