The Expat Therapist: Navigating Mental Health

Ariel Roberts

"The Expat Therapist: Navigating Mental Health Abroad" is a podcast that offers insights, advice, and strategies for expats needing guidance with mental health struggles on their journey and guidance for individuals anticipating a move abroad. Hosted by a licensed clinical therapist and fellow expat, the show aims to help listeners overcome the unique challenges of moving and living abroad and achieve greater well-being and happiness. 

  1. 13. Juli

    Becoming Her Stories: Meg's Journey Through Languages, Identity & Life Abroad

    ✨ Join the 7-Day Become Her Abroad Challenge here! What happens when you've lived in multiple countries, speak multiple languages, and have had to reinvent yourself over and over again? In this episode, I'm joined by fellow expat Meg as she shares her incredible journey of becoming—not just abroad, but within herself. From working on a cruise ship and experiencing life across different cultures to speaking multiple languages (and noticing how different parts of her personality emerge in each one), Meg's offers a refreshingly honest perspective on what it means to continually adapt, grow, and redefine yourself. Now just six weeks into her newest chapter in Valencia, Spain, we talk about the emotional side of starting over once again, finding your footing in a new place, and embracing the uncertainty that often comes with building a life abroad. Whether you're preparing for your first international move or you've been living abroad for years, this conversation is a beautiful reminder that every new chapter invites us to rediscover who we are. And if you are interested in Meg's english support services or simply want to reach out and tell her how amazing she is, you can find her instagram here or go straight to booking a call with her here.  🌿 Looking for support on your own Becoming Her journey? If you're an expat woman navigating identity shifts, emotional overwhelm, or simply trying to feel more like yourself abroad, I'd love to support you. You can book a free 30-minute clarity call here, where we'll identify the biggest barrier keeping you stuck and create a personalized 3-step action plan to help you move forward with more clarity and confidence. And if you're looking for a community of women who truly understand the emotional side of living abroad, come join us inside the Becoming Her Abroad Facebook community. We'd love to welcome you.

  2. 6. Juli

    Ariel, What The Heck IS an Identity Shift?

    ✨ Join the 7-Day Challenge here! The truth is, identity shifts are a natural part of being human—but they're rarely talked about. And when they happen, it's easy to assume something is wrong with us. In this episode, we're exploring why identity shifts feel so uncomfortable, what they're actually trying to teach us, and why living abroad often accelerates this process in ways many women never expect. We'll explore: ✨ What identity really is—and why it's meant to evolve throughout your life ✨ Why your nervous system resists change, even when it's leading you toward growth ✨ How moving abroad disrupts the familiar parts of yourself that once made you feel confident and grounded ✨ The three phases of identity transition every expat woman moves through: Disorientation – when everything feels unfamiliarReconstruction – when you begin questioning who you're becomingEmbodiment – when your new identity finally starts to feel like homeMost importantly, I want you to leave this episode knowing this: You haven't lost yourself. You're in the middle of becoming. And while that space between who you've been and who you're becoming can feel uncertain, it's also where your greatest growth begins. 🌿 Ready to Take the Next Step? If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to invite you to join my 7-Day Become Her Abroad Challenge. Over seven days, I'll guide you through the same emotional and identity work I wish someone had taught me before I moved abroad. Together, we'll explore your limiting beliefs, reconnect with your intuition, understand your emotional needs, and begin rebuilding the confidence and self-trust needed to truly feel at home abroad. If you're ready to stop feeling disconnected from yourself and start becoming the woman you're meant to be abroad, you can join the challenge through the link in the show notes. Because becoming her isn't about becoming someone new. It's about remembering who you've always been—and giving yourself permission to grow into the woman you're becoming. ✨🤎

  3. 8. Juni

    084 Avoiding My Finances (And What It Was Really About)

    🎙 Join me live on Friday, June 19th for my free masterclass, Why You Don’t Feel Like Yourself Abroad, where we’ll dive deeper into the emotional, psychological, and identity shifts that happen after moving abroad—and how to begin feeling grounded, confident, and connected to yourself again. Register here (:  ✨ For years, I thought my problem was money. But looking back, finances were never actually the issue. Avoidance was. In this episode, I’m sharing how avoidance became a protective shield during some of the hardest seasons of my life abroad — including identity shifts, motherhood, relationship challenges, emotional overwhelm, and navigating life in a different country. We’ll explore why avoidance is often a nervous system response rather than a character flaw, how survival patterns can quietly keep us stuck, and what changed when I finally stopped running from the things that felt uncomfortable to face. If you've ever found yourself avoiding finances, difficult conversations, decisions, or even your own emotions, this episode is for you.  And if you’re craving community and conversations around the emotional side of expat life, come join us inside the Becoming Her Abroad Facebook group — a safe space to normalize the parts of culture shock and identity shifts no one warned us about. Schedule your 30-minute Clarity Call with me here!  ✨ Follow me on TikTok and Insta (Comment/DM and tell me what you would like to hear more of!)

