Individual Therapy
Individual therapy is a space to understand what is happening to you, put into words what may be difficult to express, and find new ways of relating to yourself and to your environment.
From a systemic and Gestalt perspective, we understand each person in relation to their context. We are not separate from the relationships we have, our personal history, our family, our relationships, the life stage we are going through, or the social and cultural environment in which we live.
For this reason, therapy is not only about looking “within”, but also about exploring how we relate to what surrounds us and what patterns may be repeating in our relationships and in the way we face different situations.
What does the therapeutic process look like?
Every therapeutic process is different because every person comes to therapy with their own history, needs and particular life circumstances. There is no predetermined path or formula that works for everyone.
During the first sessions, we take time to get to know each other, understand what brings you to therapy and explore what is happening in your life at this particular moment. We may also look at aspects of your personal history and relationships that can help us better understand your current situation.
From a Gestalt perspective, we pay particular attention to what is happening in the present: your emotions, thoughts, bodily sensations and ways of relating, both inside and outside the therapy room. The aim is not simply to analyse what is happening, but to develop greater awareness of what you need, how you respond to certain situations and what possibilities you have to respond differently.
From a systemic perspective, we look at the person within their relationships and contexts. We explore significant relationships, the roles we take on, the expectations placed upon us and the patterns of interaction that may be influencing our distress.
Throughout the process, therapist and client build a trusting space together in which it is possible to explore, question and experiment with new ways of being in relationship.
Individual therapy, also when you are an expat
Living in another country does not mean that you need a different kind of psychotherapy.
The individual therapeutic process has the same foundation: you, your history, your relationships, your needs and what you are experiencing are at the centre of the therapy.
However, when someone has moved to another country or lives away from their cultural context of origin, the intercultural dimension can become an important part of the work. This is not because every difficulty experienced by an expat is necessarily related to their experience of living abroad, but because living between different cultures can influence the way we relate to others, make decisions, construct our identity or understand what is happening to us.
When intercultural experience becomes part of therapy
Moving to another country can involve much more than changing where you live.
It can mean adapting to new ways of communicating, relating or working; rebuilding a social network; being far away from family and familiar relationships; encountering different values or customs; or wondering which parts of your identity you want to preserve and which are changing.
Sometimes, experiences arise that are difficult to explain precisely because they exist in the space between cultures: feeling that you no longer fully fit into your place of origin, while also not quite feeling part of the place where you now live; missing aspects of your previous life while enjoying your new one; or experiencing conflicts between the expectations of your original environment and the decisions you are making now.
From a systemic and Gestalt perspective, these experiences can be explored without reducing them to an “expat problem”.
The question is not only “how are you adapting to another country?”, but also:
What is happening in your life and relationships at this moment, and what place does your intercultural experience have within all of this?
Culture can emerge in therapy as another part of the person’s context. It may be central at one point and become less prominent at another. What matters is being able to explore it whenever it feels meaningful to you.
A space to understand and experiment
Therapy can help you develop greater awareness of what you need and how you relate to what happens to you.
It is not about giving you ready-made answers, but about accompanying you through a process of exploration in which you can better understand your experiences, recognise your own resources and expand your possibilities for choice.
If you are also living away from your country of origin, therapy can provide a space where all these dimensions — personal, relational, family, social and intercultural — can have a place, without any one of them defining who you are.
Therapy is, above all, an encounter between two people. Cultural context becomes part of that encounter when it is relevant to what you are experiencing.