Malinda Um, AASW
Calm, practical support for life’s hard moments
Details
| Name | Malinda Um |
|---|---|
| Credentials | AASW |
| Based in | Australia |
| Registered with | AASW |
| Session format | Online |
| Languages | English |
| Years in practice | 8 |
About Malinda
Malinda Um is an experienced counsellor who helps people feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or disconnected. She works with individuals facing anxiety, depression, grief, parenting strain, relationship stress and major life changes. Malinda uses clear, practical steps so people can start to feel steadier in daily life.
Malinda is an AASW social worker with eight years of experience supporting people through trauma, compassion fatigue and career-related stress. She commonly helps those managing attachment and abandonment concerns, body image worries, blended family issues and the fallout from separation or disaster.
Background and approach
Her background includes work with cross-cultural identity and family of origin patterns. Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. Sessions focus on understanding what keeps problems going, and on small changes that make daily life easier.
Conversations often blend looking at personal stories with practical exercises and short experiments to test new ways of relating and coping. Malinda draws on Narrative Therapy to help people reframe their stories, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to clarify values and build psychological flexibility, and Attachment-Based ideas to look at how relationships shape feeling safe.
She also uses cognitive approaches and solution-focused tools to create stepwise goals and measurable change. If someone is unsure how to begin, Malinda encourages taking one small step. She guides people through a short matching process and then together they plan sessions that match the person’s needs and pace.
What this therapist works with
Her listing names Trauma and abuse, Self esteem, Depression among the things Malinda works with, alongside the areas below.
- Trauma and abuse
- Self esteem
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- Compassion fatigue
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Divorce and separation
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches listed
- Narrative Therapy: Named in her listing among her approaches.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Listed by Malinda among the ways she works.
- Attachment-Based Therapy: Listed by Malinda among the ways she works.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Listed by Malinda among the ways she works.
- Solution-Focused Therapy: Listed by Malinda among the ways she works.
- Systemic Therapy: Listed by Malinda among the ways she works.
- Training stated: This directory copies the approaches a therapist names and does not check training records. Ask Malinda directly how much of the work is narrative and what a session usually looks like.
Narrative Therapy in this listing
Narrative Therapy appears in this therapist's own list of approaches. That tells you it is part of how she works. It does not tell you how much of a session it shapes, and this directory does not check or rate training.
If a narrative approach is what you are looking for, it is worth asking Malinda directly how she uses it and what a session usually looks like.
Online session options
How narrative and ACT approaches suit online therapy
Malinda uses Narrative Therapy to help people tell and reshape their life stories. This approach looks at the language of problems and helps separate the person from the issue, which can be useful for grief, identity and family of origin concerns.She also uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people clarify what matters to them and take action aligned with those values. ACT supports coping with anxiety, depression and stress by teaching simple exercises to notice thoughts and reconnect with chosen actions.
Finding the right combination of approaches is a collaborative process. Malinda will work with each person to choose which methods fit their goals and preferences, adjusting techniques as therapy progresses to suit changing needs.
Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, while phone sessions can be easier when internet bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging suit short check-ins, journalling-style reflections or when typed expression feels more comfortable. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to continue work between sessions through written exchanges and brief tasks.
Common questions about this listing
What concerns does Malinda commonly help with?
She helps people dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma and stress. Other areas include grief, parenting strain, relationship and family problems, career stress and compassion fatigue.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
Malinda works in a practical, collaborative way. She mixes narrative approaches with ACT and cognitive techniques to rewrite unhelpful patterns and test small changes.
What is her background and experience?
She has eight years of clinical experience as a social worker in Australia. Her work has included trauma, burnout, cross-cultural identity and family of origin issues.
Which credential does she hold and where is she based?
Malinda holds AASW and practises from Australia.
Can sessions be conducted in other languages or internationally?
Sessions are offered in English. International clients are not currently accepted.
What session formats are available with Malinda?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging to suit different needs and schedules.
How are fees handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and is managed via a subscription model. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time.
How do I begin a course of therapy?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button and completing a short matching questionnaire. After that you can schedule sessions according to the therapist’s availability.
Contacting this therapist
Sessions with Malinda are arranged through our partner platform. It asks a few questions about what you are looking for, then shows you the therapists available to you, including Malinda where she has space. Ask about fees, and whether she holds a licence or registration where you live.
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