When You Need Support in the Netherlands but Don't Know Where to Start

You know you are not doing particularly well.

Maybe you have been anxious for a while. You are exhausted, overwhelmed or unusually emotional. Your relationship is struggling. Something difficult happened months ago and you still do not feel like yourself.

Or perhaps nothing dramatic has happened at all.

You simply know that something needs attention.

Then comes another question:

Who am I actually supposed to contact?

If you did not grow up in the Netherlands, the Dutch mental-health system can take some getting used to. You may hear people mention the huisarts, POH-GGZ, psychologist, counsellor, therapist and GGZ, sometimes as though everyone automatically understands how these pieces fit together.

Then there is health insurance. Referrals. The eigen risico. Waiting lists. Contracted and non-contracted providers.

It can become surprisingly complicated at exactly the moment when you have the least energy for figuring out a system.

So rather than beginning with every possible professional title, it may help to begin somewhere simpler:

What kind of support do you need right now?

In the Netherlands, the huisarts is often the starting point

For psychological complaints that may need healthcare, the huisarts, or general practitioner, is usually an important first point of contact.

This sometimes surprises internationals.

You may be accustomed to contacting a psychologist or psychiatrist directly. In the Dutch system, however, the huisarts has an important coordinating role.

You can talk with your huisarts about what you are experiencing and how much it is affecting everyday life. That includes things such as sleep, work, study, relationships, parenting, self-care and your ability to manage ordinary responsibilities.

The huisarts may provide support directly, involve the POH-GGZ, or refer you to the GGZ when more specialised assessment or treatment appears necessary.

Current information from Zorginstituut Nederland confirms that psychological support provided by the huisarts and POH-GGZ forms part of huisartsenzorg. It is covered by the basic health-insurance package and does not fall under the mandatory eigen risico.¹

That makes the GP practice much more than a place to visit when you have a physical illness.

It can also be an entry point when you are unsure what kind of mental-health care you need.

What exactly is a POH-GGZ?

The abbreviation itself does not make things particularly clear.

POH-GGZ stands for praktijkondersteuner huisarts geestelijke gezondheidszorg: roughly, a mental-health practice professional working within or alongside the GP practice.

A POH-GGZ can talk with you about psychological complaints, help clarify what may be happening and provide short-term support in some situations. Depending on your needs, the GP and POH-GGZ may also consider whether another type of care would be more appropriate.

Thuisarts describes the POH-GGZ as someone who can help with psychological complaints within the huisarts practice, including short-term support.²

For someone unfamiliar with Dutch healthcare, this can initially feel unusual.

You may think:

If I am struggling emotionally, shouldn't I immediately see a psychologist?

Not necessarily.

Sometimes relatively mild or emerging difficulties can be supported appropriately within primary care. At other times, symptoms, complexity or the impact on daily functioning may indicate that GGZ assessment or treatment is needed.

The purpose of that first conversation is not for you to arrive already knowing the answer.

When might GGZ be appropriate?

GGZ stands for geestelijke gezondheidszorg: mental healthcare.

This is where assessment and treatment for mental disorders can take place.

According to Zorginstituut Nederland, when a doctor suspects a psychological disorder that cannot appropriately be treated within the huisarts practice, the person can be referred to geneeskundige GGZ.¹

Thuisarts gives examples of situations in which referral may be considered, including when earlier support has not helped enough, psychological complaints substantially interfere with daily functioning, or a mental disorder such as depression may be present.²

After referral, the GGZ provider still needs to determine whether it can offer appropriate care. An intake may involve conversations about your complaints and circumstances and sometimes questionnaires. If treatment is offered, you discuss the treatment options and care plan with the provider.³

This distinction matters because being referred does not necessarily mean that a particular diagnosis has already been established.

Assessment is part of determining what is happening and what care fits.

But not every difficult life situation belongs in specialist mental healthcare

This is an important part of the Dutch system that can be confusing.

You can be genuinely struggling without necessarily having a mental disorder requiring insured GGZ treatment.

Relationship difficulties are real.

Migration stress is real.

Grief is real.

Loneliness is real.

Feeling lost after becoming a mother, going through a separation, rebuilding your life after a difficult relationship or trying to find your place in another country can affect wellbeing considerably.

