Mathew van Velsen

Mathew is a Registered Psychologist, Clinical Psychology Registrar and a Director of Telehealth Psychology Australia. He works with people who are navigating anxiety, trauma, and the kind of stress that builds quietly over years until it starts to feel like the baseline. Many of the people he sees are capable and well used to coping, and have reached a point where coping on their own is no longer enough.

How Mathew works

His style is steady, warm, and practical. Sessions are unhurried and led by what matters to you, rather than by a fixed agenda. He draws on evidence-based approaches, chosen with you and adjusted as your work together unfolds:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• DBT skills
• Schema therapy

Areas of interest

Mathew works with people experiencing:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• OCD
• Trauma
• ADHD
• Grief and loss
• Sleep difficulties
• Stress and burnout
• Behavioural issues
• Work injury and return-to-work
• Men’s mental health

If what you are facing is not on that list, you are welcome to ask.

Men’s mental health

This is a particular focus for Mathew. He is attuned to the ways stress, low mood and worry can present and be described differently by men, and to the pressures around work, family, health and identity that often sit underneath. Those considerations shape the work without any assumptions being made about you. What to expect:

• A conversation on your terms, at your pace
• Practical, plain-spoken sessions that respect what you already know about yourself
• No need to have the right words before you begin

ADHD

Mathew works with people living with ADHD, whether it was identified years ago or is only now being recognised. Therapy is practical and grounded in how your days actually run: routines, planning and follow-through, managing time and energy, and the frustration, worry or low mood that can build up alongside it. If you are still wondering whether ADHD fits what you have noticed, an assessment can be part of the work.

Psychological assessment

Alongside therapy, Mathew conducts psychological assessments by secure video, including diagnostic and clinical assessment and ADHD assessment. An assessment draws on a detailed clinical interview, your history and validated questionnaires. He talks the findings through with you and, where it is part of the assessment, writes them up as a report, which can go to your GP or another provider with your consent.

These are psychological assessments, not psychiatric ones. Mathew can assess and form a diagnostic opinion, but psychologists do not prescribe medication; if medication is something you would like to consider, he can recommend follow-up with your GP, a psychiatrist or a paediatrician. Before anything begins, he will explain what your assessment involves, how many sessions it is likely to take and the total cost. A standalone assessment, such as a private ADHD assessment, is usually not covered by a Medicare rebate.

Working online

He sees clients right across Australia by secure video. That means the same continuity of care whether you are in the city, the suburbs, or a rural or remote community, and you work with Mathew himself each session rather than starting over with someone new.

Your first session

There is no pressure to have it all worked out before you begin. A first session is mostly about understanding what has brought you in and what you are hoping for, and shaping a way forward that feels manageable.

Registration and training

Mathew is a Clinical Psychology Registrar and Registered Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). He holds a Master of Psychology (Clinical) and a Master of Professional Psychology from Bond University, a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours, and a Bachelor of Business.