Dr Annabel Chan
Clinical & Forensic Psychologist
Behavioural Threat Consultant
Annabel was made in Singapore, liberated in London, and educated in Melbourne where she currently resides with her four fat cats. Over the last 15 years of clinical and leadership experiences, Annabel has worked in various settings including youth and adult prisons, universities, hospitals, community services, and private practices in Singapore, Australia, and via telehealth globally.
After her role as the founding manager of the Safer Community and BRAM (Behavioural Risk Assessment Management) teams for Swinburne University, she commenced in threat assessment and management consultancy, providing risk assessment, supervision, training, and case consultation to universities, global corporations, and government agencies. Annabel is also a Consultant Psychologist with the Children's Court Clinic of Victoria and Approved Private Practitioner for Youth Justice providing specialised assessments of high-risk families and youth offenders.
Annabel has combined her passion for the internet and threat assessment in the study of online interpersonal harm. The presence of the internet has added to the complexity of relationships, and many people feel lost or disempowered in a world that never logs off. Being a proud geek and internet optimist, Annabel is a skilled navigator of cyber-culture and online social behaviour and enjoys helping her clients to get the most out of communication technology and recognise its dangers.
As a psychotherapist, Annabel is driven by a strong desire to platform the social misfits and amplify the stories that may be unheard. Her work is further guided by her lived experiences as a queer, neurodivergent, vegan, Chinese migrant. She provides neurodivergent and gender-affirming therapeutic safe space for people from the LGBTQIA+, QTBIPOC, ethical non-monogamy, and neurospicy communities, and for people with unnecessarily stigmatised occupations like sex work (RhED approved provider). She has been providing pro-bono support to the Queer Refugees and Asylum Seekers Peers program of Many Coloured Sky since 2020.
Annabel is eclectic in her therapy approach, drawing from psychodynamic, narrative,
schema, and solution-focussed therapies.
She has special interests in working with:
- Attachment and intergenerational trauma
- (A)sexuality and gender identity
- ADHD and autism therapeutic coaching
- Relationship or parenting challenges
- Chronically online and fandom cultures
- Persistent, unwanted contact and threatening behaviour (stalking and harassment)
- Family violence and child protection matters
- Youth criminal and offending behaviour
- Veganism and animal activism support
When off the clock, Annabel's love for stories continues through her avid consumption of various media, fandoms, and dance. She also volunteers as a Regional Representative for Random Acts and has had executive committee involvement with Asia Pacific Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (APATAP) and Australia and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law (ANZAPPL) since 2013.
Annabel holds current memberships with the Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH), the Australian GLBTIQ Multicultural Council (AGMC), and Australian Clinical Psychology Association (ACPA).
Resources & Publications
Bartlett, L., Chan, A., Sheridan, L., & Chan, H. C. (Oliver). (2020). Hashtag You’re It: Limitations of Psycho‐Legal Responses to Online Interpersonal Harm. In Wiley Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law: Psycho-Criminological Approaches to Stalking Behavior: An International Perspective (1st ed., pp. 287–305). essay, Wiley.
Darwinkel, E., Chan, A., & Sheridan, L. (2020). Tertiary concerns: Campus Threat Assessment and Management in an Australian University. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, 7(3–4), 173–185. https://doi.org/10.1037/tam0000152
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