But distress and disorder are not automatically the same thing.

Zorginstituut Nederland specifically notes that treatment for certain problems, including relationship problems and difficulties adjusting to changed circumstances such as divorce, grief or losing work, is not in itself covered as geneeskundige GGZ under the basic insurance.¹

That does not mean these experiences are unimportant or that someone should simply cope alone.

It means the kind of support that fits may come from somewhere other than insured GGZ.

And this is where the Dutch landscape becomes broader than many newcomers initially realise.

Support does not only exist inside the GGZ

Depending on what is happening, appropriate support might come from several places.

Perhaps what you need is medical or psychological assessment.

Perhaps you need brief support through the huisarts or POH-GGZ.

Maybe the main difficulty is social: loneliness, finances, housing, parenting, participation or navigating services. In those situations, support through the municipality, neighbourhood team or another part of the sociaal domein may sometimes be relevant.

You may benefit from community support, a support group or an organisation serving internationals or migrants.

Or perhaps you are functioning reasonably well but recognise that stress, relationships, identity, boundaries or a major life transition would benefit from focused attention.

Some people choose private psychosocial counselling or coaching in those circumstances.

These forms of support are not interchangeable.

A community group is not psychiatric treatment. A counsellor is not automatically a psychologist. A POH-GGZ does not fulfil exactly the same role as specialist GGZ.

The useful question is not simply:

Which one is better?

It is:

Which kind of support matches what is happening?

Where does private counselling fit?

This is particularly relevant for Astramía because clarity matters.

Private counselling can occupy a space between trying to manage everything alone and needing clinical mental-health treatment.

Someone might seek counselling because migration has affected their identity or relationship. A mother may feel that she has disappeared beneath everyone else's needs. A couple from different cultural backgrounds may keep having the same conflict and want help understanding the pattern. Someone emerging from a difficult relationship may want support rebuilding boundaries, trust and emotional stability.

These experiences can be deeply significant without automatically requiring diagnosis or specialist psychiatric care.

Preventive psychosocial counselling can offer space to understand patterns, develop coping and communication skills, process life transitions and pay attention to difficulties before they become more entrenched.

But there is an important boundary.

Counselling should not be presented as a substitute for clinical assessment or GGZ treatment when those are needed.

A responsible counsellor should be willing to recognise when someone's needs fall outside their scope and discuss appropriate referral or additional care.

Sometimes counselling is the right support.

Sometimes the huisarts is the right place to begin.

Sometimes both may have a role.

What if you are not sure whether your problem is “serious enough”?

This question comes up often in mental health.

People compare.

Other people have it worse.

I am still going to work.

I can still take care of my children.

Maybe I am just stressed.

I don't want to waste the doctor's time.

You do not need to diagnose yourself before asking a healthcare professional for advice.

If psychological complaints are persistent, getting worse or interfering with ordinary life, discussing them with your huisarts is reasonable. Thuisarts specifically recommends starting with the huisarts and discussing the nature of the complaints, their effect on daily life and what help may fit.²

Equally, not every difficult emotion needs to become a healthcare problem.

There are periods in life when sadness, uncertainty, anger, grief or overwhelm make sense in context.

The question is less about proving that your suffering is severe enough and more about noticing what is happening:

How long has this been going on?

Is it getting better or worse?

Can I still function in everyday life?

Am I becoming increasingly isolated?

Is this affecting my relationship, parenting, study or work?

Do I feel safe?

What have I already tried?

Those questions can help you decide whether something deserves more attention.

And yes, waiting times are a real problem

Even after you understand where to go, another difficulty can appear: access.

The Nederlandse Zorgautoriteit reported in its 2025 assessment that access to GGZ had not improved, with waiting times remaining too long in many regions and people with more complex care needs tending to wait longest.⁴

The problem has continued to receive attention in 2026. The NZa describes overly long GGZ waiting times as an ongoing accessibility issue and has begun changing how waiting-time information is collected, using declaration data progressively from 2026 to make the information more complete and reliable.⁵

For someone already struggling, being told that appropriate treatment exists but is not immediately available can be deeply frustrating.

