Itay Lahav, PACFA

Itay Lahav is a clinical practitioner with 22 years of experience who helps people manage stress, anxiety, depression, relationship strain, sleep problems and the effects of trauma and abuse. She works with issues related to attachment, abandonment and personality difficulties, and supports people living with chronic pain, illness or disability. Her name appears up front so readers know who they will be reading about.

Itay draws on psychodynamic ideas to look at patterns that repeat in a person’s life. She also uses attachment-based and client-centred approaches to make sessions focused and compassionate. That mix lets her help people address symptoms and the life stories behind them.

Sessions can be brief and goal-focused or longer and more exploratory, depending on what a person needs. In short-term work she concentrates on practical ways to reduce distress and improve daily functioning. In longer-term work she helps people understand deep-rooted patterns and the body-mind connections that affect wellbeing.

She emphasises the therapy relationship as the foundation for change. People can expect a calm, thoughtful space to talk things through and try different ways of coping. The therapist pays attention to safety and to pacing the work so it feels manageable.

Itay is PACFA credentialled, works in Australia and conducts therapy in English. She aims to help people make sense of their experience and find realistic steps forward, whether the focus is recovery from trauma, improving sleep, or easing ongoing anxiety.

How these approaches translate to online therapy

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current connections. Online work using this approach looks at patterns in relationships and supports people to build safer ways of relating and managing anxiety around closeness.

Psychodynamic therapy pays attention to recurring life patterns and the stories people bring. In an online setting it helps uncover long-standing themes that affect mood, sleep and relationships and gives space to reflect on how past experiences shape present behaviour.

Finding the right approach is part of the work and is decided together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and practical needs, and recommend whether brief, focused sessions or deeper, longer-term work is the better starting point.

This profile does not list specific session formats, so please confirm current online options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow for a quieter break during the day. It can also allow for shorter check-ins when needed or longer exploratory sessions when there is time to go deeper. Appropriately qualified therapists can adapt their methods to suit what’s practical and helpful for each person.