Therapy for Expats, Those Living Abroad and International Workers.
Relocating and living abroad can be a personal, professional, and relational transformative journey that offers new career opportunities and cultural experiences. However, for expatriates, UK nationals and global communities working overseas, the transition and everyday life changes often come with universal and unique challenges. Adapting to different workplace cultures, managing professional relationships, and balancing family adjustments can be complex.
Going through these changes while maintaining strong relational and family ties and building new social connections is essential. Our services at Leone Centre support professionals, international students, and their families to overcome these challenges, ensuring a smooth transition, a solid supportive structure, and success in their international endeavours.
On This Page
- Therapy for Expats, Those Living Abroad and International Workers.
- What is Therapy for Expats and the Global Community?
- How does International Expat Therapy help?
- How does Expats Therapy and Counselling for the Global Community Work?
- Book Your Online Therapy Session From Anywhere in The World
- Leone Centre Expats Therapy Services
- Expatriate Therapy FAQs
Therapeutic support can be important for professionals, students, retirees, those living abroad, international workers, and other expats, as well as their partners and families living abroad or in different countries. Therapy and counselling for expats offer help and guidance in dealing with cultural changes, relationship issues, and family adjustments. These services can be beneficial for maintaining strong marriages and family connections in a new environment.
It can sometimes be challenging to find an experienced English-speaking therapist who understands the unique needs of expats due to geographical and cultural barriers. Our services help by providing individual counselling, relationship, marriage, and family therapy support for expats to improve relational health and well-being and make the transition and life abroad smoother.
Leone Centre’s secure and confidential counselling and psychotherapy services for expats and their partners and families are designed to meet the needs of those living abroad. We offer online individual, relationship, and psychosexual expat therapy for individuals, couples, and families at flexible hours.
Our experienced therapists are all associated with professional bodies like BACP (the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy), UKCP (the UK Council for Psychotherapy), AFT (Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice), and COSRT (the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists). With many years of experience helping people and working with cultural diversity, Leone Centre offers a broad range of therapeutic approaches to help you find the most suitable therapist.
What is Therapy for Expats and the Global Community?
Health insurance frequently includes coverage for expatriate therapy, often encompassing individual counselling. The Leone Centre provides expats with private and confidential counselling services for individuals, couples, families, and psychosexual therapy. Please get in touch with us if you need assistance with the booking process or have any questions.
International counselling, or expatriate counselling, is a specialised form of culturally sensitive therapy that UK-based professionals provide. These expat therapy services offer online sessions for English-speaking people outside the UK. The expat community includes those who work or study abroad, their partners and families, digital nomads, and retirees living overseas.
How does International Expat Therapy help?
Living abroad can be an exciting adventure, but it also comes with its challenges. The emotional impact of adjusting to a new culture, navigating unfamiliar social norms, and facing the complexities of long-distance relationships with family and friends can leave you feeling isolated, stressed, or uncertain. Therapy for those living abroad offers a safe, supportive environment where you can process these emotions and gain clarity on adjusting to your new circumstances.
Through therapy, you can explore the cultural shifts and personal challenges that arise from being far from home. This is a space to reflect on your identity as an expat, deal with homesickness, and adapt to the challenges of living in a different country. Therapy can give you the tools to manage your emotions, build a sense of belonging, and navigate this new chapter with greater confidence and resilience.
Expat therapy can help provide a secure, supportive space to explore and address issues experienced by those who have moved to a new country.
Many individuals or families living abroad move internationally for new work opportunities, and this can also bring some issues, such as:
- A different working culture.
- New workplace dynamics.
- Feeling culturally excluded in the workplace.
- High-pressure roles.
- Adjusting to a new work environment.
- Difficulty creating new professional networks.
- Issues with finding meaning in new work or not enjoying the job.
It may be the case that expats are in a relationship and may have children. Moving abroad can impact relationships and family dynamics, whether one or both partners relocate, in a number of ways, including:
- Pressures on family dynamics.
- Concerns about children, for example, how they will adjust to leaving their school and friends and adapt to new environments.
- Financial imbalances.
- Long-distance relationships.
- Managing parenting or relationship dynamics when only one partner moves abroad.
Some issues and experiences for ex-pats can also include:
- The impact of language and cultural barriers.
- Adapting to new cultures and environments.
- Feeling lonely and isolated.
- Making friends and creating new social networks.
- Questioning decisions.
- Feeling removed from a support network and community.
- Homesickness and feeling disconnected.
