A new country every few years
Each move quietly costs you the network you had just finished building. Therapy is one relationship that does not have to reset at the border.
Online counselling : Europe
An English speaking
therapist who stays
with you.
Online therapy for expats runs into the same wall everywhere: finding an English speaking counsellor abroad is unexpectedly hard, and moving country again resets the whole search. I work online in English, holding UK CPCAB Level 4, so the work continues through relocations, contract changes and border moves.
Qualified practitioner
CPCAB Level 4, UK
Registration No. 433TM4D-128-303701
UK CPCAB Level 4 qualification
Sessions in English, wherever you live
The work survives a relocation
Strictly confidential
How do I find an English speaking therapist in Europe?
English speaking therapists tend to cluster in capital cities and fill up quickly, while public systems in Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere often carry waits measured in months. Online counselling with a therapist qualified elsewhere eases both, and the sessions continue unchanged if you move to another European country.
Who I work with
Who I see across
Europe.
Most of my European clients have one thing in common: their life does not sit inside one country.
You moved for someone else's job
Your partner arrived into colleagues and a routine. You arrived into paperwork, a language course and a good many quiet afternoons.
Studying far from anyone who knows you
Exchange terms, a new academic culture, and a family who hear only the edited version.
Two passports, one relationship
Different assumptions about family, money and what a marriage owes its parents. Gottman informed sessions with both of you dialling in.
Raised between countries
Where are you from takes you a paragraph to answer. Belonging everywhere and nowhere quite carries its own weight.
Performing well, running on fumes
Strong results and a nervous system that never quite settles. We work on the pattern underneath the performance rather than on pushing harder.
Months until the first appointment
You can start now and use the public appointment when it arrives, or decide by then that you no longer need it.
Tired of searching in the wrong language?
Sessions run in English, wherever in Europe you happen to be living this year.
When you move again
What carries over,
and what does not.
Relocation usually resets everything. Here is what changes and what stays put if you move mid way through the work.
- Your counsellorStays the same
- Your history and notesNothing to repeat
- Your session timeAdjusted to your new local hours
- Your feeUnchanged
- Local crisis supportNeeds replacing, and I will help you find it
- Local insurance or reimbursementNever applied in the first place
Practicalities
What to know before
you book from Europe.
These sessions are private and self funded. Public health systems and most private insurers across the European Union reimburse only practitioners licensed within their own country, so it is safest not to count on a claim. Do ask your insurer first if the cost matters to your decision, and I am glad to provide a receipt either way.
Time zones rarely cause any trouble here. Central European hours overlap most of my working day, so a session before work, at lunch or in the early evening is usually straightforward, and we agree the time together in your own local hours.
If you need medication, a formal diagnosis, or a sick note your employer will accept, you need a clinician licensed where you live. Counselling with me can run alongside that, and in some cases it makes more sense to start there.
My approach
One approach that
travels with you.
Therapists across Europe work in very different traditions, and starting again usually means starting your story again too. I hold several methods so the work can change shape without changing hands.
Talking therapy
Unhurried sessions where you can say anything at all, and I help you find the shape of what you are feeling.
Stress management
Small, practical things you can use between sessions to ease the daily load and look after your energy.
Breathwork
Simple breathing practices that settle the nervous system when thinking alone will not reach it.
Mindful somatic work
Hakomi based approaches that follow what the body holds, useful when emotion sits below language.
Family therapy
Sessions that gently look at the patterns a family repeats together, rather than treating one person as the problem.
Couples therapy
Gottman informed work on communication, conflict, trust, and the friendship underneath the relationship.
One counsellor, however often you move.
Start now and the work travels with you to the next country.
Nature, breath and the nervous system
Finding your footing
when something strong
is running inside.
How do you learn to stay calm when you feel something strong rising?
Calm is a skill rather than a personality trait, and it is taught through the body before the mind. Slow breathing, grounding through the senses, and contact with the natural world all lower the physical arousal that fuels panic and anger. Practised in ordinary moments, those skills become available in hard ones.
Most of us arrive wanting the feeling to stop. What tends to help more is learning to stay upright while it moves through, since a wave that is ridden passes far sooner than one that is fought. Nature does a surprising amount of this work on its own, and it is the one thing that does not require paperwork in a new country. A park you can name, a walk you take on the same day each week, an hour of daylight before the screens start. Small, repeatable, and portable across borders.
Settling the body first
Simple breathing practices that lower arousal in minutes, so thinking becomes possible again.
Coming back to the room
Sensory techniques that interrupt a spiral before it gathers pace, usable anywhere and unnoticed by anyone.
Healing that draws on the outdoors
Daylight, green space and movement built into the week, because the nervous system responds to place as much as to insight.
Two minute check in
Wondering whether
therapy is for you?
Six short questions about the last two weeks, in English, with no waiting room and no referral. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
This check in gives you language for what you are noticing. It does not diagnose anything, and only a proper assessment can do that.
Question 1 of 6
Over the last two weeks, how often has worry stayed with you through the day?
