An English-speaking counsellor for women living in Spain

I am an English-speaking counsellor offering person-centred counselling by secure video to women living anywhere in Spain. I am a trainee counsellor based in the UK, a BACP student member, and I work under regular clinical supervision. Sessions cost £45, charged in pounds. This is counselling delivered from the UK. It is not Spanish healthcare, and I am not a psicóloga general sanitaria.

Finding an English-speaking therapist in Spain

On 1 July 2026, 7,437,543 foreign nationals were living in Spain, out of a population of 49,801,559, according to provisional figures from the national statistics institute (INE). That is roughly one person in seven.

If you live in Barcelona, my Barcelona page looks at the city itself. This page is about Spain as a whole, for anyone in Madrid, Valencia, Málaga, the Balearics, the Canaries or a pueblo inland.

Spain is easy to love from a holiday. Living here is different. You might have come for the light and the slower pace, and found that the paperwork is anything but slow. You might work remotely for a company in another country and realise your closest daily contact is the person at the bakery. That slow kind of isolation has a page of its own, expat loneliness, and the three-question loneliness test is a private way to put words to it.

How mental health care works in Spain

In the public system, the usual first step is primary care: your local health centre and your family doctor. The Ministry of Health's national mental health strategy describes care starting there, with referral on to mental health centres for more specialist help. It is also frank about the weaknesses. Among them, it lists fragmented mental health care and the absence of complete teams of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses and social workers.

What this means in practice depends on your region and your health centre. I couldn't find a recent official national figure for how long people wait to see a psychologist in the public system, so I won't guess one. What is clear is that most of the process happens in Spanish, or in the regional language where you live.

If you hold private health insurance, check your own policy carefully. Whether it covers psychological care, and with whom, is set by the policy rather than by the public system.

The strategy also lists teleconsultation among the tools it wants to develop for mental health care. If English is your stronger language, it is worth asking your health centre what options exist where you live, and whether an interpreter or a colleague who speaks English can join. My guide on how to find a therapist abroad covers the questions worth asking, and my free resources for living abroad collect checked self-help while you look.

Protected titles, and why I am a counsellor

In Spain, Psicólogo General Sanitario is a regulated health profession. Spain's public health law sets out that it requires a degree in psychology plus an official master's degree in general health psychology. Clinical psychologists in the public system complete a separate specialist training.

I don't hold either qualification, and I don't use those titles. I am a trainee person-centred counsellor, studying for an MSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Keele University, and a student member of the BACP. I see clients online from the UK under regular clinical supervision. My fee is lower than a qualified practitioner's because I am still in training.

My sessions aren't part of the public health system, and you shouldn't expect a Spanish insurer to reimburse them.

Online therapy in English in Spain: how it works

If you have been searching for an English therapist in Spain, or for therapy for expats in Spain that you can start without a referral, this is the practical side.

We meet by secure video for 50 minutes. You need a private space and a stable connection. Mainland Spain and the Balearics are one hour ahead of the UK, and the Canary Islands share UK time, which makes evening sessions straightforward. Sessions are in English, and you can read what to expect in your first counselling session before you book.

The fee is £45 per session, charged in pounds, and your bank may add a conversion fee. I keep a few low-cost places for students, trainees and people on low income. I ask for 48 hours' notice to cancel. See the fees page or book a first session.

What counselling with me is like

I work in a person-centred way. I won't diagnose you, set tasks or tell you what you should do. I'll listen closely, try to understand how things feel from inside your life, and trust you to find your own direction.

You might want to talk about boundaries with family, about a move that hasn't turned out as you pictured, or about anxiety that seems to have travelled with you. It's okay to arrive unsure. You can read about me first if that helps.

When online counselling isn't the right support

I don't provide crisis care, and I don't work with active suicidal intent, psychosis, eating disorders, addiction treatment, specialist trauma treatment, couples or children. If any of these apply, please contact your health centre or the numbers below. Your family doctor at the centro de salud is also the route to the public mental health centres.

If you don't feel safe at home, please don't wait for a counselling slot. My page on domestic abuse and women's safety lists free, checked support, and the helplines in Spain page gives the national lines with their hours and languages.

Crisis support in Spain

If you are in danger now, call 112.

• Línea 024. The Ministry of Health's line for people with suicidal thoughts, and for their families and friends. Free, confidential, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. There is also an online chat run with the Red Cross, and video access in sign language. The official page doesn't say whether calls can be taken in English.

If you live in Barcelona, my page of support services in Barcelona lists local crisis, mental health and women's services.

These details were checked on the official websites listed below on 19 October 2026.