English-speaking counsellor in Frankfurt, online

I'm an English-speaking counsellor offering online sessions to women in Frankfurt. We meet by secure video for 50 minutes, in English, and evening sessions are available. The fee is £45, charged in pounds. I'm a UK trainee counsellor working under supervision, so this is person-centred counselling from the UK, separate from German healthcare.

English speakers in Frankfurt: an international city

Frankfurt is one of Germany's most international cities. At the end of 2023, the city counted 244,401 residents with foreign citizenship, 31.7% of its registered population, from 179 different countries. The largest increase that year was among Indian citizens, followed by people from Afghanistan, China and Iran.

The banking sector brings its own international workforce. The European Central Bank alone employed an average of 4,388 full-time equivalent staff in 2025, drawn from across Europe, and that's before counting the commercial banks, law firms and consultancies around them.

So if you're living in Frankfurt in a language that isn't your first, you have plenty of company. That doesn't always make it less lonely. The free resources for expats and migrants are a useful place to start reading.

What expat life in Frankfurt can feel like

Picture a familiar Frankfurt pattern. One of you came for a contract at a bank or the ECB, the other came along, and the plan was always "a few years". Three years later, the job has been extended, the children are in a German Kita, and you can no longer tell if you're settling in or still waiting to leave.

That in-between feeling is common in cities built around fixed-term contracts. It can be hard to invest in friendships when everyone, including you, might be posted elsewhere next year. If you gave up your own work to make the move possible, my page on the trailing spouse may feel familiar.

Then there's the work itself. Long hours, high stakes and a culture where showing strain can feel risky. You might be highly competent in the office and running on empty everywhere else. If that sounds like you, the page on burnout might be a useful place to start, and the free burnout test gives you a private snapshot.

Family life adds its own layer. You might be raising children who switch between German at Kita, English at home and a third language on video calls with their grandparents. You might be the person who flies back for every illness and every wedding, and quietly wonders how much longer that can go on. Parenting far from your own parents can make ordinary tiredness feel heavier, because there's nobody nearby who simply takes the baby for an afternoon.

Frankfurt's growing South Asian community is part of the city's story too. If family duty, marriage expectations or "what will people say" are part of what you carry, my page on counselling for South Asian women and families may speak to that more directly.

Finding an English-speaking therapist in Frankfurt

A few things are useful to know if you're new to the German system.

• First consultation through 116117. The national appointment service can arrange an initial psychotherapy consultation, a "psychotherapeutische Sprechstunde", without a referral. The service itself works in German.
• Protected titles. In Germany only licensed practitioners may call themselves Psychotherapeutin or Psychotherapeut (§ 1 PsychThG). I don't use either title. Anyone offering support under a different title can be asked what their training is. I explain my own position in can a UK counsellor see clients abroad?
• Crisis help is organised locally. Unlike Bavaria, Hesse has no single statewide crisis line. The Hessian government told the state parliament in March 2026 that out-of-hours crisis help is coordinated by local social psychiatric services, and that a new state programme to support regional crisis services begins in 2026.

In Frankfurt, that local service is the Psychosozialer Krisendienst, listed by FRANS, the city's suicide prevention network, which is based at the Frankfurt health department. It answers on 069 611375 every evening and from the morning at weekends. FRANS also lists the emergency services of the psychiatric clinics responsible for Frankfurt, for situations where medical help is needed.

If your employer offers an employee assistance programme, it may include a few counselling sessions, sometimes in English. It's worth checking your benefits before you pay for anything. My guide on how to find a therapist abroad has questions to ask any service you are considering.

How online counselling works from Frankfurt

• Time zone: Frankfurt is one hour ahead of the UK all year. Evening sessions are available, UK time, so a 7pm session for me starts at 8pm for you.
• Format: secure video, 50 minutes. You'll need a private room and a stable connection. Headphones help if you share a flat. What to expect in your first counselling session explains how the first meeting usually goes.
• Language: English.
• Fee: £45 per session, charged in pounds, so your bank may add a small conversion fee. A few lower-cost places are kept for students, trainees and people on a low income. See the fees page.
• Insurance: German insurers are unlikely to reimburse counselling delivered from the UK, so please plan to pay the fee yourself.

When you're ready, you can book a session.

Who you'd be talking to: a UK trainee counsellor

I'm Michelle Fernando, a trainee person-centred counsellor and BACP student member, working under regular clinical supervision. I'm completing an MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University and counsel on placement at Axis Counselling in Shrewsbury. I've also worked as a placement counsellor at FPA Sri Lanka and as an intern at Deep Haven Counseling in Colombo.

In person-centred counselling you set the agenda. I won't give you a diagnosis or a programme to follow. I'll try to understand what life in Frankfurt is like for you, including the mixed feelings that don't fit neatly into a conversation at work. If you're comparing options, my page on online therapy for expats explains more about working across borders.

When to look for local help in Frankfurt instead

I'm not a substitute for local care. Please contact local services rather than me if you're in danger, thinking about ending your life, or need urgent medical help. Call 112, the Krisendienst on 069 611375 during its hours, or TelefonSeelsorge on 116 123 at any time. Women affected by violence can call 116 016, which offers counselling in English with interpreters, and the free safety information for women sets out options.

I also don't work with psychosis, eating disorders, specialist trauma treatment, addiction, couples or children. In those situations a Hausarzt, a psychiatric clinic or a licensed psychotherapist found through 116117 is the better route. The Germany overview and the Germany helplines page collect more options across the country.