Things people ask me
before they reach out.
Whether you're an expat, an international couple, a company, or an event organiser, the questions people ask most about working with me are gathered here.
Yes. I'm a licensed psychologist and EMCC-certified executive coach. I've lived in three countries and more than 20 cities, and for over 20 years I've worked with internationally mobile professionals, expat couples, and global organisations. Sessions are in English, Spanish, and German.
I know expat life from the inside as well as from the textbook.
You can work with me at any stage. Many clients come to me before a relocation to get clear on what's coming, or after returning home, when reverse culture shock hits harder than they expected. Expat life starts well before the airport and continues long after it.
Yes. As a licensed psychologist, I am bound by professional and legal confidentiality, and what we discuss stays between us. The standard legal exceptions involve imminent risk of harm, and I explain them clearly in our first session.
Write to me here or at hello@gabriela-encina.com. Tell me a little about what's going on and we'll take it from there.
I work with global professionals living away from home: expats, internationals, third-culture kids who grew up across countries, people on long-term assignments abroad, repats settling back home and partners who moved for someone else's career.
Many of my clients are high achievers who hold a lot together at work and feel unmoored underneath. The common thread is a life lived across borders, and the questions that come with it.
Culture shock, isolation and the feeling of being permanently new are some of the most common things I work with, and they're often underestimated. What looks like a bad week can be a deeper identity shift that deserves attention.
My sessions are online, one-to-one and grounded in CBT, ACT and coaching tools. Learn more about individual counselling →
It's common, and it deserves attention. High-achieving expats often carry the weight of performing at work while struggling outside of it. Holding it all together in a second language, in a culture that still feels foreign, in a city where you have little history yet, is exhausting in ways that can be hard to put into words.
It depends on what you're working on. Some clients come for a focused six to twelve sessions around a specific transition or decision. Others stay longer for deeper work on patterns they've carried for years.
We review progress together regularly. The goal is for you to leave when you feel ready to continue on your own.
Your first session is a 70-minute intake, online via secure video. We start with what brought you here, then look at your situation, your goals and the support that fits. By the end, you'll know how I work and we'll decide together whether to continue.
The individual intake session is €250 for 70 minutes, and the couples intake is €300 for 90 minutes. Packages and single-session prices are listed on each service page. Payment is private and processed securely before each session.
If your insurance or employer benefits cover therapy abroad, I can issue a detailed invoice for you to submit for reimbursement, case by case.
Sessions cancelled or rescheduled with at least 48 hours' notice are free of charge. Later cancellations are billed in full, since the time was reserved for you.
My practice is private outpatient therapy. If you are in immediate crisis, please contact emergency services in your country, your local crisis line or your nearest emergency department. Once you feel steadier, I'm happy to talk about what longer-term support could look like.
If you feel more like flatmates than partners, if arguments keep circling back to the same unresolved thing, or if one of you gave up a career or a country for the other and the weight of that is starting to show, those are signs worth paying attention to.
Expat life puts relationships under a specific kind of pressure. See how couples counselling works →
Yes. One of you can speak English while the other speaks Spanish or German within the same session, and I bridge between you in real time.
The hard truths often live in the mother tongue. When you both speak in yours, the work goes deeper, faster.
Yes, and it's one of the conversations I have most often. Following a partner abroad can mean putting your own career, friendships and identity on hold for someone else's opportunity. That's a loss, even when you chose it.
We work on rebuilding a sense of self and direction that belongs to you.
Most of the time, yes. Couples work happens with both of you in the room. Sometimes an individual session for one partner serves the couple's work, and we decide that case by case, openly with both of you.
Many couples arrive this way. One partner books the session and the other agrees with mixed feelings. My job in the first session is to help you both feel heard, including the one who is less sure about being there.
Sessions are 70 minutes. The first session, the intake, is 90 minutes, so you can both share where you are and I can understand the bigger picture.
Sessions are online via secure video. You can join together from one screen or each from your own device, wherever you are.
I speak at international conferences, summits, global mobility and entrepreneur events, leadership gatherings and storytelling stages.
Audiences remember stories. Each keynote blends real stories from sessions and conference halls, evidence-based psychology and humour, and I adapt it to your theme and audience. Choose from three signature keynotes or a bespoke talk. See topics and formats →
Full keynotes in English and Spanish. Shorter talks, panels and Q&A sessions in German. All three with the same warmth and the same sting.
Europe is my home base, and I travel worldwide for in-person keynotes. I've travelled to five continents for engagements so far. If your event is somewhere new to me, send the brief. Chances are I'll say yes.
30, 45 or 60 minutes, depending on what your event needs. Longer formats include more storytelling and Q&A. Shorter formats land one sharp idea that stays with the audience.
Six months ahead is ideal, and three months is the usual minimum for an in-person engagement. For closer dates, send the request anyway. Exceptions happen.
Supporting the people you move abroad protects your investment in them. A keynote or workshop gives them language for what they're carrying and practical tools they can use the next day. Let's talk about your team →
Ask me directly. Write to me.
Whether you're an event booker building a programme that moves people, an individual wondering if we're a good fit, a couple living abroad together or a company supporting international talent, write to me.