English-speaking counsellor for women in Luxembourg

I am an English-speaking counsellor offering online sessions to women who live in Luxembourg, whether in the capital or elsewhere in the country. I work in a person-centred way by secure video from the UK. Sessions last 50 minutes and cost £45, charged in pounds. I am a trainee counsellor under supervision, and this is not Luxembourg healthcare.

Expat life in Luxembourg: almost half came from elsewhere

Luxembourg is small, and unusually international. On 1 January 2026, about 691,000 people lived in the country and 46.6% of them were foreign nationals, according to the government's official portal. In Luxembourg City the share was 70.8%. About 180 nationalities are recorded, and around 237,200 people cross the border from France, Germany and Belgium to work each day.

Language is layered. Luxembourgish, French and German are the three administrative languages. French is the main language of work, followed by Luxembourgish, German, English and Portuguese. The government describes English as the lingua franca of the international community in the European institutions, banking and industry, and cites a 2018 study finding that 80% of the population speaks it.

So English is everywhere, and yet it is rarely the language of the institutions you turn to when life gets hard. Even SOS Détresse, the national listening line, offers English on three days of the week rather than seven. That is not a criticism of a volunteer service. It is simply the reality you are working with if English is the language you feel things in.

Therapy in English in Luxembourg: what is covered, and what isn't

Luxembourg is relatively new to public funding for psychotherapy. Since February 2023, the national health fund (CNS) reimburses sessions with a psychotherapist, which it defines as a psychologist or doctor who has completed psychotherapy training approved by the state. Some points from the CNS's own guidance:

• You need a doctor's prescription. Up to three introductory sessions can start before it, as long as the prescription follows within 90 days.
• The first prescription covers a maximum of 27 sessions.
• Adults are reimbursed at 70%, children and teenagers at 100%.
• Sessions with a psychologist who doesn't have the approved psychotherapy training are not covered.

That is real progress, and my guide on how to find a therapist abroad has practical questions to ask a local practice. For an English speaker, though, there are still two questions: whether you can find a psychotherapist who works comfortably in English, and whether you want a health treatment at all, or a place to talk things through.

I can offer the second. I am a UK trainee counsellor, not a psychotherapist recognised in Luxembourg, and my sessions are not reimbursed by the CNS.

Living in Luxembourg as a woman from abroad

Luxembourg can be easy to arrive in and hard to belong to. The country is small enough that colleagues, neighbours and other parents at school overlap. That can feel warm. It can also make it harder to admit, to anyone local, that you are not coping.

SOS Détresse, the national listening service, publishes its own notes on migration. It describes the "cultural shock" of losing familiar signs, so that even "innocuous gestures have to be re-learnt," and it names loneliness, nostalgia and frustration as stress reactions to the effort of adapting. Its point is a gentle one: these feelings are understandable, and it is better to talk before they grow.

For women, some of this may look like:

• working in French all day, speaking English at home, and feeling you no longer have a language that is fully yours
• having moved for a partner's job, perhaps in banking or one of the European institutions, and finding your own plans quietly shelved (see the trailing spouse page)
• bringing up children who are becoming Luxembourgish in ways you are not
• carrying family expectations from a culture that values duty and closeness, while living a very different life (identity and belonging)
• a loneliness that is hard to explain when the country is so small and so friendly on the surface (expat loneliness, or try the short, private loneliness test)

If you come from a South Asian or other collectivist background, you may also find my page on counselling for South Asian women useful. And if you would like something to read in English first, my list of free mental health resources for expats and migrants has been checked link by link.

How online counselling from Luxembourg works

We meet by secure video for 50 minutes, at a time you book online. Luxembourg is one hour ahead of the UK throughout the year, since both change their clocks on the same Sundays in March and October. A 6pm session for me is 7pm for you.

The fee is £45 per session, charged in pounds, and your bank may add a conversion fee. A small number of lower-cost places are kept for students, trainees and people on a low income. You can read the details on the fees page and choose a time on the booking page.

You don't need to know exactly what you want to talk about. Some people begin with something as simple as "I don't feel like myself here." If you have never had counselling, this guide on what to expect in your first session may settle a few nerves.

Who I am: a trainee counsellor under supervision

My name is Michelle Fernando. I am a trainee person-centred counsellor and a BACP student member, working under regular clinical supervision. I am studying for an MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University, I hold a BSc in Psychology from Coventry University, and I have worked as a placement counsellor both in the UK and in Sri Lanka.

Person-centred counselling rests on three things: trying to understand your world from the inside, accepting you without conditions, and being honest and real with you. I won't tell you how to live. I am particularly interested in how culture, family and migration shape the way we see ourselves.

My sessions are delivered from the UK. They are not part of Luxembourg's health system and I am not registered as a health professional in Luxembourg.

When you need local help in Luxembourg instead

If you are in danger or thinking about ending your life, please contact local services now rather than waiting for a session. Call 112, or SOS Détresse on 45 45 45. English-speaking volunteers answer on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 11pm. My page of verified mental health and women's support services in Luxembourg City lists local emergency, listening and violence support services, and the national numbers are on mental health helplines in Luxembourg.

I also don't work with psychosis, eating disorders, specialist trauma treatment, addiction, couples or children. Your GP can prescribe CNS-reimbursed psychotherapy or refer you to a psychiatrist. For other countries and cities, see the English-speaking counsellor overview.