Illness and medical care during relocation
Relocation changes many things at once. When illness, a medical investigation or ongoing treatment is also in the picture, you may need to deal with an unfamiliar system at a time when stability matters more than usual. The language is different, talking with doctors may work differently, and the people who usually help may be far away.
A free 15-minute call first. I usually reply within 2 working days.
You might recognise
- I arrived with a diagnosis I already had, and I now have to keep treatment going in a system I do not know.
- I am telling my medical history again to people who have never met me, often in a language that is not the one I think in.
- I am afraid they will not understand the condition, or me.
- I received a new diagnosis far from home, and the people I would usually call are not here.
- I have been in investigation for a long time, and I still do not understand how this system works.
- I have become dependent on my partner for language, transport or forms, and I do not like who that makes me.
- I am trying to work, or parent, through a health crisis, without a local network to lean on yet.
Why it happens
I have been living abroad for almost two years. I know what it is like to move between healthcare systems, to explain a medical history again, and to sit with uncertainty while it is still unclear how the local system works. That experience does not replace professional knowledge of every healthcare system. It does help me understand the load of dealing with illness, a new language and life in another country at the same time. Relocation already asks a lot: housing, work, language, and the loss of the people who usually help. Illness, investigation or ongoing treatment adds a second load. You may need to retell a medical history to clinicians who do not know you. Communication with doctors can follow different rules. A partner may become the interpreter, the driver and the one who fills in the forms. Homesickness and not belonging sit heavier when the body is also asking for attention. None of this means you are failing to settle. It is a lot to carry at once, in a period when the body already asks for care.
How therapy helps here
- Making sense of the diagnosis and the change
- A diagnosis, or a change in treatment, needs time to land. We make room for what it has done to identity, to the body and to the life you had planned, without treating the illness as something you should already have adapted to.
- Living with uncertainty
- Waiting for results, not knowing how a local clinic works, and not knowing who to ask are different kinds of uncertainty. We separate what can be prepared for from what cannot, so the waiting does not take over the whole week.
- Appointments, tests and finding a voice
- We prepare for appointments, tests and procedures: what you want to ask, what you need in the room, and how to say it when the language or the culture of the clinic is not yours. This is not coaching in a foreign healthcare system. It is help with the fear and the silence that can sit around those meetings.
- Independence, support and daily life
- Illness abroad can make a person newly dependent, or newly alone. We look at what that does to relationships, parenting and work, and at how to build some support where you are now, without pretending a network appears on demand.
What the first sessions look like
- Sessions are online, in Hebrew or English.
- Before we book, we check whether therapy can take place in the country you are physically in. You are welcome to write from another country. An enquiry is not a commitment to start.
- You do not need to send diagnoses, test results or a full medical history. A sentence about what is happening, and where you are, is enough.
- If I am not the right person, or if I cannot work where you are, I will say so.
You do not need to already know how the system works, or already have people around you, in order to write.
What this does not replace
This is not an emergency service, and it is not the right setting for an acute medical crisis. It does not replace a doctor, a dietitian, a social worker, or advice on insurance, entitlements or immigration. It is also not general therapy for all the difficulties of moving country. When you need local information about healthcare, or help that cannot wait, that belongs with someone qualified in the country you are in.
Common questions
What does a session cost, and how long is it?
An individual session is 45-50 minutes and costs €130. A group session is 90 minutes and costs €70-100. All sessions are online, in Hebrew or English. The first 15-minute call has no fee.
I do not live in Israel or the Netherlands. Can I still write?
Yes. Write from where you are. Before we arrange a session we will check whether I can provide therapy in the country you are physically in. An enquiry is not a commitment, and I will say if I cannot work there.
Should I send my medical file?
No. Please do not send diagnoses, test results or a full medical history with a first message. A short sentence about what is going on, and the country you are in, is enough.
Is this therapy for relocation in general?
No. I work with the emotional effects of illness, medical investigation and treatment. Relocation is the setting here, not a separate specialty. If the main difficulty is the move itself and there is no medical situation, I am probably not the right person, and I will say so.
Do you know the healthcare system in my country?
I do not claim knowledge of every healthcare system, and I do not give medical, insurance or immigration advice. What I know from my own move is the load of explaining yourself again and not yet knowing how the local system works. Practical questions about entitlements belong with a local professional.
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Unsure whether to write?
Write one sentence about what is going on. I will say if I work with that, and if not, where else to look.
A free 15-minute call first. I usually reply within 2 working days.