FINDING YOUR PLACE ABROAD: SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ITALY

Studying abroad is often described as the adventure of a lifetime. And while it certainly can be, it’s not the whole story. For many international students, especially those arriving in Italy, the experience is also one of disorientation, loneliness, and the deep question: Where do I belong?

I understand this from both sides. I’m Italian, but I spent my entire twenties studying, living, and working abroad. I know what it feels like to start again in a new city, to speak in another language, to sit in a classroom where everyone seems to “get it” faster than you, and to wonder whether you’ll ever really feel at home.

As a psychologist, I now work with expats here in Italy, including many international students. Together, we explore not just the challenges of adapting, but also the possibilities for growth, resilience, and self-discovery.

The Hidden Side of Student Life Abroad

For international students, moving to Italy is often full of contrasts. There’s excitement in discovering new cities, food, and culture—and at the same time, there can be isolation, culture shock, and the ongoing effort of navigating everything in a second language.

Students often tell me about missing their families, about the pressure to succeed academically while trying to build a new social circle, or about feeling “caught between worlds”—not fully at home in Italy, yet no longer the same person they were back home. These experiences are not signs of failure. They are part of the very real emotional journey of studying abroad.

How Therapy Can Help

In our work together, I draw from Gestalt therapy and relational approaches. This means we focus not only on your story, but also on how your experience shows up in the present moment—your emotions, your thoughts, and the ways your body responds when you talk about life abroad.

Through our conversations, we bring awareness to these experiences so that new choices and perspectives can emerge. From a relational perspective, therapy itself becomes a supportive connection: a place where you don’t need to explain or perform, where your feelings are received with empathy. This relationship can be especially meaningful for international students who often feel unseen or misunderstood in their new environment.

Working Together in Italy

Therapy in English can be especially helpful when living abroad. Being able to express yourself fully in a language that is familiar to you often brings relief—you don’t have to translate your feelings or search for words. And because I have lived abroad for so long myself, I bring both professional knowledge and lived understanding to the expat student experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to speak Italian to go to therapy in Italy?

Not at all. Many therapists in Italy, myself included, offer therapy in English. This can make a huge difference for international students, since it allows you to share your thoughts and feelings without language barriers.

How can therapy help with homesickness and culture shock?

Therapy provides a safe space to process the emotional impact of living abroad. By exploring your feelings with support, you can find new ways of coping with homesickness, adjusting to cultural differences, and building a stronger sense of belonging.

Is it normal to struggle even if I chose to study abroad?

Yes. Choosing to study abroad doesn’t mean it will always feel easy or joyful. It’s common to feel conflicted—to both love the adventure and miss home deeply. Therapy can help you hold both of these truths without feeling like you are failing.

What if I only plan to stay in Italy for a short time?

Even short-term therapy can be valuable. The skills and insights you develop in our sessions will stay with you, no matter where you move next. Some students even decide to keep our sessions going online when they move away from Italy.

A Final Thought

Being a student expat is a profound experience—it can be disorienting, but also deeply transformative. You don’t have to navigate this journey alone. With support, the challenges you face can also become stepping stones toward growth, self-awareness, and a fuller sense of belonging.

If you are an international student in Italy and would like to explore how therapy could support you, book an intro call, I would be honored to walk alongside you.

COPING WITH OVERWHELMING EMOTIONS

From my experience as an expat psychologist

In my life and practice as a psychologist, I often get faced with the need to find adaptive ways to process situations and events that have a high emotional charge, or load.

It can be a blessing to feel everything and so much, but sometimes the intensity or the novelty of what is happening in our lives, takes us to places that we don't feel we can control, or manage, effectively.

Depending on the content and the characteristics of what we're dealing with, we can feel angry, sad, anxious, blessed and confused, and all of these - and more - at the same time.

Getting to know, name and witness our emotions, as they arise and guide us in more or less conscious decisions, is crucial in living a fulfilling life. One that we feel we can inhabit with our whole self, and one that we don't have to hide from. Stepping up in taking the responsibility for what we're creating (and instead dropping it for what we're not), is fundamental in starting a shift from victimhood and helplessness, to confidence and agency.

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Here are some of the ways I help my clients in achieving that:

Grounding in the Here and Now: One of the core principles of the way I do therapy is the emphasis on staying in the present moment. When emotions become overwhelming, it can be helpful to focus on our immediate sensory experiences. Paying attention to our breath, the sensations in our body, or the surroundings. Through this, we stay connected to the here and now rather than getting lost in the intensity of our emotions.

