A private video link
Sessions run over secure video. You get a link before we start - no app to install, nothing to set up beyond a quiet room and headphones.
Online Counselling Australia
Therapy that comes to wherever you are.
All of my sessions are held online. Not as a compromise, but because it makes good therapy possible for people who would otherwise never get to it - the ones in regional towns, the ones with young kids asleep down the hall, the ones whose week does not leave room for a commute either side of an hour.
I'm Leif Lawson, a psychotherapist based in Sydney. I work with individuals and couples across Australia, and with clients in the UK and Ireland, on anxiety and overthinking, relationships, stress and burnout, grief, and the transitions that leave you unsure what comes next.
Ready when you are
Book an appointment
Who it suits
When online makes more sense
- You live outside a capital city and there is little available locally
- Your work or caring hours make a fixed clinic appointment impossible
- You travel often and want the same therapist wherever you are
- You are an Australian living in the UK or Ireland, or a Brit or Irish expat here
- You would rather talk from your own home than sit in a waiting room
- You have tried in-person therapy and found the commute the reason you stopped
In practice, most people settle into the screen within about ten minutes and stop noticing it.
How it works
Simple to start
Times that fit real life
Weekday, evening and weekend appointments, with time zones worked out around you if you are overseas.
Anywhere in Australia
Sydney, regional NSW, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin - plus the UK and Ireland. Where you live stops being the deciding factor.
Most people come for individual counselling, often around anxiety and overthinking or, for men, stress, anger and burnout. Couples work happens online too - details on the couples counselling page.
Common questions
Before you get in touch
- Is online counselling as effective as in person?
- For most of the work I do - anxiety, relationships, stress and burnout, life transitions - research consistently finds online therapy works about as well as sitting in the same room. What matters far more is the fit between you and your therapist.
- Do I need a referral or a mental health care plan?
- No. You can book directly. As a counsellor and psychotherapist my sessions are not covered by Medicare, so there is no referral to organise.
- Can I attend from outside Australia?
- Yes. I work with clients across Australia and with people in the UK and Ireland. We agree a time that works in both time zones.
- What do I need for a session?
- A device with a camera, a stable connection, headphones if you can, and somewhere you will not be interrupted for the hour. Some people take sessions from their car - that is completely fine.
- Is it confidential?
- Yes. Sessions are held over a secure video platform and are not recorded. The usual limits to confidentiality - risk of serious harm, or a legal requirement - are explained in the first session.
Session lengths and pricing are on the sessions & fees page.