  4. 25. Mai

    083 Your Body Remembers: Trauma, Identity Shifts & Living Abroad

    Schedule your 30-minute Clarity Call with me here!  And if you’re craving community and conversations around the emotional side of expat life, come join us inside the Becoming Her Abroad Facebook group — a safe space to normalize the parts of culture shock and identity shifts no one warned us about. — In this episode, we dive deep into the nervous system, unresolved emotional patterns, and why living abroad often activates parts of ourselves we thought we had already healed. Because moving abroad doesn’t just change your location. It changes your relationship to EVERYTHING. And when the nervous system loses familiarity, old survival responses often rise back to the surface. We are exploring: • What the nervous system actually is and how it works  • Why your body prioritizes familiarity over fulfillment  • How unresolved emotional patterns continue shaping your reactions and behaviors subconsciously  • Why moving abroad often triggers anxiety, irritability, emotional overwhelm, and identity confusion  • The 3 stages of identity crisis abroad: disorientation, reconstruction, and embodiment  • How unresolved nervous system patterns can affect relationships, communication, confidence, and emotional stability  • The difference between survival mode and true emotional safety  • What healing actually looks like beyond surface-level coping skills If you’ve been feeling more reactive, emotionally exhausted, disconnected, stuck, or unlike yourself abroad… this episode will help you understand why. Not from a place of shame. But from a place of awareness. Because your nervous system is not working against you. It’s trying to protect you the best way it knows how. ✨ Follow me on TikTok and Insta (Comment/DM and tell me what you would like to hear more of!)

  5. 18. Mai

    082 The Netflix Movie Version of My Marriage Abroad

    Schedule your 30-minute Clarity Call with me here!  And if you’re craving community and conversations around the emotional side of expat life, come join us inside the Becoming Her Abroad Facebook group — a safe space to normalize the parts of culture shock and identity shifts no one warned us about. — If someone turned my relationship abroad into a Netflix movie… this would probably be the emotional plot twist episode. Today, I’m opening up about my relationship, the emotional realities of navigating marriage abroad, and why living in another country can quietly place pressure on relationships in ways most people never expect. Because sometimes it’s not just culture shock. It’s nervous system overload.  Identity shifts.  Loss of support systems.  Emotional exhaustion.  And two people adapting to a completely new life in entirely different ways. In this episode, we talk about: • Why relationships can feel emotionally harder abroad  • How moving abroad affects patience, communication, and emotional regulation  • Why so many expats feel more reactive, disconnected, or unlike themselves in relationships  • The emotional weight of adapting while trying to maintain intimacy and connection  • How nervous system overwhelm impacts romantic dynamics  • The difference between relationship dysfunction and emotional overload This is not an episode about blame. It’s about awareness. Because sometimes the issue isn’t that the relationship is failing… it’s that both people are overwhelmed, adapting, and trying to survive major identity shifts at the same time. If you’ve been feeling emotionally stretched thin in your relationship abroad lately, this episode will help you feel less alone in it. ✨ Follow me on TikTok and Insta (Comment/DM and tell me what you would like to hear more of!)

  6. 11. Mai

    Why Surface Level Healing Isn't Working For You Anymore

    Schedule your 30-minute Clarity Call with me here!  And if you’re craving community and conversations around the emotional side of expat life, come join us inside the Becoming Her Abroad Facebook group — a safe space to normalize the parts of culture shock and identity shifts no one warned us about. If a lemon tree starts producing rotten lemons… do you focus on the lemons? Or do you examine the soil, the roots, and the internal environment feeding the entire tree? In this episode, we explore one of the biggest emotional mistakes so many expat women make while living abroad: trying to fix the visible symptoms without addressing the deeper root causes underneath them. Because snapping at your partner, feeling emotionally exhausted, questioning your move, feeling disconnected, anxious, unmotivated, or “not like yourself” are often not the actual problem. They’re symptoms. And when we only focus on changing behaviors without understanding the internal environment producing them… we stay stuck in the same cycles. In this episode, we talk about: • Why emotional symptoms abroad are often rooted in nervous system overload and identity misalignment  • The difference between surface-level coping and true internal healing  • Why gratitude and “thinking positive” aren’t enough when you feel disconnected  • The emotional cost of ignoring what’s happening underneath the surface  • How chronic adaptation, emotional suppression, loneliness, and lack of support impact expat mental health  • What it actually means to “heal at the root” while living abroad If you’ve been trying to fix yourself but still feel emotionally off… this episode will help you understand why. You are not broken. Your nervous system, identity, and emotional environment may simply need deeper support than surface-level solutions can provide.

  7. 4. Mai

    080 Q&A from The FB Expat Women Community

    I asked expat women in my FB Group Community (Join Here!) what they’re really struggling with right now… And the answers? They were almost identical. Which tells me something important: You’re not alone in what you’re feeling. In this episode, I’m answering some of the most honest, raw questions expat women are navigating behind the scenes — the ones that don’t always get said out loud. We talk about: • Why you might feel more reactive, overwhelmed, or on edge abroad  • What it actually means when you feel like you “want more” but don’t know where to start  • How to reconnect with yourself after the emotional rollercoaster of moving abroad  • Why loneliness can exist even when you’re surrounded by people  • The real reason you keep second-guessing your decision to move  • And what it means when part of you still wants to go back home If you’ve been feeling off, stuck, disconnected, or unsure of yourself… this episode will help you understand why. And more importantly—help you feel less alone in it. You’re not doing this wrong. You’re navigating something that most people were never taught how to handle. ✨🧘‍♀️ Becoming Her Abroad - APPLY HERE ✨ Follow me on TikTok and Insta (Comment/DM and tell me what you would like to hear more of!)  If you’re an expat woman in the EU time zone navigating this exact phase — feeling off, disconnected, or unsure how to move forward — I currently offer 1:1 support and consultation calls to help you realign and feel grounded in your life abroad again. You can book a free 30-minute consultation here.

Info

"The Expat Therapist: Navigating Mental Health Abroad" is a podcast that offers insights, advice, and strategies for expats needing guidance with mental health struggles on their journey and guidance for individuals anticipating a move abroad. Hosted by a licensed clinical therapist and fellow expat, the show aims to help listeners overcome the unique challenges of moving and living abroad and achieve greater well-being and happiness.