Henry was born in Malta in 1958 and obtained a degree in Arts majoring in Literature (Latrobe University Melbourne) before doing further undergraduate studies in Psychology (Swinburne University) and subsequent post-graduate qualifications at Latrobe University. He also has a Diploma in Education from Melbourne University.
Henry Briffa began his career as a psychologist working within a tertiary education setting and then within a government funded program providing assistance to people with relationship difficulties. He spent some years assisting returned veterans and their families, many of whom had suffered from the impacts of severe trauma. Prior to formal training in Psychology, Henry taught English and English as a Second Language to senior high school students.
Over the last fifteen years he has been running a generalist private practice providing individual and couple psychotherapy. He first registered and began practicing as a psychologist in 1995 and he has a Counselling Psychology endorsement with the Australian Health Practitioners Board (ahpra)