Sessions and fees
One fee, wherever
you are living.
Sessions run by secure video, so all you need is a quiet room and a pair of headphones.
Single session
One to one counselling
$99
one to one session
one to one session
- Zoom or Google Meet, whichever your connection prefers
- Times arranged around Central European hours
- The same session if you move country mid way
Ongoing work
Regular sessions
$99
each session
each session
- Weekly or fortnightly, by agreement
- The same counsellor throughout
- Reviewed together as the work goes on
Couples and family
Relationship sessions
On request
booked ahead
booked ahead
- Gottman informed couples work
- Family sessions for repeating patterns
- Partners are welcome to join from two places
Booking and payment policy
Payment
Payment comes through at least 48 hours ahead, and that is what holds your slot for you.
Currency
Charged in US dollars, at the same rate for every client wherever they are. Your bank converts at the day's rate.
Cancellations
Life happens. Let me know as early as you can and I will move your session. A last minute cancellation without a genuine reason is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you.
Late cancellations
If a session is cancelled at the last minute without a genuine reason, I am not able to refund it, since the hour stays reserved and cannot go to anyone else.
Not sure it suits your situation?
Send a few lines about where you are and what is going on. I reply to every message myself.
Questions
What people ask
from across Europe.
Will my insurance or public health system cover this?
Most likely not, so it is worth planning around that. Reimbursement across the EU almost always requires a practitioner licensed in your country of residence. Some employers do cover counselling through a wellbeing allowance, which a receipt usually satisfies.
What happens if I move to another country?
Nothing changes. Same counsellor, same time slot if it still suits you, and no need to explain your history to somebody new. That continuity is the main reason people in Europe choose online work.
Do you work in languages other than English?
English and Urdu. If you would rather work in your first language and it is neither of those, I will say so honestly and you can look for someone who offers it.
I live somewhere small with no therapists at all. Does that matter?
Not at all. Clients in villages and small towns attend on the same terms as clients in Berlin or Amsterdam, and online work was arguably built for exactly that gap.
Are the sessions recorded?
No, never. Sessions are live only, and nothing is recorded, transcribed or kept afterwards.
What happens in the first session?
We spend the hour getting oriented. You describe what brings you here, I ask about your history and current situation, and together we name what you want to be different. You control how much you share on day one, and you decide afterwards whether to continue.
How many sessions will I need?
Some people find that six to eight sessions cover a specific issue. Others stay longer for deeper work. We review progress regularly and you decide when to stop.
How do payment and cancellation work?
Payment reaches me at least 48 hours before the session and confirms your slot. If you cancel at the last minute without a genuine reason the fee is not refunded, because the time stays reserved for you. Tell me as early as you can when something genuine comes up and I will move your session.
Can a therapist in one country legally see clients in another?
Online counselling across borders is widespread and, for talking therapy, generally unproblematic. What does not cross borders is local licensing, so I cannot provide a diagnosis, medication, or documentation your insurer or employer requires. For that you need a clinician registered where you live.
How do I find an English speaking therapist in my city?
Start with the local expat associations and international clinics, which is where most people look first, then widen to online practitioners once you find those lists thin or fully booked. Availability tends to be far better outside your own city than inside it, which is the main practical advantage of working online.
How long are public health system waits in Europe?
It varies enormously between countries and regions, and waits measured in months are common in several systems, including Germany and the Netherlands. Starting privately while a public referral progresses is a normal thing to do, not queue jumping.
What does therapy cost across Europe?
My fee is 99 US dollars a session, and it is the same for every client wherever they live. There is no assessment fee and no separate intake charge, so the session fee is the whole cost. Your bank converts to euros, kronor, zloty or whichever currency you hold at the day's rate, and you are welcome to ask me anything about the fee before you commit to a session.
About
A little about
who you would meet.
Mehwish Salman
Psychotherapist and Counsellor
I qualified as a psychotherapist and counsellor and I hold UK CPCAB Level 4 in therapeutic counselling, registration number 433TM4D-128-303701. I work with adults, couples and families, and I shape each session around the person in front of me rather than a fixed script.
My continuing professional development covers stress management, breathwork, Hakomi based mindful somatic approaches, family therapy, and couples therapy using Gottman methods. That range lets me bring the right tool to the right moment rather than stretching one method over every situation.
Clients across Europe often ask whether working with a British qualified counsellor causes any complication. In practice it does not, beyond the fact that local insurance will not reimburse it, which is worth knowing before you start rather than after.
UK CPCAB Level 4
Adults, couples, families
Integrative practice
Online worldwide
Booking
Two easy ways
to get started.
Send the form below or message me on WhatsApp, and do mention which country you are in so I can suggest hours that work. Most European clients are booked within a few days.
Book on WhatsAppNot sure yet? Ask anything you like first. There is no pressure to book, and questions are always welcome.
- thehealingtreepk@gmail.com
- WhatsApp, the quickest route
- Sessions by secure video, wherever in the world you are