Hi, I'm Melissa
I live in Sydney with my husband, our three daughters, and our Groodle. Like a lot of the families I work with, I know what it feels like to juggle kids, work, ageing parents — and the emotional weight that quietly sits underneath all of it.
I've spent my career working at the intersection of psychology and ageing, and I care deeply about helping families navigate this chapter well. The question I always come back to isn't "What's the matter with you?" — it's "What matters to you?"
Featured in:
My background
I spent more than a decade at St Vincent's Hospital in the Older People's Mental Health Service, working alongside psychiatrists, geriatricians, nurses, and allied health professionals. That experience shaped how I think about dementia and ageing — always through a whole-person, whole-family lens.
Today I run a private clinical psychology practice supporting individuals and families navigating ageing, dementia, and caregiving. Alongside that, I work with residential aged care organisations — including Mark Moran Vaucluse, Montefiore Home, and Videri (formerly Group Homes Australia) — on staff education, family support, and lifting the quality of everyday care.
Writing, teaching & media
I'm the author of We Need to Talk About Ageing (Hachette Australia, 2023), co-author of the St Vincent's Hospital Handbook of Clinical Psychogeriatrics, and a lecturer at UTS. I've also spoken on the topic across national television, radio, and podcasts.
Beyond the clinic
I was a key spokesperson for Mable's 2025/26 Christmas campaign — Mable is Australia's largest platform connecting families with independent support workers — helping shine a light on the realities families face when caring for ageing parents.
My Dementia Playbook
Access my strategies, resources, knowledge and scripts 24x7 through my online dementia playbook.
Plus, join my weekly Q&A sessions, answering families' questions.
All for less than the cost of one face-to-face appointment.
Melissa
$297 AUD (approx $199 USD)
7-day money-back guarantee
We Need to Talk About Ageing
Author: Melissa Levi, published 2023 by © Hachette Australia
We Need to Talk About Ageing – a book inspired by my Zaida’s story, my family’s story, and my patients’ stories of ageing and dementia, of love and of loss.
A book to share all that I have learned over more than a decade, as a clinical psychologist specialising in older people’s mental health and dementia, who has helped more than a thousand families walk this path.
A book with one clear purpose: to empower every family to have the big conversations, understand their options, make informed, values-aligned decisions, plan for the future, and ultimately, to navigate the ageing journey with confidence, grace and hope.
We Need to Talk About Ageing is the very book that I so wish I could have given to my own family, when my Zaida, my grandfather, was diagnosed with dementia all those years ago… I am so proud and humbled to now offer it to other families walking this journey, in the hope that it will make it that bit easier.
What others have said about We Need to Talk About Ageing
💗 "We all MUST talk about old age and cognitive impairment, and this stellar book shows the way! An absolute must read!"
💗 "Warm and compassionate, Melissa offers sound clinical information and practical advice . . . Sure to be helpful for all families."
💗 "This is a book as full of heart as it is help ... There are many practical insights in this book, all of them delivered in a relatable way, from the sort of psychologist you'd love your ageing parents to meet."
Available now!