- Worries about the elderly and loved ones back home.
- Unmet relational needs.
- Cross-cultural relationships.
Expats also include the family members of those who move abroad for work, and this transition can also be challenging. Partners, family members, and children of expatriates can often experience changes to their sense of identity and fulfilment, stress around changes to lifestyle and structure, and logistics such as school and work, home, and healthcare.
We find that couples therapy, marriage counselling, and family therapy are helpful for expats, and we make them available online via our family and couples therapists based in London and the UK.
Counselling can help develop relational depth, resilience, self-awareness, emotional well-being, and self-care activities to help adjust to change. It can also help with any changes or strains in relationships, family, and parenting dynamics. Through therapy, expats and people in the Global Community can improve relational and communication skills and conflict resolution to support healthier professional and personal relationships.
How Therapy Supports Relationships for Those Living Abroad
Being away from family, friends, and a familiar support system can strain your relationships. Therapy offers valuable support, whether you’re in a long-distance relationship, adjusting to life as a couple in a new country, or trying to maintain connections with loved ones back home.
Expat therapy helps couples and individuals navigate the stress of living abroad, offering space to discuss misunderstandings, unspoken expectations, and the unique pressures that arise when you’re away from your home country. Through therapy, couples can better understand the emotional dynamics of their relationship, address cultural differences, and build stronger, more supportive connections—both with each other and others in their new environment.
Therapy for Expat Emotional Well-being
Expat life can trigger various emotions—from excitement and curiosity to frustration and loneliness. Living in a foreign culture can sometimes lead to a sense of disorientation or identity loss. Therapy can help you unpack these emotions, understand their roots, and find ways to restore emotional balance.
With the support of an experienced therapist, you can explore feelings of isolation, anxiety, or even a sense of not fitting in. Expat therapy provides a space to reflect on the challenges of adjusting to life abroad, process the emotional impact, and regain control. Over time, this space helps you reconnect with yourself and approach the ups and downs of expat life with a clearer, calmer perspective.
Therapy for International Workers in Transition
Living abroad often means navigating major life transitions, whether adjusting to a new job, relocating to a different city, or facing unexpected changes in your personal life. Such transitions can be disorienting and lead to feelings of uncertainty or overwhelm.
Therapy offers a space to reflect on these transitions, helping you make sense of your experiences and emotions. You can explore the challenges and adjustments that come with these changes and work through the feelings of uncertainty that can arise. Therapy helps you process these shifts, find stability, and focus on what you need to thrive in your new environment, offering the support to adjust at your own pace.
Therapy for Personal Growth While Living Abroad
For many expats, living abroad can be a transformative experience, allowing you to discover new aspects of yourself and expand your sense of identity. Therapy allows you to reflect on these changes and integrate them into your growth journey.
Through therapy, you can explore how your time abroad shapes your values, beliefs, and aspirations. You might find that living in a new culture challenges your assumptions or opens up new perspectives on life. Therapy helps you navigate this growth in a way that honours your evolving self, encouraging you to embrace new possibilities while staying grounded in your core values.
How Therapy Helps Those Living Abroad Understand Themselves
Living abroad often leads to self-reflection as you navigate new cultural contexts, meet new people, and adjust to different ways of life. Therapy offers the space to explore your identity as an expat, addressing any challenges as you balance your home culture with your new environment.
You can better understand the emotions, values, and behaviours during your expat experience through therapy. By gaining clarity about your inner world, you can make more informed decisions about navigating your life abroad—adjusting to cultural differences, managing homesickness, or building a new sense of community.
How does Expats Therapy and Counselling for the Global Community Work?
International therapy services help ex-pats address challenges and improve emotional resilience and relational health by providing confidential and secure online counselling for ex-pats with an English-speaking therapist.
The online expat therapy model enables those living abroad to access counselling at flexible times in any private and comfortable space with internet access. Our online relationship and family therapy for expats can be accessed from different international locations, enabling those in long-distance relationships to attend expat couples counselling or family therapy together.
Leone Centre offers Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) services and flexible online counselling from highly experienced, culturally sensitive therapists. Leone Centre therapists work with individuals and couples from European expat communities, Bangkok in Thailand, South Africa, Tokyo in Japan, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Shanghai in China, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Seoul in South Korea.
Our goal is to enhance expatriates’ mental health and relationships as they navigate the exciting yet challenging experience of relocating abroad.
To book our expat therapy services, use our online booking page (please note that the times shown are for the UK timezone) or contact us directly.
