About Werner Briedenhann
My psychology career spans well over a decade, working in psychiatric hospitals, community mental health, substance rehab centres and private practice. I’ve worked with people across the full spectrum of mental health experience, from psychosis and severe depression to PTSD and trauma recovery. I bring that depth to every conversation in the consulting room.
I also bring life experience beyond the clinic. I’ve lived in South Africa and New Zealand before making Melbourne home. I understand firsthand what it means to navigate major life changes: immigration, building a new life, finding your footing in unfamiliar systems and social dynamics. That experience informs how I work with people going through significant transitions of their own.
My approach is multimodal, drawing on CBT, Gestalt, IFS, and Person-Centred therapy. Whatever brings you to therapy, the focus is the same, building awareness of how you think, feel, and act, and finding practical ways to move through it.
When we meet, I’ll ask what brought you to therapy. You’ll do most of the talking while I listen, observe, and process. If we meet in person, there’ll be water, coffee, or tea to help with the mental unpacking.
I’ll ask questions to help me understand you and clarify what I’ve heard. I’ll mention what I notice, and ask what you become aware of as you talk. At some point I’ll share how I perceive what’s going on for you. We’ll keep talking and making sense of it together.
There might be tears, I have tissues for that. Together we’ll untangle what brought you to the couch and what to do next.
Focus Areas
I work with adults 18 and older on a broad range of mental health concerns, life challenges, and wellbeing, including anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, life transitions, and identity. I see young adults, men, and women for individual therapy, and I’m experienced in working with people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Sessions are available in person in West Melbourne or via telehealth across Victoria.
Therapy for Men
Men often want the same three things from therapy: to feel welcomed and accepted, to have a clear and honest conversation where they’re actually heard, and to get direct, practical input when they ask for it. That’s what I offer. If you’re specifically looking for psychology support tailored to men, I also run a dedicated men’s practice at Talkingmate.com.au focused on the particular pressures, transitions, and experiences men navigate.
Visit talkingmate.com.au
Availability
Accepting new clients
Qualifications
Masters of Clinical Psychology
Registrations & Memberships
APS
Websites
Approach
I’m a multimodal, integrative psychologist drawing on CBT as a thinking framework, and Gestalt, IFS, and Person-Centred therapy as experiential and relational frameworks. Change only happens in the present. Gestalt and IFS provide the structure to access parts of ourselves, experience change as it happens, and allow ourselves to be who we are. Person-Centred therapy ensures the relationship itself is the foundation.
Psychology doesn’t take place in a vacuum. We function within the context and constraints of our environment. A progressive approach means acknowledging the differences in our lives, how our families and systems affect us, and realising that sometimes the problem isn’t the problem.
My ability to move between modalities leads to a flexible process that keeps the context of each individual in mind. Read more about the multimodal integrative approach
Articles by Werner Briedenhann
By Werner Briedenhann
September 13, 2026
What is anxiety?
Simply put, anxiety is the fear of things that could go wrong. Anxiety’s function is survival by worrying about everything that might not go to plan. It’s like being in a large room looking for an exit. You’ve convinced yourself you are trapped, you keep looking for a way out, seeing every door and then not walking through any of them. So, you stay trapped, certain that the room will catch fire and you won’t be able to exit.
By Werner Briedenhann
April 30, 2025
A letter to men in midlife about the undoing of ourselves when we face forty. We can face The Undoing or choose to rebel. Each choice has its consequences.
By Werner Briedenhann
April 30, 2025
It’s here, and you didn’t expect it. Like a sudden reaction to spicy food, you are trapped in a small row of dimly lit cubicles, next to a guy closing a business deal on his phone. Welcome to forty is an overview of the changes men face in midlife and how our mental health is affected by these changes.