Still, waiting should not mean pretending that you no longer need the care you were referred for.

If your condition changes while you are waiting, particularly if symptoms worsen significantly, contact the professional involved in your care or your huisarts rather than assuming you simply have to endure it until the appointment arrives.

And if you need immediate help because of a psychological crisis, urgent pathways are different from routine waiting-list care. Thuisarts advises contacting the huisarts or huisartsenpost when urgent help is needed and you are not yet receiving GGZ treatment; if you are already in treatment, use the crisis/contact instructions provided by your treating service.³

Language can make an already unfamiliar system harder

For internationals and migrants, knowing where to ask for help is only one part of accessibility.

You also need to be able to explain what is happening.

You might speak enough Dutch for work and everyday life yet still prefer discussing psychological experiences in English or another language. Emotional vocabulary can be much harder than conversational language, particularly when the subject involves relationships, childhood, trauma, shame or experiences that are culturally difficult to describe.

It is reasonable to ask a healthcare provider what language options are available.

Needing clearer communication is not the same as refusing to integrate.

When a conversation affects your health, understanding and being understood matters.

A simple way to think about your first step

If you are new to the Dutch system, you do not need to memorise every professional title before asking for help.

Start with the problem rather than the label.

If you are concerned that you may have significant psychological symptoms, your functioning is deteriorating, you are unsure whether assessment is needed, or you simply do not know how serious the situation is, the huisarts is a sensible place to start.

If the issue is primarily practical or social, local community or municipal support may also be relevant.

If you are functioning but want support with migration, relationships, identity, boundaries, emotional recovery or another life transition, preventive psychosocial counselling may be an option.

And sometimes more than one form of support is useful.

The Dutch system can feel fragmented when you first encounter it. Over time, the different pieces begin to make more sense.

But you should not need to understand the entire system before you are allowed to say:

“I'm struggling, and I'm not sure what kind of help I need.”

That is already enough to begin the conversation.

If you need urgent help

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, seek urgent assistance.

For an acute psychological crisis when you are not currently receiving GGZ treatment, contact your huisarts during practice hours or the huisartsenpost outside those hours. If you are already receiving GGZ treatment, follow the urgent-contact or crisis instructions provided by your treating organisation.³

If there is immediate danger requiring emergency assistance, call 112.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, you can also contact 113 Zelfmoordpreventie for crisis support.

Where Astramía fits

Astramía Counselling provides preventive, psychosocial and non-clinical counselling for adults, including internationals and migrants navigating migration stress, relationships, motherhood, emotional recovery and major life transitions.

You do not need a diagnosis to seek preventive counselling.

At the same time, Astramía is not a replacement for the huisarts, psychological assessment, medical care, crisis services or specialist GGZ treatment when those forms of care are indicated.

Part of responsible support is recognising the difference.

Explore Astramía Counselling →

Sources & further reading

1. Zorginstituut Nederland. Geneeskundige ggz (Zvw).Official information about insured mental healthcare in the Netherlands, including the roles of the huisarts and POH-GGZ, referral to geneeskundige GGZ and which types of problems are not in themselves covered as insured GGZ treatment.

2. Thuisarts.nl. Ik heb psychische klachten. Van wie krijg ik hulp?Patient information approved by Dutch medical professionals explaining starting with the huisarts, the role of the POH-GGZ and circumstances in which referral to GGZ may be appropriate.

3. Thuisarts.nl. Ik ben aangemeld bij de ggz. Hoe gaat het verder?Information about what happens following GGZ referral, assessment and treatment planning, as well as what to do when urgent psychological help is needed.

4. Nederlandse Zorgautoriteit. Stand van de zorg 2025: Geestelijke gezondheidszorg.NZa assessment of GGZ accessibility, including persistent regional waiting-time problems and longer waits for people with complex care needs.

5. Nederlandse Zorgautoriteit. Nieuwe werkwijze legt basis voor betere sturing op wachttijden. (2026).Information about the ongoing GGZ waiting-time problem and the progressive introduction of declaration-based waiting-time data from 2026.

Healthcare arrangements, insurance coverage and referral pathways can change. This article reflects publicly available Dutch information checked in September 2026 and provides general information rather than individual medical or psychological advice.