Profile / Australia
Kathryn Vella, AASW
Australia
AASW social worker - trauma and anxiety
See online therapy options- CBT informed
- Trauma focus
- ADHD support
About Kathryn
Kathryn Vella is an AASW social worker with six years of clinical and professional experience. She works with people struggling with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, relationship and family concerns, ADHD, grief, and issues with self-esteem and addictions. Kathryn also supports people coping with life changes and occupational strain.
Her approach is practical and structured. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy alongside Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and attachment-based ideas to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and test different responses. Sessions include clear skills work, behavioural experiments, and psychoeducation about trauma and neurodevelopmental differences.
Kathryn has specialised experience with coercive control and related trauma. She integrates sociolegal and psychosocial frameworks so therapy addresses both psychological effects and broader contextual factors. That means rebuilding safety, identity, and daily routines alongside symptom-focused work.
She works with people facing complex presentations, including PTSD, complex trauma, ADHD, autism spectrum conditions and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Kathryn draws on schema-informed strategies to identify long-standing patterns that affect relationships and self-worth, and she uses practical exercises to help people try new ways of relating to themselves and others.
Kathryn is completing a Master of Clinical Psychology and plans further doctoral research in clinical psychology and psychopharmacology. Her academic work focuses on how coercive control and trauma interact with attachment styles and neurodevelopmental differences. She blends clinical practice with research to keep interventions evidence-aware and grounded in real-world problems.
How Kathryn uses evidence-informed approaches online
Kathryn commonly draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in online work. CBT focuses on spotting and testing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours through straightforward experiments and skill practice, which helps with anxiety, sleep, and mood problems. ACT emphasises values-based action and learning to accept uncomfortable feelings while still moving toward meaningful goals, which can be useful for stress, chronic worry and life changes. Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Kathryn will discuss goals and preferences and together they will select strategies that fit the problem and the person's day-to-day life. That collaborative conversation helps shape whether sessions emphasise skills practice, behavioural change, or attachment-focused work. The profile does not list specific session formats, so confirm available options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy around work, caregiving and travel. They also allow written materials, between-session exercises and short check-ins that support skill practice between formal sessions. Appropriately qualified therapists can adapt exercises so people can try them in their own routines and review what works in later appointments.Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
6+ years
Listed in
Australia
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does Kathryn commonly help with?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, relationship and family concerns, ADHD, grief, self-esteem, addictions and related issues.
How does she use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in sessions?
CBT is used to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviour patterns, then test alternative responses through practical exercises and homework.
What is Kathryn's professional background?
She has six years of clinical and professional experience in mental health, forensic mental health, psychology and life coaching.
What credential does she hold and where is she based?
She is an AASW social worker and is based in Australia.
Can I work with her if I live outside Australia?
International clients are not currently accepted; sessions are offered in English to people located in Australia.
What session formats are available?
The original profile does not list specific session formats. Confirm current session options before booking.
How are costs and payments handled?
Cost varies with location and sessions are managed via a subscription that can be cancelled at any time.
What do I need to do to start?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session through the system.
Details come from information the counsellor supplied to BetterHelp. A registration can be checked with the body that issued it.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are not safe, use the crisis numbers.