Therapy in Italy for expats refers to professional psychological support provided by licensed therapists, available in English and other languages, both online and in person, to individuals living abroad in Italy.
Therapy in Italy for expats refers to professional psychological support provided by licensed therapists, available in English and other languages, both online and in person, to individuals living abroad in Italy.
Our multilingual therapists break down communication barriers and provide support tailored to your emotional and cultural needs, so you feel truly heard and understood.
Access therapy wherever you are, with flexible options for online or in-person sessions. Whether you prefer the comfort of your home or a safe and welcoming space, we adapt to your lifestyle.
Talk one-on-one with our Clinical Director, who will hand-pick the therapist best suited to your needs, preferences and language. No automated questionnaires or impersonal chats.
Psychotherapy in Italy is a regulated healthcare profession. Psychotherapy can only be practised by psychologists or medical doctors who have completed a four-year specialization: psychologists are registered with the Order of Psychologists (Albo degli Psicologi), doctors and psychiatrists with the Ordine dei Medici. Therapy in Italy is offered:
Expats can legally access therapy in Italy without residency restrictions when using private services – no Italian healthcare card or Permesso di Soggiorno is required to book a session.
Many expats in Italy experience psychological distress related to:
Language barriers are one of the main obstacles to effective therapy. Expressing emotions can be harder when therapy is conducted in a non-native language: clients may struggle to articulate complex feelings, nuances are lost, and trust takes longer to build. Multilingual psychotherapy allows expats to receive therapy in the language they feel most emotionally fluent in, which can make it easier to express yourself and build trust.
Therapsy connects expats with 50+ licensed multilingual therapists who collectively speak 14 languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Greek, Arabic, Urdu, Hebrew, Hindi, and Persian (Farsi).
Both online and in-person psychotherapy are legal and widely practiced in Italy.
Many expats combine both formats: starting in person for the first few sessions to build rapport, then continuing online when work or life moves them around Italy or abroad.
When choosing a therapist in Italy, expats should consider:
At Therapsy, the matching is done by people, not by an algorithm: our clinical team, led by our Clinical Director, talks with you to understand your needs and language.
Therapsy is an Italy-based psychotherapy service offering therapy in 14 languages, with both online and in-person sessions across 24 Italian cities. Founded in 2023, our team of 50+ licensed therapists has supported over 1,500 clients, with a 4.8/5 rating on Trustpilot.
Therapsy provides:
Therapsy was created to make therapy in Italy accessible, understandable, and effective for international clients – removing the language, geographical, and bureaucratic barriers that traditionally kept expats from quality mental health care.
Online psychotherapy in Italy is considered effective when delivered by qualified professionals. Research suggests that, for common problems such as anxiety and depression, video therapy can work as well as in-person therapy.
For expats, online therapy offers additional advantages:
Some cases (severe trauma, dissociation, certain personality work) may benefit from in-person sessions, which Therapsy offers across 24 Italian cities.
Can expats receive therapy in Italy?
Yes. Expats can legally receive private psychotherapy services in Italy.
Is therapy in English available in Italy?
Yes. English-speaking and multilingual therapists are available through specialized services.
Is therapy confidential in Italy?
Yes. Psychotherapy in Italy is protected by strict confidentiality laws.
How much does therapy cost in Italy?
Prices vary by city and therapist; at Therapsy, individual therapy starts from €70 per session.
Therapy costs in Italy vary significantly depending on the provider:
At Therapsy pricing, individual therapy starts from €70 per session, with no surcharge for online vs in-person. Couples therapy starts from €100, psychiatric consultations from €110, and psychodiagnostic assessment from €255 (3-session package). The first 15-30 minute assessment call is always free, with no commitment.
If you pay taxes in Italy, psychotherapy counts as a health expense, so you get a 19% IRPEF tax credit on the part of your yearly health spending above EUR 129.11, as long as the payment is traceable. At Therapsy you pay by card, so it always is: just keep every invoice. Some international insurance plans may reimburse therapy abroad (some of our clients have been reimbursed by Cigna). We issue invoices in English with the therapist’s and patient’s details, date, price and session description, without diagnosis or billing codes.
Several services offer English-speaking therapy to expats in Italy, from Italian online platforms to international apps and independent therapists. When you compare them, check:
Therapsy is an Italy-based service combining all of the following:
For expats who want quality therapy in their native language, with both digital convenience and the option of face-to-face sessions across Italy, this combination is what Therapsy was built for.
