Two years in, and still on the outside
A good job in Espoo or Helsinki, colleagues who are perfectly kind, and nobody you would ring at nine on a Sunday. Finland does reward patience, and patience gets heavy to carry.
Online counselling : Finland
Counselling in English,
through the long
Finnish winter.
Finland runs a strong public mental health system, and it runs mostly in Finnish and Swedish. If you live here without those languages, or you would simply rather do this work in English, we can start online within days.
Qualified practitioner
CPCAB Level 4, UK
Registration No. 433TM4D-128-303701
UK CPCAB Level 4 qualification
Sessions in English, not translated
Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Turku, Oulu and everywhere between
Strictly confidential
Can I get therapy in English in Finland?
Yes, though English speaking therapists concentrate in the Helsinki region and fill quickly, and the public system operates primarily in Finnish and Swedish. Online counselling with an English speaking therapist qualified abroad removes the language barrier and the queue, with the trade off that Kela reimbursement does not apply.
Who I work with
Who I see in
Finland.
Two groups come to me most: internationals who cannot find therapy in their own language, and Finns who want the distance English gives them.
The dark asking something of you
Low mood that arrives each November and lifts each spring is common enough here to be unremarkable, which does not make it any easier to live through. We work on light, movement, structure, and the thoughts the dark tends to amplify.
Aalto, Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu
Academic pressure in a second language, a thin budget, and winter arriving before you settled in.
Easier to say in another language
Some clients find their own language carries too much family history. English puts useful space between you and the words.
One Finnish, one not
Different instincts about silence, conflict and how much family belongs in a marriage. Gottman informed sessions in English, both of you joining together.
Good at your work, tired of the cost
Therapy used as a performance tool as much as a repair one: sharper focus, better recovery, and decisions made from a settled place.
Doing this without grandparents nearby
Parental leave here is generous, and it can also be very quiet when your own family is four flights away.
Waiting for the light to fix it?
It usually lifts in spring and it usually returns. Starting now means you are ready next November.
Kela and the public system
What Kela covers,
and what it does not.
Kela rehabilitative psychotherapy requires a practitioner approved within the Finnish system, so my sessions sit outside it. It seems only fair to say that in the first paragraph rather than let you discover it after three appointments. If Kela support matters more to you than working in English, your occupational health service or health centre is the better route, and I will happily say so.
What I offer instead is speed, continuity and a session that runs in your own language from the first minute. No referral, no interpreter, no explaining an idiom mid sentence while you are trying to describe something painful.
Finnish public care remains the right place for medication, diagnosis and crisis support. Occupational health is often the fastest door if you are employed here, and it is worth knocking on both.
My approach
Methods that suit
a long winter.
Finnish winters ask something particular of people, and talking alone does not always reach it. I work with the body as well as the conversation, which tends to matter more in February than in June.
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.
The dark months
A plan for November
through to March.
Seasonal low mood is common enough here to be unremarkable, which does not make it easy. This is roughly how the work moves through a Finnish winter.
Late autumn
Get ahead of it
We set up light, sleep and movement while you still have the energy to build habits, rather than waiting until you do not.
December
Protect the basics
Short days, heavy social expectations and a year ending. We keep the sessions practical and the goals small.
January
The longest stretch
Motivation is usually at its lowest here, so this is where the somatic work and the breathing practices earn their place.
February
Watch the thinking
The dark amplifies certain thoughts. We name them, test them, and stop treating them as evidence.
March onwards
Consolidate
Light returns and things lift. We use that window to work on what the winter uncovered.
No queue, no referral, no Finnish required.
Sessions in English, arranged around Finnish hours, usually within days.
Nature, breath and the nervous system
Finding your footing
when the dark
presses in.
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 great deal of this work on its own, and Finland is generous with it even in winter. Fifteen minutes of morning light, a walk on the ice, a forest twenty minutes from the tram stop, a sauna at the end of the week. None of it is a cure for low mood and all of it moves the needle, which is why we build it into the plan rather than leaving it to willpower.
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. Worth taking twice, once now and once in February, since the answers often shift with the light. 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
A clear fee,
and no queue.
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, in English throughout
- Morning, lunchtime or early evening Finnish time
- Practical tools for the darker months
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. Kela reimbursement does not apply to these sessions.
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.
Want to ask about Kela or occupational health first?
Ask me. If another route would serve you better, I will say so.
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 here sometimes ask whether an outsider can understand a Finnish winter. I would not claim to have lived one, and what I do bring is a great deal of work with people whose mood tracks the seasons, and practical methods that hold up when motivation is at its lowest.
UK CPCAB Level 4
Adults, couples, families
Integrative practice
Online worldwide
Questions
What people in Finland
usually ask.
Does Kela reimburse these sessions?
Sadly not. Kela rehabilitative psychotherapy requires a practitioner approved inside the Finnish system, and my qualification is British, so these sessions are self funded. I would rather you know that from the start than find out later.
Should I use occupational health instead?
If you are employed in Finland, occupational health is often the quickest route to an assessment and it costs you nothing, so it is worth trying. People still come to me when they want longer term work, or want it in English, or would rather keep it entirely separate from anything connected to their employer.
Do you understand seasonal low mood?
Yes, and I take it seriously rather than treating it as a mood you should push through. We work on what you can control across the dark months and on the thinking that the dark tends to magnify. Anyone whose symptoms look severe should also speak to a doctor about light therapy or medication.
What time do sessions run in Finnish time?
Finnish hours overlap most of my working day, so morning, lunchtime and early evening are all usually possible. When you get in touch we agree the time in Finnish hours, summer change included, so there is nothing to convert.
I speak good Finnish. Why would I choose English?
Some people find that their own language is too close to the family that shaped the problem. Working in English creates a small distance that can make hard things easier to say. Others prefer Finnish for exactly the opposite reason, and that is a good enough reason to look elsewhere.
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 much does private therapy cost in Finland?
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. These sessions are private and self funded. Kela supported psychotherapy is a different route altogether and needs a referral, a diagnosis and a practitioner approved within the Finnish system, none of which applies here, so treat this as work you pay for directly.
How do I get Kela rehabilitative psychotherapy?
In outline you need a psychiatric assessment, a treating relationship of at least three months, and a practitioner Kela recognises. It is a genuinely good route if you qualify and can wait. I am not part of that system, so if Kela support matters more to you than working in English, pursue it and I will say so plainly.
Can I use occupational health instead?
If you are employed in Finland, occupational health is often the quickest door and costs you nothing, so it is usually worth trying first. People still come to me afterwards for longer term work, for sessions in English, or to keep the work entirely separate from anything connected to their employer.
Is seasonal low mood really a thing, or am I imagining it?
It is very real, and in Finland it is common enough to be unremarkable. Shorter daylight affects sleep, energy and motivation, and the thoughts that arrive in that state feel more convincing than they deserve. We work on light, movement, routine and the thinking, and anyone whose symptoms are severe should also speak to a doctor about light therapy or medication.
Do I need to speak Finnish for our sessions?
Not a word. Sessions run entirely in English, with no interpreter and nothing translated. For many internationals here that is the whole point, since therapy is difficult enough without doing it in your third language.
Booking
Two easy ways
to get started.
Send the form below or message me on WhatsApp. No referral, no queue, and no Finnish required at any point. Every message comes straight to me.
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