Moving abroad and staying is its own psychological project, and nobody briefs you on it. This isn't the two-year posting with a return ticket; this is a life built deliberately in another country. So the challenges aren't about constant novelty. They're about permanence. Friends arrive, become family, and leave; you're the one who stays. Parents age in another country, and every visit asks the quiet question of whether "home" is still the right word. You speak the language well enough for the supermarket and not quite well enough for your sense of humour. The identity that once came free with familiarity has to be rebuilt by hand.
Therapy that understands staying
The search engines call this expat therapy; the people living it usually just call it life. Much of my practice is people who've done exactly what you've done: settled abroad, built something real, and found that a good life somewhere beautiful doesn't cancel burnout, anxiety, low mood or a marriage under strain. It just adds its own flavours: the guilt of struggling inside a life you chose, the absence of the people who knew you before, the low-level effort of never being fully off duty in a second culture.
What we work on
Sessions are online, in English, during European working hours, with a British-qualified psychotherapist who works with international clients across Europe, the UK and the Middle East. One continuous therapeutic relationship, whether you're at home abroad or back in the UK for a month. The approach flexes to the person: CBT for the anxious machinery, ACT-informed work for the identity and values questions a life abroad keeps raising, schema-informed work when the move has stirred much older patterns. I've also written professionally on the mental health of people living overseas, including guidance for employers of international professionals.
Questions people ask
What time zones do you work with?
I hold sessions during European working hours (CET), which covers the UK, all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa comfortably. For clients further afield, early-morning slots on the US East Coast are sometimes possible; ask on the call.
Why does it matter that my therapist lives abroad too?
Because otherwise you spend half of every session explaining the context: why residency paperwork is exhausting, why 'just fly home more often' isn't advice, why success abroad can coexist with profound loneliness. I've lived outside my home country for years. We can skip the explaining and start the work.
Is online therapy in my own language really better?
The research is clear that therapy works best in your strongest language; nuance is where therapy happens. Online delivery produces outcomes comparable to in-person care, and it means you can choose the right therapist rather than the nearest one.
Clinical experience in private residential recovery centres, including Geneva and Marbella. A limited number of clients, so every person gets continuous, unhurried care.