Expressing and Owning Emotions: It is important to acknowledge and express your emotions rather than suppressing or denying them. We give space and permission to feeling whatever there is without judgment. I encourage you to use statements such as "I feel angry" instead of "You make me angry."

The Empty Chair: This technique involves imagining a person or a part of the self in an empty chair and having a dialogue with it. This allows feelings and projections to be processed and owned. We sometimes also discover perspectives of a situation which weren't conscious before.

Practicing Suspending Judgement: When we start assessing and exploring situations and reality through our dialogue, and judgements come up, I encourage you to see them and name them, while at the same time suspending them. We strive to give space to whatever judgement is present, even the ones arising between us, and then move away from the need to naming it right or wrong. We simply put it in brackets and we move on.

Exploring the Polarities: Often polarities or conflicting parts of oneself come out when we start seeing all the sides of an experience. Sometimes they're cooperative and collaborative with each other, and sometimes they're very conflicting. By exploring and integrating these parts, we achieve a greater sense of self-awareness and emotional balance.

Integrating and Giving Closure to any Unfinished Business: Once we have explored and expressed emotions, I help you integrate the experience. This may involve finding closure, resolving conflicts, or developing a deeper sense of resolution with whatever happened.

Homework and Self-Exploration: Whenever it is relevant and appropriate, we may come up with ways you can continue to grow in between therapy sessions. It has included paying attention to specific dynamics, journaling, mindfulness practices, or experimenting with new ways of responding to emotions and situations.

Overall, we strive to engage with emotions in an experiential way, while gaining insight, healing emotional wounds, and developing healthier ways of relating to ourselves and the world.

In my personal practice, I have found that these principles can be a huge asset in helping clients who moved countries in navigating new situations. In my work, I integrate those with my personal experience and intuition, to help expats, people of mixed backgrounds, or simply English-speaking folks, in navigating, adapting and flourishing into their new lives in Italy and elsewhere.

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WHAT IS GESTALT THERAPY

And how it works

Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy that was developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman in the 1940s and 1950s. It is based on the principles of Gestalt psychology, which emphasizes the importance of understanding the whole person, their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and experiences in the present moment. The word "Gestalt" comes from the German word meaning "shape" or "form," and in this context, it refers to the idea of perceiving the whole picture rather than just individual parts.

The main goal of Gestalt therapy is to help individuals gain self-awareness and insight into their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It aims to increase personal responsibility and encourage clients to take ownership of their actions and choices. Gestalt therapists believe that unresolved issues from the past can interfere with living fully in the present, so they focus on the "here and now" experiences of the client.

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Here are some key principles and techniques used in Gestalt therapy:

Holism: Gestalt therapy considers individuals as integrated wholes, not just a collection of separate parts. The therapist helps clients become aware of their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations as interconnected aspects of their experience.

Awareness: Clients are encouraged to pay attention to their ongoing thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations in the present moment. By increasing self-awareness, clients can better understand their reactions and patterns.

Contact and Resistance: Gestalt therapists pay attention to how clients make contact with others and the world around them. They explore patterns of avoidance, withdrawal, or confrontation to help clients understand their coping mechanisms.

Dialogue and Experimentation: Gestalt therapists often engage in a direct and interactive dialogue with their clients. They may use role-playing, empty-chair techniques, or other experiments to help clients gain insight into unresolved issues or conflicting feelings.

Taking Responsibility: Clients are encouraged to take responsibility for their feelings, actions, and choices. This empowers them to make changes in their lives and break free from old patterns that may no longer serve them.

Unfinished Business: Gestalt therapy believes that unresolved past experiences can create emotional and behavioral issues in the present. By addressing and completing these "unfinished business" situations, clients can experience healing and growth.

Supportive Environment: The therapist provides a supportive and non-judgmental environment where clients can explore their thoughts and feelings without fear of criticism or rejection.

It's important to note that Gestalt therapy is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and its effectiveness depends on each one's personality, preferences, and specific concerns. Like all forms of therapy, the success of Gestalt therapy depends on the therapeutic alliance between the client and the therapist and the client's willingness to engage in a co-created process of self-exploration and personal growth.

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