Counseling for Expats in Switzerland

Counseling for expats in Switzerland, in English. For the part of life abroad that does not show in the photos.

Living between cultures

Moving to Switzerland solves some problems and creates others. The salary is good, the mountains are close, and everything works. At the same time you are a beginner again in small things: the letter from the commune, the tone of an email, the rules nobody explains because everybody here already knows them.

Over months this adds up. You are neither fully here nor fully at home in the place you left. Friends there have moved on. Friends here are still acquaintances. Many expats tell me they feel ungrateful for struggling, since from the outside their life looks like a success.

I have been in that position

Before I trained as a counselor, I worked as a lawyer and built a life in another country myself. I know what it is to adapt to a new culture, start a career from nothing, and appear successful while privately wondering where you belong. That experience is one reason I do this work, and it is why I rarely need a long explanation of what relocation costs a person.

What we can work on

Cultural adjustment, including the dip that comes after the first exciting months
Loneliness and the slow work of belonging
Relocation challenges: a new job, a new system, a new role in the family
Uncertainty about permits, contracts or the next move
Building a sense of home that does not depend on one address
Self-esteem and self-worth when the things that defined you stayed behind

How the sessions help

Counseling gives you one hour in which you do not have to translate yourself or be the capable one. We look at what you lost in the move as well as what you gained, because unspoken losses tend to come out as irritation or tiredness.

After that the work becomes practical. Where do you want to put down roots, and where not? Which expectations are yours, and which belong to your employer, your family or your partner? What would make an ordinary week here feel like your life? Depending on what you need, I use methods from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Gestalt-informed counseling, CBT and creative art methods.

“Over the past six months of working with Maryna, many positive changes have taken place in my life—changes I hadn’t dared to make before. I truly appreciate this work and the space she creates.”
V., IT specialist

A counselor, not a psychotherapist

In Switzerland these are separate professions. A psychotherapist treats diagnosed mental illness. As a psychosocial counselor registered with the SGfB, holding an MSc in Psychology, I support people through adjustment, stress and big decisions, without diagnosing or prescribing. Should your situation call for treatment, I will say so openly. For the details, see Counseling vs. psychotherapy in Switzerland.

Practical details

Online is the default, which helps if you travel often or live far from a city. In-person sessions can be arranged anywhere in Switzerland if you ask. A session runs 50 minutes and costs CHF 120. Clients outside Switzerland can see the price in EUR or USD. The first conversation is a free 20-minute introduction. Please assume that Swiss basic insurance will not cover it. Languages: English, Ukrainian and Russian.

You may also want to read about relationship counseling or counseling in Russian and Ukrainian.

Questions from expats

I have just arrived. Is it too early for counseling, or is it for people who have been here for years?

Both groups come. New arrivals often want support with the first months, when everything is unfamiliar at once. People who have lived here for five or ten years tend to arrive with a different question: why does it still not feel like home? Neither is too early or too late.

I moved here for my partner’s job and gave up my own. Can counseling help with that?

Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people contact me. Losing your work, your income and your daily structure at the same moment is a real loss, even when the move was a joint decision. We look at who you are here apart from being someone’s partner, and at how to talk about it at home without it turning into blame.

I cannot decide whether to stay in Switzerland or leave. Will you tell me what to do?

No, and you would not thank me if I did. What I can do is help you separate the practical arguments from the fears, and hear which reasons are your own. Many people find the decision gets lighter once they stop trying to make it alone in their head at three in the morning.