Realising Your Potential Through Deep Connection.
Altum Counselling and Consulting
Altum Counselling and Consulting is led by Shawn van der Linden, a highly skilled and experienced Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, trained psychotherapist, restorative practice facilitator, and experienced executive leader and manager. Altum is dedicated to helping individuals, families, and teams transform and lead a more fulfilling, connected, and flourishing lives.
Counselling
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Psychotherapy
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Consulting
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Training
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Facilitation
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Mentoring
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Coaching
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Counselling • Psychotherapy • Consulting • Training • Facilitation • Mentoring • Coaching •
Altum Services
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Altum Therapy offers compassionate, insight-oriented counselling for adults seeking to navigate life’s challenges with greater clarity, healing, and hope. Grounded in Catholic anthropology and the dignity of the human person, our therapeutic approach integrates evidence-based models—including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Interpersonal Process Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy.
We specialise in supporting individuals facing anxiety, trauma, shame, grief, relationship difficulties, vocational uncertainty, and emotional overwhelm. We also have particular expertise in working with individuals struggling with addictions, including pornography addiction, substance misuse, and compulsive behaviours—helping clients understand the underlying emotional, psychological, and relational drivers of their patterns while building capacity for self-leadership, integration, and healing.
Many clients come to us during times of transition, burnout, or deep questioning—seeking not only symptom relief but meaning, integrity, and renewed wholeness.
Therapy at Altum is relational and attuned. Sessions are delivered via telehealth and are eligible for Medicare rebates under a Mental Health Care Plan. We also provide Critical Incident Response and Psychological First Aid services to workplaces and Church settings.
At Altum, you’ll find not just clinical care—but the presence of a trusted guide walking with you toward growth, self-understanding, and restored connection.
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Shawn brings over three years of experience delivering Integrated Daily Dialogic Mentorship (IDDM) to clients across Australia and internationally. This innovative model, developed by Dr. Greg Bottaro of the CatholicPsych Institute, integrates psychological science with Catholic faith and spirituality to provide deep, relationally grounded accompaniment.
Building on this foundation, Shawn now offers Altum Coaching and Mentoring—a distinctive service designed to support adults and leaders seeking clarity, growth, and meaningful change. Drawing on his extensive background in executive coaching, psychotherapy, and daily mentorship, Shawn helps individuals uncover new insight, deepen self-awareness, and make courageous, values-aligned choices. This service can also be delivered to NDIS participants.
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Altum Mentorship Supervision offers a unique model of reflective practice tailored for professionals working in mental health, education, pastoral care, and Church ministry. Rooted in years of deep learning and practice in professional Catholic accompaniment, this approach supports practitioners to grow in personal integration, professional confidence, and relational depth.
Shawn provides a relationally attuned and ethically grounded space for supervision that honours both the human dignity of those served and the personal vocation of the practitioner. Supervision is designed to help participants:
enhance clinical and pastoral competence with greater clarity and courage
deepen self-awareness through reflective dialogue and faith-informed insight
receive emotional and spiritual support in the face of complex challenges
explore ethical dilemmas and professional boundaries with integrity
remain aligned with best practice standards, governance expectations, and mission fidelity
Altum Mentorship Supervision is especially valuable for Catholic leaders, educators, school wellbeing staff, clergy, and lay ministers seeking formation that integrates faith, reason, and relational presence.
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Altum Training delivers high-quality professional development workshops designed to build mentally healthy workplaces, deepen team cohesion, and support personal and organisational flourishing.
