English-speaking counseling around Lake Zurich and in canton Schwyz. This is where I live, so meeting in person is easiest here. Online sessions are available as well.
Book Free 20-Min Intro Session
My home region
I live in Schindellegi, on the hillside above the upper part of Lake Zurich. Below me are Wollerau, Freienbach and Pfäffikon SZ. Lachen lies a little further along the Schwyz shore. Rapperswil-Jona is just across the causeway, and Richterswil and Wädenswil are the first towns on the Zurich side.
I was not born here. I built my life in a country that was new to me, so the questions that newcomers around the lake bring to me are familiar ground.
Who lives around the lake
This stretch of the lake has become very international. Finance and asset management firms have settled in Pfäffikon, and the logistics group Kuehne+Nagel has its headquarters in Schindellegi. Many more residents work in Zurich or Zug and chose the lakeside villages for their families.
The setting is village life. Swiss German at the bakery, German letters from the school, neighbors who have known each other since childhood. For the person with the job, the day is spent in an English-speaking office. The partner at home often carries the harder part: a new language, the children’s school, and long hours alone.
What people here bring to counseling
- Loneliness in a village where you are still “the new family” after years
- A career left behind when you followed your partner
- Being the strong one who holds everything together
- Two people who are both busy and have stopped really talking
- Guilt toward parents and friends in your home country
- Asking yourself who you are here, apart from work or family duties
Further pages on these themes: Relationship counseling for individuals and Counseling for expats in Switzerland. You will find all areas of my work on English-speaking counselor in Switzerland.
In person close to home, or online
Because I am based here, in-person sessions are simple to organize in this area. They take place on request and are arranged with each client individually. Write to me or tell me in the introduction where you live, and we will agree on a place and a time.
Online sessions remain my standard format and work just as well for many people, for example parents who cannot easily leave the house. They run on a secure video platform.
Both formats last 50 minutes and cost CHF 120. A free 20-minute introduction comes first. As a rule, Swiss basic insurance will not pay for counseling. We can speak English, Ukrainian or Russian.
A word on what counseling is
Counseling is a conversation with a trained professional about what weighs on you, with practical steps between sessions. It is not medical treatment. My title is psychosocial counselor. The SGfB (Swiss Association for Counselling) has me on its register, and I studied psychology to MSc level. Diagnosing, prescribing and treating psychiatric illness belong to psychotherapists and doctors, not to me. The differences are explained here: Counseling vs. psychotherapy in Switzerland.
“I am grateful to Maryna for making me feel safe and fully accepted, no matter what state I am in.”
D.R., Creative Professional
Reading for families and partners abroad
- How moving to Switzerland changes your sense of identity
- Busy together or connected: two different things in a relationship
- Guilt about living abroad while family is back home
- The pressure of being the strong one
Questions from the Lake Zurich and Schwyz area
Where do in-person sessions take place?
That depends on where you live. In-person sessions in the Schindellegi, Pfäffikon SZ, Wollerau and Rapperswil-Jona area are offered on request, and I arrange the location with you individually. Please ask in the free introduction and I will tell you what is possible at the moment.
We moved here for my partner’s job in Zurich or Zug. Do you work with families?
I work with adults, one person at a time. I do not run couples or family sessions. Many of my topics are family topics all the same: the move, the uneven load between partners, parenting far from relatives, a career on hold. You come on your own, and we work on your part of the situation. Often that changes things at home too.
Do you offer walking or outdoor sessions?
No, that is not a format I currently offer. Sessions are either online or in person by arrangement. If your stress shows up strongly in the body, we can use body-oriented and mindfulness methods within a regular session.