Help For Expats

As an expat myself, I understand the variety of experiences and challenges you face.

Your typical resilience and confidence in managing all the major and minor activities of daily life may suddenly be turned upside down when having to deal with daily life in Paris. The French bureaucracy is a challenge in and of itself.

Language is often an issue as you attempt to express your adult thoughts in your best basic French….as you pass children who are more fluent than you are. This can be most frustrating!

Furthermore, if you are here on a work assignment, understanding the French formal and informal work and office culture can be challenging if not completely overwhelming, especially in this economic crisis.

If you’re single, loneliness can significantly impair your ability to be the ‘happy, well adjusted person’ you knew yourself as prior to your move to France.

If you’re in a relationship, you may experience stress, especially if you came to Paris as an ‘accompanying spouse’ and may or may not have the ability to continue your own career and other interests. We can work together to find purpose and meaning and, yes, even exhilaration for you during your stay in Paris.

I certainly have not listed all the issues you may encounter. However, I hope you will contact me with any particular concerns you may have.

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On This Page

Fear, Worry or Anxiety

One of the most common and normal emotions we have is anxiety, also known as fear or worry. For most of us, we can remember a time when we felt "stressed out," or were worried about money, an unfamiliar situation, or what other people think. Usually, anxiety acts to protect us from harm and to keep us motivated in certain ways.

For some of us, normal anxiety can become constant and/or excessive to the point of disrupting our quality of life, our daily routines, or our relationships. In some cases, anxiety can lead to panic. Anxiety disorders may develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.

Symptoms of a problem might include excessive worrying, feelings of panic, or changes in your body (such as restlessness, being tired very easily, inability to concentrate, irritability, muscle aches or tension, and/or problems with sleeping).

Anxiety problems can often be effectively treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. For many people, cognitive-behavioral therapy alone will be enough to overcome anxiety problems. In some cases, however, medication might be added as a complement to the therapy. Although anxiety problems are highly treatable, only about one-third of those suffering from an anxiety disorder seek treatment.

Sadness, Depression or Mood Swings

Feeling down, and not quite like yourself can be caused by all kinds of events and transitions, for example, the end of a relationship or feelings of homesickness.

Depression is sometimes not caused by external events, and is instead caused by your particular genetic makeup, in other words, your brain chemistry. Fortunately, there is treatment for both kinds of depression.

Depression is one of the most common psychological problems, and one that most of us have experienced to some degree. It is estimated that one person in every family has experienced a depression severe enough to warrant psychological treatment.

Some symptoms of depression include a depressed mood, loss of interest in activities that were once pleasurable, weight loss or weight gain, alterations in sleeping patterns (e.g., insomnia), feeling lethargic or agitated, feeling worthless or hopeless, being unable to concentrate, and loss of usual levels of energy.

Depression can also be manifested in loss of concentration and memory, beliefs that things are bad and cannot get better, or a negative view of yourself.

Alcohol or Drug Problems

It's not easy to control everything in life, and sometimes experimentation with drugs or alcohol can have disastrous results.

If you have tried to control drug or alcohol use, but failed, you might have a problem. Drugs and alcohol can be alluring and may even seem to help you cope with difficult problems in life, and you can get hooked.

Symptoms of drug or alcohol dependence include tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance means that it takes more and more of the drug to get the same 'high' (for example, drinking much more to get the same buzz you used to get from a smaller number of drinks).

Withdrawal means that when you stop using the drug, you have specific (and usually very uncomfortable) physical symptoms in your body.

Adjusting to Local Conditions

Couples and Marriage Counseling

Couples typically seek therapy for two reasons: enhancing their relationship and working toward problem solving towards maintaining and, indeed, enhancing their relationships or to work towards a meaningful mediated divorce or separation of some sort.

The stress of an expat situation can exacerbate latent issues. I work with couples in a non-judgmental way to explore and help each couple to find their own particular resolution.

Other Issues

If you have a problem that is not listed here, please contact me to discuss how I may be of service.

I've tried to highlight some of the most common problems that students encounter, but this list is by no means comprehensive!