Shawn is a Licensed Mental Health First Aid Instructor with Mental Health First Aid Australia and brings decades of facilitation experience across the education, pastoral, mental health, and community sectors. He offers a dynamic suite of training seminars on topics such as:
Mindfulness and Self-Regulation in High-Pressure Environments
Managing Stress and Building Psychological Resilience
Preventing and Responding to Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
Mastering Difficult Conversations and Interpersonal Dynamics
Trauma-Informed Practice in Pastoral and Educational Settings
In addition, Shawn is a skilled team-building facilitator with expertise in Patrick Lencioni’s Six Types of Working Genius framework. His Working Genius workshops help teams identify their natural gifts, improve collaboration, and overcome dysfunction by aligning roles and expectations with each team member’s unique contribution. These sessions are particularly impactful for faith based school leadership teams, clergy groups, and organisational staff seeking renewed purpose, efficiency, and trust.
Altum Training sessions can be tailored to the unique context of your team or organisation and are grounded in evidence-based practices, emotional intelligence, and values of human dignity and community.
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Altum Restorative offers skilled facilitation and relational repair processes grounded in restorative justice principles, trauma-informed care, and deep human accompaniment. With extensive experience in mediation, restorative dialogue, and group conferencing, Shawn supports individuals, families, schools, and teams to address harm, navigate conflict, and restore trust.
Shawn brings decades of practice in the Catholic and community sectors, with a reputation for handling sensitive matters with discretion, empathy, and clarity. Whether addressing unresolved tensions, guiding post-conflict healing, or helping teams recover from relational breakdown, Altum Restorative provides structured, compassionate processes that promote:
safe and respectful communication
emotional literacy and accountability
repair of ruptured relationships
social skills and resilience development
reintegration into community or workplace life
Altum’s restorative services are particularly suited to schools, Church communities, organisational teams, and families navigating complex interpersonal challenges. Each process is tailored to the needs of those involved, creating space for truth-telling, mutual understanding, and hope-filled resolution.
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With extensive experience and a proven track record in leading and transforming organisations, programs, and teams, Altum Consulting provides targeted and high-impact consultancy services across the education, mental health, pastoral, and community sectors. Altum offers deep expertise in:
Organisational culture reviews
Clinical governance design and reform
Wellbeing and service delivery reviews
Strategic leadership support and facilitation
Shawn has led large-scale system reviews and transformation projects across Catholic Education, diocesan agencies, and national service providers. His consultancy methodology integrates strategic insight, rigorous qualitative and quantitative research, stakeholder engagement, and values-driven facilitation. Notable achievements include the redesign of Catholic Education’s school counselling systems, the successful reform of a national EAP’s Onsite Services business unit, and the delivery of diocesan-wide pastoral planning assemblies involving over 700 participants.
Altum Consulting is especially sought after for its capacity to guide faith-based organisations through complex change processes with clarity, integrity, and relational wisdom—ensuring outcomes are not only effective but mission-aligned.
About Shawn
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Shawn van der Linden brings 30 years of diverse experiences to Altum Counselling and Consulting. Shawn holds a strong belief in the transformative power of the whole human experience and the role that the interpersonal process can play in promoting genuine human flourishing.
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Starting out his career as a qualified carpenter and later serving as a Catholic missionary in Australia and Internationally, Shawn married and raised four children in Canberra, Australia, where he also completed his studies in theology, social work, and family therapy. He went on to lead a counselling and support service for young men and co-founded The OzHelp Foundation, a national suicide prevention organisation for apprentices in the construction industry.
As the Executive Director of Pastoral Support for the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Shawn developed programs in adult faith formation, parish, youth, marriage and family ministry, and a range of community development strategies. He later served as the CEO of Conflict Resolution Service Inc, National Manager of Integrated Onsite Counselling for Converge International, and the Manager of Student Counselling and Mental Health for Catholic Education (21,000 students in 56 schools).
Shawn now serves as the International Programs Consultant for the CatholicPsych Institute and IDDM, and has been trained in their CatholicPsych Model of Applied Personalism (CPMAP) and provides Integrated Daily Dialogic Mentorship (IDDM) to individuals in Australia and internationally.
Shawn has maintained a counselling practice throughout his career and holds a strong belief in the transformative power of the whole human experience and the role that the interpersonal process can play in promoting genuine human flourishing.
Get in touch
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