Health insurance often covers expatriate therapy, which usually covers individual counselling. Leone Centre offers expat counselling for Individuals, Couples and Families. Please get in touch if you would like any advice on the booking process.
Book Your Online Therapy Session From Anywhere in The World
Leone Centre offers online counselling sessions, providing accessible, global support from the comfort of your own home. Whether you’re seeking couples therapy, family therapy, or individual therapy, our team of experienced therapists are available online via Zoom, allowing you to book your online therapy session globally, wherever you may be.
Leone Centre Expats Therapy Services
Expat Couples, Relationship and Marriage Counselling
Couples counselling for expatriates can help partners address the unique challenges of living abroad. Adapting to a new culture and isolation from support networks can be challenging for couples who have moved abroad together. Long-distance relationships can bring difficulties for couples with one partner who has moved abroad.
Online expat couple counselling can help both partners explore these experiences, regardless of location. Through relationship and marriage counselling for expats, couples can improve communication, address role changes, and strengthen bonds, helping them feel supported and connected.
Expatriate Couples and Relationship Counselling
Expat Family Therapy
Family therapy for expats can help families who have moved to a new country to adjust to their new life and family dynamics abroad. By helping family members address emotional and logistical issues which may have arisen during the transition, family expat therapy can explore their concerns and find healthy ways to move forward.
Therapy for families living abroad often focuses on improving communication and acknowledging issues related to cultural adaptation, identity changes and role adjustments within the family, helping to strengthen relationships.
Expatriate Family Counselling
Expat Psychosexual (Sex) Therapy
Expat psychosexual counselling can help individuals and couples who are facing sexual and intimacy issues whilst living abroad. Moving abroad can significantly change relationship dynamics, as changes in cultural norms, routines, and stress levels can disrupt intimacy. Psychosexual (sex) therapy for expats provides a secure, confidential space to address concerns such as sexual satisfaction and changes in sexual desires.
By working with an experienced therapist, individuals and couples living abroad can gain a deeper understanding of their sexual identity and well-being.
Expatriate Psychosexual (Sex) Therapy
Expat LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Counselling
LGBTQIA+ affirmative therapy for those living abroad provides support for gay, lesbian, queer, transgender, asexual and intersex people and all other members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are living abroad. The experience of relocating to a new country can present unique challenges, including navigating different cultural attitudes towards sexual orientation and gender identity, finding supportive communities, and dealing with potential discrimination or isolation.
Affirmative counselling offers a safe and supportive space where clients can explore these issues without judgment. This counselling approach guides on building resilience, self-acceptance, and well-being.
Expatriate LGBTQIA+ Affirmative Counselling
Expat Neurodivergent-Affirmative Therapy
For neurodivergent individuals who have moved abroad, therapy can be a valuable resource for adapting to new social norms and sensory environments and helping to access specialised services.
Neurodivergent-affirmative therapy for those living abroad can help individuals with autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and other neurodevelopmental differences explore challenges, improve communication, manage stress, and build a supportive community in their new country of residence.
Expatriate Neurodivergent-Affirmative Therapy
Expatriate Therapy FAQs
Who can benefit from expat therapy?
Expatriate therapy benefits anyone living abroad, including individuals, couples, families, students and children. It supports those working or studying abroad, digital nomads, retirees, and family members of expatriates.
How does online expatriate therapy work?
Online expat therapy involves sessions conducted via secure videoconferencing platforms. This format allows you to access therapy from anywhere in the world at times that suit your schedule. All you need is a private space and internet access.
Can I choose my therapist?
Yes, we offer a range of therapists with different specialisations and cultural backgrounds. We work with you to find a therapist that best fits your needs and preferences.
Are the online therapy sessions confidential?
Yes, all online therapy sessions are confidential. Our therapists use secure, encrypted platforms to ensure your privacy and data security.
What languages are available for therapy?
While our primary language for therapy is English, we may have therapists who speak other languages available. Please inquire about your language preferences when contacting us.
How do I schedule a session?
You can contact us through our website or by phone to set up an initial appointment. Following on from this, you can book sessions directly with your therapist. We offer flexible scheduling to accommodate different time zones and personal commitments.
Does insurance cover expatriate therapy?
Coverage for expatriate therapy varies depending on your insurance provider and plan. We recommend checking with your insurance company to understand your coverage options. We can also provide documentation for reimbursement if needed.
Get Started Today
with Leone Centre
BOOK NOW
Call us
020 3930 1007
View our therapists
Find your match
