LGBTQIA+ Support
LGBTQIA+ Therapy & Gender-Affirming Counselling in Sydney
Mathew Bergan Counselling and Psychotherapy specialises in meeting the unique emotional, relational, and psychological needs of LGBTQIA+ communities. With deep lived experience and many years walking alongside queer people in therapy rooms, groups, and community spaces, Mathew (he/they) brings to his clinical skill an understanding that is both embodied and relational.
A Safe, Non-Pathologising Space for Queer Identity
Sessions with Mathew are collaborative, respectful, and grounded in care. He offers a inclusive space where queer lives are not pathologised but deeply valued for their difference. Through compassionate curiosity and attuned therapeutic skill, Mathew supports clients to move from fragmentation toward wholeness—addressing the specific challenges of navigating identity, coming out, and relational diversity.
Healing through Belonging and Somatic Awareness
At the heart of Mathew’s work is the belief that healing begins with belonging. For many queer and gender-diverse people, distress does not arise in isolation, but in response to chronic experiences of invisibility, shame, trauma, and "othering" within a heteronormative society. Mathew’s counselling approach is attentive to these realities, recognising how systems, culture, and history live in the body and shape the way people relate to themselves and others.
Moving Toward Authenticity and Connection
Mathew takes a gentle, attuned approach to therapy, meeting clients where they are and working within their capacity to hold themselves with greater self-love. He provides specialized support for those navigating:
Trauma & Post-Traumatic Growth: Processing the impact of exclusion and minority stress.
Identity & Life Transitions: Including gender-affirming support for trans and non-binary folk.
Relational Patterns: Exploring new ways of belonging and connecting.
Mathew has a keen ability to notice the subtle patterns that can draw people toward the margins. While adaptations shaped by exclusion may once have been essential for survival, he brings these patterns into awareness with respect. This process supports clients to reconnect with their sense of self and gently move toward lives that feel more authentically their own.