Michael Di Mattia

MCounsPsych GDipEdPsych BA FAPS FCCOUNP

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  • Senior Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
  • Research Supervisor
  • Psychologist
Michael Di Mattia

Research Expertise

  • Counselling psychology professional practice issues
  • Development of professional identity

Research Supervision

Honours

Teaching

Courses Michael teaches into:

  • Graduate Certificate of Counselling & Psychotherapy
  • Graduate Diploma of Counselling & Psychotherapy
  • Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology)

Units Michael has taught and teaches into:

  • CAP401 Psychotherapeutic Theories and Models
  • CAP412 Ethics and Professional Development
  • CAP414 Treatment Planning
  • CLN604 Psychodynamic Therapy

Clinical Expertise

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Loss & grief
  • Eating disorders
  • Trauma
  • Professional supervision

About

Michael is a senior lecturer and counselling psychologist with more than two decades of experience, across clinical practice, teaching, and research. He has worked as a practitioner in a range of settings, including community health, private practice, and tertiary counselling. Michael has worked as a lecturer in several universities, teaching into postgraduate psychology and counselling programs. His teaching interests and expertise centre on advanced counselling, intervention and assessment skills and ethical practice.

Michael is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and a Fellow of the APS College of Counselling Psychologists, where he served as National Chair from 2011-2016. He was the recipient of the College’s Award of Distinction in 2019, in recognition of his contribution to the field of counselling psychology and the college.

Michael’s current research is focused on the professional identity of counselling psychologists. This research has involved collaboration with international colleagues, resulting in several peer reviewed publications.

Michael’s broad research interests are in:

  • Counselling psychology professional practice issues
  • The development of practitioner identity
  • Ethics and professional issues in the helping professions
  • Therapists’ experiences of providing therapy during COVID-19

Key Publications

Stone, A.F., & Di Mattia, M. (2024). Australian counselling psychologists’ perceptions of the similarities and differences between clinical and counselling psychology. Australian Psychologist, 59(4), 303-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2023.2271123

Chan, P., Furlonger, B.E., Leif, E.S., D’Souza, L.A., Phillips, K.J., & Di Mattia, M. (2022). An evaluation of the behaviour change content and quality of smartphone apps designed for individuals experiencing anxiety: an illustrative example for school psychologists. Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 39(2), 209-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/20590776.2022.2066994 

Davis-McCabe, C., Di Mattia, M., & Logan, E. (2019). Challenges facing Australian counselling psychologists: A qualitative analysis. Australian Psychologist, 54(6), 513-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12393    

Ostojic, M., Chung, J., Di Mattia, M., & Furlonger, B. (2018). A review of the processes by which school psychologists and counsellors can use taxonomies to evaluate health-related apps. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in School, 28(2), 212-233. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1017/jgc.2018.4  

Furlonger, B.E., Snell, T., Di Mattia, M., Reupert, A. (2018). What should be considered when designing and developing a counselling course for adults from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds? Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 58, 45-66. 

Di Mattia, M.A., & Davis-McCabe, C. (2017). A profile of Australian counselling psychologists. InPsych, 39, 38-39. 

Di Mattia, M.A., & Grant, J. (2016). Counselling Psychology in Australia: History, status and challenges. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 29(2), 139-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2015.1127208  

Goodyear, R., Lichtenberg, J., Hutman, H., Overland, E., Bedi, R., Christiani, K., Di Mattia, M.A., du Preez, E., Farrell,B., Feather, J., Grant, J., Han, Y-J., Ju, Y., Lee, D-G., Lee, H., Nicholas, H., Nielsen, J., Sinacore, A., Tu, S., & Young, C. (2016). A global portrait of counselling psychologists’ characteristics, perspectives, and professional behaviours. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 29(2), 115-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2015.1128396