Online Therapy Australia

Who I work with

I'm Michael Elwan. I work with people who are carrying something heavy and have not yet found the right place to put it down.

That includes men who have been told for most of their lives that they should cope better than they are. People from multicultural backgrounds who are tired of explaining their culture before they can talk about themselves. Those who hold lived and living experience of mental health challenges, suicide, or family violence, and who want to work with someone who has thought seriously about those experiences in their own life and in their research. People navigating grief, burnout, the weight of caring for others, or the long aftermath of difficult experiences that have not faded with time.

If something in that paragraph recognised you, this page is probably for you. If it didn't, there are other practitioners who will be a better fit, and that is a reasonable place to land.

What I bring to the work

Three things, held together.

The clinical training to do this work competently, as an Accredited Social Worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Accreditation is the AASW's recognition of social workers who meet its professional standards and continue to meet them year on year. In practice, that means I am bound by the AASW Code of Ethics, I undertake annual continuing professional development, and I work under regular professional supervision myself. It is the closest thing the profession has to ongoing assurance that the practitioner you are seeing is current, accountable, and held to a clear standard of practice.

The research lens of a PhD candidate in mental health, which keeps me asking what actually helps and what doesn't, rather than relying on what is fashionable in the field.

Lived and living experience of caregiving, migration, and suicide bereavement, alongside senior management experience across mental health services and national advisory roles. I know, from inside, what this work asks of a person, and I know, from research and practice, what tends to help.

That combination is uncommon. It is also the reason most of my clients arrive: they have already had therapy that did not quite reach them, and they want someone whose understanding does not stop at the textbook.

How online therapy works at LEXs

Sessions are by video, anywhere in Australia. There is no waiting room, no reception, no parking, and no need to dress for the occasion. Many of my clients prefer to take their session from home; some take it from their car between meetings, which gives them privacy that home sometimes does not. Whichever you choose is fine.

Standard sessions are 60 minutes. For complex work, particularly trauma processing, family violence safety planning, or initial sessions that need more room, a 90-minute extended session is available.

There is no out-of-hours surcharge. The fee is the same whether we meet at 10am or 6pm.

No referral. No diagnosis on a Medicare record.

This is private work. There is no GP referral, no Mental Health Treatment Plan, and no diagnosis on a Medicare record. You book directly, we begin when you are ready, and the work stays between us.

For some clients, that matters because they have already used their Medicare-rebated sessions for the year. For others, it matters because they are funded through NDIS, EAP, Workcover, DVA, Victims of Crime, or Family Violence Brokerage, where Medicare is not the relevant pathway. For others, it matters because they value the privacy and continuity of work that sits outside the public health record.

Whichever applies to you, the fee structure below is the same.

What online therapy costs

Standard 60-minute session: $200.

Extended 90-minute session (for example, complex intake or planned trauma processing): $260

That is the fee, regardless of the time of day or the day of the week. Payment is taken at the time of booking. The cancellation policy is published in the link at the bottom of this page.

For NDIS clients, sessions are charged within the NDIS price limit for capacity-building therapy.

What I work with

These are the presentations I most often work with in individual therapy. The way I work is informed by trauma research and shaped to the person in front of me, rather than to a manualised treatment.

Grief and bereavement. Loss of a loved one, suicide bereavement, the loss of a parent or sibling, caregiver grief, and the quieter losses of health, identity, and direction. Unhurried, unrushed work that does not try to move you through stages.

Trauma and aftermath. Childhood trauma, complex PTSD, the long aftermath of relationships that were not safe, and the experiences that keep returning long after the events have ended. Paced, careful work that does not push past what your body and mind are ready for.

Depression and burnout. Persistent low mood, exhaustion that sleep has not fixed, the heaviness that comes after years of caring for others, and the depression that hides behind doing well at work. Steady work that does not assume the answer is more discipline.

Anxiety. Persistent worry, panic, social anxiety, and the restlessness that does not quiet on its own. Practical work alongside the deeper questions about what your nervous system is responding to.

For deeper reading on how I work with specific presentations, the following pages go into more detail: Online Grief and Loss Therapy, Online Depression Therapy, Online Anxiety Therapy, Online Trauma Therapy.

If you came here looking for couples therapy, that is a separate service, with a different structure and fee, on the Online Couples Therapy page.

What this is not

LEXs is not a crisis service. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please contact emergency services on 000, or Lifeline on 13 11 14. I will see you in the next available session for the work that comes after the crisis.

I do not work with everyone. If your situation requires intensive specialist support, court-mandated treatment, or interventions outside the scope of social work practice, I will say so in the first conversation and help you find the right person. Saying no when I am not the right fit is part of doing the work properly.

Recognition

I am an Accredited Social Worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers, and a PhD candidate in mental health. My work has been recognised through the AASW National Excellence Awards (Social Worker of the Year), the WA Mental Health Award, the Suicide Prevention Australia LiFE Awards, and the WA Multicultural Awards. The recognition matters most because it tells you the work has been examined by people who know what they are looking at; the more important question is whether I am the right person for what you are carrying.

How to start

If this page recognised something in you, the next step is a session. Booking is online; there is no referral required.

Book a session

If you would prefer to ask a question first, you can reach me through the contact page.