Looking After Your Mental Health While Living Abroad

Co-Founder of My Expat Mind Anna Zhadan joins the Expat Focus Podcast to talk about expat mental health. After leaving Belarus at just nine years old and making many international moves since, Anna knows first-hand the psychological toll that living abroad can take. She channelled that experience into My Expat Mind, a directory built to help expats find therapists who understand what it's really like to start over in a foreign country. In this conversation, she and Carlie unpack the emotional side of expat life — homesickness, loneliness, identity shifts, the FOMO of watching family and friends move on without you, and how moving so often shaped Anna's independence and her sense of home. The pair then dig into the practical side of looking after your mental well-being abroad: how to find a therapist who speaks your language and gets the expat experience, why therapy is for everyday good health and not just crisis moments, and how insurance and reimbursement can vary wildly from country to country. Anna explains how My Expat Mind works as a free directory for clients, and shares a simple packing tip for making any new place feel a little more like home. If you've ever struggled with the hidden emotional challenges of living abroad — or you're considering a move and want to look after your mental health along the way — this episode is for you. #ExpatLife #ExpatMentalHealth #MovingAbroad #ExpatTherapy #LivingAbroad #Homesickness #ExpatFocus 👉 Visit Expat Focus at https://www.expatfocus.com 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 00:55 Anna's First Big Move 02:37 Defining Home Abroad 05:08 Challenges of Frequent Moves 06:45 Friendships Across Borders 10:06 How My Expat Mind Began 12:06 Common Expat Mental Struggles 13:52 Finding the Right Therapist 16:03 Why Therapy Helps 20:39 Insurance and Reimbursement 21:59 Packing Tip for Feeling at Home 23:17 Where to Find My Expat Mind 23:56 Final Thoughts and Outro 🎥 Video/Transcript – https://www.expatfocus.com/international/podcast/looking-after-your-mental-health-while-living-abroad 📝 Show Notes My Expat Mind – https://myexpatmind.com/ 👉 Follow Expat Focus here: RSS | https://www.expatfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ExpatFocus Podcast | https://www.expatfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://www.linkedin.com/company/expatfocus LinkedIn Group | https://www.linkedin.com/groups/673267 X | https://x.com/expatfocus Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/expatfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/expatfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/expatfocus TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@expatfocus Mastodon | https://mastodon.social/@expatfocus Website | https://www.expatfocus.com