Therapy in Italy for expats is regulated, multilingual, and increasingly online. Therapsy is an Italy-based service offering psychotherapy in 14 languages, with both online and in-person sessions across 24 Italian cities. Key facts:
Expats can access multilingual mental health care in Italy without speaking Italian and, for private sessions, without an Italian health card or residence permit, in a way that respects their language, culture, and pace of life.
Have a free dedicated conversation with our Clinical Director, who will carefully understand your needs, preferences, and language. Based on this, we will thoughtfully match you with the therapist who best fits your goals and personality.
Meet your assigned therapist for a free initial assessment call. This session is designed to get to know you, explore your concerns, and explain how therapy works.
Continue with flexible therapy sessions, online or in person across Italy. If the fit isn’t right, we’ll rematch you. No awkward conversations, no extra cost.
Therapsy is designed exactly for this scenario. Fill in our free request form, briefly describe your situation and your language preference, and Dr. Francesca or a member of her onboarding team will get back to you on WhatsApp within 12 hours to help you find the right therapist. Then you have a free 15-30 minute call with that therapist.
Yes, this is core territory for us. Several of our therapists have lived abroad themselves or work specifically with expats. Working in your native language with someone who understands the realities of being away from home (family distance, identity shifts, language fatigue, friendship gaps) is often the difference between feeling truly understood and feeling lost in translation.
Not with Therapsy. The public Italian healthcare system primarily operates in Italian, and most private practices do too. Therapsy is an Italy-based service offering therapy in 14 languages, with both online and in-person sessions. You can access high-quality mental health care without speaking Italian, in your own language.
Some plans do. Some of our clients have been reimbursed by Cigna, and other international plans may also reimburse therapy abroad: always check your plan’s rules before your first paid session. Therapsy issues invoices in English with the therapist’s and patient’s details, date, price and a description of the session; they do not include a diagnosis or billing codes (such as CPT), which some insurers ask for.
In Italy, psychotherapists must complete a four-year specialization after their degree and are registered with their professional order. Individual sessions usually last 50-60 minutes and couple sessions 75-90 minutes, similar to international norms.
Yes. Therapsy supports international students and short-term residents wherever they study in Italy. Sessions can be online, which fits student schedules, or in person in the cities where we have a practice. Individual therapy starts from €70 per session, and some students use insurance reimbursement to cover the cost.
Adult life doesn’t arrive with a manual, and the expat version has even fewer pages translated. Our adult patients come to us with the struggles that don’t make for good Instagram captions: a manager who won’t change, a marriage running on autopilot, a parent’s health declining back home, the person you thought you’d be by now.
Therapy with us is a space to slow down and look at all of it without performing. We use evidence-based approaches (CBT, ACT, EMDR, psychodynamic) chosen for what helps you, not what we prefer.
Some paths last a few months, others longer. Either way, change shows up over weeks and months rather than session by session, which is why keeping your sessions regular matters.
Many of the couples we see are international: one partner moved for the other’s job, or you come from different countries and built your relationship in a third. The dynamics are real. The “trailing spouse” cliché exists because it captures something true: the partner who followed often loses career, identity and social network at once, while the other is busy with the new role and doesn’t fully see it.
Couples therapy with us is not about finding who’s right. It’s about finding the conversation neither of you is having: the resentment that’s gone underground, the appreciation that’s gone unsaid, the assumption one of you brought from your culture and the other never agreed to.
Sessions take place in one language, the one you choose together. The goal is not to stop arguing, but to name what was underneath, so that disagreements become easier to work through.
Adolescents often arrive at our door through their parents: sometimes willingly, sometimes reluctantly. Either way, the first thing we do is build trust with the teenager. For minors, therapy starts with the consent of the parents (or legal guardian), and the teenager always knows what is shared with them, and why: adolescents who feel monitored shut down, adolescents who feel respected open up.
Some of our young patients are third-culture kids: growing up in a country that isn’t their parents’ country, switching languages between school and dinner, holding identities that don’t fit the categories adults assume. We get this. Where possible, therapy happens in the language your child actually thinks in, not just the one they were tested in at school.
Expat life has phases. The honeymoon (everything is charming), the adjustment (everything is exhausting), the integration (everything is just… life), and for some, the return shock (going “home” and finding it’s not). Each phase comes with its own emotional load, and the load gets heavier when you can’t process it in the language you grew up in.
Therapy in your fourth language isn’t harder because you can’t speak it well enough. It’s harder because grief, anger, shame and longing, the things therapy actually works on, live in your first language. Translating them in real time, while a stranger watches, is exhausting and often inaccurate.
With a therapist who speaks your first language, you can stop translating yourself and start being yourself.
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The numbers behind the work.
Our patients tell us how they feel, here’s what they say.
If you’re still reading, you’re already further than most.
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