When Coping Becomes A Full-time Job
Many people appear to be functioning well while quietly expending enormous effort to keep themselves steady. When coping becomes a way of being, insight alone often fails...
Michael Elwan
Social Worker
“I am an award-winning therapist and mental health professional with more than 15 years across clinical practice, senior management, and systems advocacy. I am completing a PhD in Mental Health and serve as a state and national advisor on multiple forums. My work integrates trauma-informed therapy, cultural humility, and evidence-informed practice, with a strong emphasis on safety, dignity, and practical support. I work with people experiencing anxiety, grief, burnout, relationship strain, and the emotional weight of navigating complex family or cultural expectations. Recent recognition includes: • AASW Social Worker of the Year (2025), Australia's highest individual honour in social work • WA Mental Health Award, Lived Experience Impact and Inspiration (2025) • Suicide Prevention Australia LiFE Award (2026), Outstanding Contribution (Western Australia) • Suicide Prevention Australia LiFE Award (2026), Priority Populations (Western Australia) for Lived Experience Solutions (LEXs) • Western Australian Multicultural Awards (2026), Outstanding Individual Achievement • R U OK? Barbara Hocking Memorial Award, Finalist”
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About Me
I bring more than 15 years of experience working with young adults, adults, couples, and families across diverse cultural backgrounds. I am a PhD candidate in Mental Health and an award-winning Accredited Social Worker.
My work draws on relational and attachment-informed practice alongside evidence-based approaches, and is grounded in both professional expertise and living experience. I understand how grief, migration, caregiving, identity, and system barriers shape emotional distress. Therapy with me is steady, respectful, and collaborative. You do not need the right words to begin; we work at your pace, in a space where you are taken seriously.
Approach
My work is relational and attachment-informed. Most of what people bring has a history behind it: patterns learned early, in families and cultures that shaped what could be said aloud and what could not. Understanding that history is usually where change starts.
Alongside that I draw on cognitive behavioural, acceptance and commitment, narrative, internal family systems and somatic approaches, taking what fits the person rather than applying one method to everyone. Some sessions are reflective. Others are practical, with something specific to try before we next meet.
Culture sits inside the work rather than beside it, as does your relationship with faith, family obligation, and the expectations that come from belonging to more than one place at once.
Change tends to be uneven. We review openly as we go, and I will say so if I think someone else would serve you better.
Services
Individual therapy for young adults and adults, 60 minutes, or 90 minutes where the work needs more room.
Couples therapy begins with a four-session assessment: 90 minutes with both partners, then a session with each partner alone, then a session together to agree what the work will focus on. The individual sessions make proper safety screening possible, which cannot be done accurately with both partners in the room.
All sessions are by secure video, anywhere in Australia, in English, in Arabic, or in the mix of both that most bilingual people actually think in.
A first session is mostly listening: what has brought you here, what has already been tried, and what you want to be different. There is no referral needed and no diagnosis recorded with Medicare.
If you are unsure whether I am the right person, a free 15-minute video call is available first.
Services Offered:
Online Therapy
Therapy sessions conducted over video call, phone, or secure messaging, using the same professional methods delivered remotely.
Learn more about Online TherapyRelationship Counselling
Counselling for couples or partners focused on improving communication, rebuilding trust, and strengthening emotional connection.
Trauma Counselling
Counselling specifically for people affected by traumatic events, focused on processing what happened and reducing symptoms like flashbacks and hypervigilance.
Learn more about Trauma CounsellingIntegrative Psychotherapy
An approach that draws on multiple therapeutic models, tailored to the individual, rather than following a single method.
CBT
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a structured, evidence-based approach that identifies and changes unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours.
Learn more about CBTACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy)
A form of therapy that teaches acceptance of difficult thoughts and feelings while guiding action aligned with personal values.
Learn more about ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy)Internal Family Systems
A therapy model that views the mind as made up of distinct sub-personalities or 'parts', each with its own role, and works to help these parts communicate and heal under the leadership of a core Self.
Narrative Therapy
A therapy that helps people separate themselves from their problems by exploring and reauthoring the stories they tell about their lives, drawing out values, strengths, and preferred identities.
Online Counselling
Counselling conducted via video, phone, or secure messaging, providing professional support remotely.
Learn more about Online CounsellingSomatic Therapy
A body-centred approach to healing that uses physical awareness, breath, and movement to release stored tension and trauma, based on the recognition that the body holds and expresses emotional experience.
Works With:
- Adults
- Couples
- Individuals
- Organisations
- Elderly
- Families
Area of Expertise
Scope of Practice:
Anxiety
Persistent worry, nervousness, or fear that is disproportionate to the situation and interferes with daily functioning.
Learn more about AnxietyStress / Burnout
The body and mind's response to prolonged or excessive demands. When sustained, it can lead to emotional exhaustion, detachment, and reduced functioning (burnout).
Learn more about Stress / BurnoutRelationship Issues
Difficulties in romantic relationships, including communication problems, trust breakdowns, conflict patterns, or uncertainty about the relationship's future.
Learn more about Relationship IssuesTrauma
The lasting psychological impact of deeply distressing events, such as violence, abuse, accidents, or disasters, that overwhelm a person's ability to cope.
Learn more about TraumaMen's Issues
Psychological challenges commonly experienced by men, including difficulty expressing emotions, anger, relationship struggles, fatherhood pressures, and societal expectations of masculinity.
Suicidal Thoughts
Thoughts about ending one's own life, ranging from passive wishes to active plans. This is a sign of severe emotional distress that requires professional support.
Learn more about Suicidal ThoughtsGrief, Loss & Bereavement
The emotional, physical, and psychological response to the death of a loved one or another significant loss, varying widely in duration and expression.
Learn more about Grief, Loss & BereavementAbuse
Emotional, physical, or sexual mistreatment by another person that causes lasting psychological harm and disrupts a person's sense of safety.
Anger
An intense emotional response to perceived threat, injustice, or frustration that, when persistent or uncontrolled, can damage relationships and well-being.
Learn more about AngerYoung Adult Issues
The unique psychological challenges of emerging adulthood (18–25), including identity formation, independence, relationship navigation, and finding direction.
Learn more about Young Adult Issues
Professional Title:
Social Worker
A professional who supports individuals and families with mental health, welfare, and access to community resources.
Credentials
Registrations
Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)
Full Membership
Qualifications
Master of Social Work (Specialisation: Counselling for Loss and Grief)
University of New England
Year: 2020
Graduate Certificate in Mental Health
Australian Catholic University
Year: 2023
Diploma in Psychology
Austin Peay State University
Year: 2023
Master of Business Administration
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Year: 2014
Memberships
Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (AACBT)
Full Member
