Counselling for Expats in Australia
Moving countries is exciting and destabilising at once. Warm, professional support for the homesickness, loneliness and identity questions that come with building a life somewhere new, online anywhere in Australia or in person in Melbourne's east.
The part of the move nobody warns you about
You leave behind far more than a place. You leave your friends, your shorthand, your sense of being competent and known, the version of you everyone already understood. Rebuilding all of that, in a new culture, takes enormous energy, and you are often doing it while homesick and putting a brave face on for the people back home.
Whether you have just arrived, moved for work or love, or have been here a while and still feel between two worlds, you do not have to work it out on your own.
Whatever you are carrying, it is a valid reason to reach out
Homesickness & grief
Missing people, places and a life that carries on without you. A real loss, even when the move was your choice.
Loneliness
Making friends as an adult in a new culture is slow, and the early months can feel isolating.
Identity & belonging
Feeling not quite at home here, and no longer quite at home there.
Relationship strain
A move tests couples and families, especially when one partner settles faster than the other.
Guilt & pressure
Feeling you should be grateful or happy, which makes it harder to admit you are struggling.
Distance from support
The people who would normally hold you are in a different time zone.
How counselling helps
Counselling gives you a steady, neutral space that is entirely yours: somewhere to process the grief and loneliness, make sense of the identity shift, and rebuild a sense of belonging and routine. It also helps with the anxiety and low mood that big transitions can stir up. When your usual support network is on the other side of the world, having someone in your corner here matters.
Support that travels with you
Because sessions are available by secure video across Australia, you can keep the same counsellor even if you move cities, and meet from wherever you are. Read more about online counselling.
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Free 15-minute call
A relaxed, no-obligation chat about what is going on and whether I am the right fit. From anywhere in Australia.
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Your first session
60 minutes, online via secure video or in person in Melbourne’s east. Your story, at your pace.
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Ongoing support
Practical, steady support as you process the move and rebuild a sense of belonging, reviewed together as you go.
Counselling for expats at a glance
Metanoia Counselling offers counselling for expats, new arrivals and people relocating, online across Australia and in person in Melbourne’s east. Sessions are 60 minutes with Megan Bodnar, an ACA Registered Counsellor, at $140, with no GP referral needed. Support covers homesickness, loneliness, identity and belonging, relationship strain and the everyday stress of adjusting to a new country. New clients start with a free 15-minute call.
Counselling for expats: FAQs
A new country is a big thing to carry alone.
The call is free, private, and there's no obligation.