“The session with Lina helped me better understand the situation around me and my children, and the emotions that come up in everyday life. The tools she shared to practice at home made a real difference, helping me stay calm and regulate my emotions before responding to my kids. Her sessions felt very reachable and enjoyable, and I’m truly thankful for the opportunity. I also became more aware of my emotional patterns and how they can influence how I connect with my children. I left the sessions feeling more confident and better equipped to handle difficult moments at home.”

“Working with Lina has been an important part of my personal growth, and I’m deeply grateful for her support and guidance. ​Lina works in a trauma-informed way and never pressures me to talk about things or do activities before I’m ready. She consistently reassures me that I can move at my own pace and only share what feels safe and comfortable. That sense of safety has allowed me to open up gradually and feel more grounded in myself. Because she has walked a similar path herself, Lina shows genuine empathy and understanding. I never feel judged or rushed, only supported by someone who truly understands what I’m experiencing. Lina’s guidance is also very structured and practical. She offers clear steps and exercises that feel achievable and suited to my personal situation. This has helped me build confidence and recognise progress over time. She also helps me understand my experiences better like why I feel certain ways, how past and present situations influence me, and how to manage emotional triggers. Having this understanding has empowered me to take a more active role in my own growth. I believe Lina will continue helping many people, especially those adjusting to motherhood in a foreign country while carrying difficult life experiences. Her support makes that journey feel less lonely and more hopeful."

“We came to counselling because we loved each other, but we were struggling to understand each other when emotions became intense. Small things could quickly turn into bigger arguments, and sometimes it would take days before we really connected again. ​What helped us was learning to understand what was happening beneath those moments instead of focusing only on who said or did something wrong. We became better at recognizing our triggers, slowing things down, and explaining what we actually needed from each other. We also appreciated that our different cultural backgrounds were understood without everything being blamed on culture. We were both given space to express ourselves and never felt that one person was being treated as the problem. We still have disagreements, but we handle them differently now. We communicate better, repair things sooner and understand each other in a way we didn't before.”

“Because of Lina’s encouragement, I finally took the step to become a ZZP’er and start working for myself. I went from working under someone else to building my own business, and I am now experiencing the kind of career and financial independence I wanted for myself. I had a lot of doubts about taking that step. Lina encouraged me to take the leap and see what could happen. Something she said stayed with me: I might regret never knowing what could have happened more than I would regret trying. That helped me stop feeling stuck and gave me the courage to move forward. Looking back at where I started and where my business is now, taking that step changed my career and my life. Lina’s encouragement played an important part in helping me believe that I could do it.”

“My employer offered me the opportunity to speak with Lina during a period when work and personal responsibilities were becoming difficult to balance. I wasn't at the point where I felt I needed to stop working, but I could tell that stress was beginning to affect my concentration, energy and how I responded to situations at work. Having someone outside the company to talk to made a big difference. I could speak openly without worrying about colleagues being involved or feeling that I had to present myself professionally all the time. Lina helped me understand what was contributing to the pressure, recognise when I was taking on too much and become clearer about the boundaries I needed between work and my personal life. We also worked on practical ways of handling stressful periods and difficult conversations without carrying them with me for the rest of the day. I appreciated that my employer made this support available before things became much worse. I felt supported as a person, not just as an employee. I am still doing the same job, but I feel more able to manage the pressure, communicate what I need and recognise when I need to slow down or ask for support.”

“I joined the group without really knowing what to expect. I had been living in the Netherlands for some time and thought I had adjusted quite well, but hearing other internationals talk about their experiences made me realise how many things I had simply been dealing with on my own. What I liked most was that the group didn't feel like everyone was expected to have a problem. We talked about real parts of living abroad, including loneliness, relationships, cultural differences, identity and the pressure to adapt. Lina created an atmosphere where people could contribute as much or as little as they wanted. Hearing other people's perspectives also helped me realise that some experiences I thought were only mine were actually shared by others. I left feeling more connected and less alone in some of the things that come with building a life away from home.”

“Moving abroad was something I had wanted for a long time, so I didn't understand why I was finding it so difficult once I was actually here. I had a good life on paper, but I missed my family, struggled to make close friendships and often felt like I was somewhere between my old life and my new one. Talking with Lina gave me a place where I didn't have to explain why those feelings could exist alongside being grateful for the opportunities I have here. She understood the cultural side of the experience as well as the emotional one. Our sessions helped me understand that adjusting wasn't simply about learning the language or getting used to how things work. I started thinking more about belonging, identity and what I needed to make this life feel like mine too. I still miss home, but I no longer see that as proof that I don't belong here.”

“When I started counselling, the relationship had already ended, but emotionally I was still very much living inside it. I kept questioning myself, replaying conversations and wondering whether I had handled things differently, everything might have turned out another way. Lina never told me what I should think about the relationship or how I should feel about what happened. Instead, she helped me look at my experiences more clearly and recognise patterns I had stopped noticing while I was in them. What surprised me was how much of the work became about me rather than my former partner. We talked about boundaries, trust, the things I had learned to tolerate and what I wanted my life and future relationships to look like. I don't feel that I have erased what happened. I just don't feel defined by it anymore. I am slowly trusting myself again.”

“I contacted Lina during a period when several things in my life were happening at the same time. There was conflict within my family, difficult decisions that needed to be made and conversations that I constantly worried about before they even happened. I initially thought counselling would give me answers about what I should do. Instead, Lina helped me slow everything down and separate what actually needed my attention from everything my mind was trying to solve at once. She helped me recognise my emotional triggers, prepare for difficult conversations and think about what was within my control and what wasn't. Having somewhere neutral to talk was especially important because I didn't always feel comfortable discussing the situation with people close to me. The circumstances didn't suddenly disappear, but I became much better at handling them without every difficult moment taking over my whole day.”

“I honestly didn't know what to say when Lina first asked what brought me to counselling. Nothing dramatic had happened and I couldn't point to one particular problem. I just knew that I wasn't feeling like myself and that I had been carrying a lot for a long time. What I appreciated was that I wasn't expected to arrive with a clear explanation or goal. Our conversations started with what was happening in my everyday life, and gradually I began noticing connections between things I had previously thought were unrelated. Over time I became clearer about what was bothering me, what I needed from other people and what I wanted to change for myself. I started counselling because I didn't know what I needed. In a way, figuring that out became part of the counselling itself.”

“I originally contacted Lina because I was becoming increasingly unhappy at work. I was performing well, but I constantly questioned myself, found it difficult to say no and often continued thinking about work long after I had gone home. Our conversations helped me understand that the problem wasn't simply whether I liked my job. I started recognising how much pressure I was putting on myself, where some of that came from and how it affected the way I communicated with colleagues and responded to expectations. Lina helped me become clearer about my boundaries and what I actually wanted from my working life. I became more comfortable speaking up, asking questions and not automatically taking responsibility for everything. I am still working for the same company, but my relationship with my work has changed. I feel more confident in my role and much less like I have to prove myself all the time.”

“Starting my career again in another country was much harder emotionally than I expected. I had qualifications and work experience from home, but suddenly I felt like I was starting from the beginning. It affected my confidence more than I realised. Lina understood that this wasn't only about finding a job. We talked about identity, language, culture and what it feels like when the professional version of yourself that you knew before moving isn't immediately recognised in your new country. She helped me look at what I had already achieved instead of seeing myself as someone who had to start from zero. We also worked through the fear I had about applying for opportunities when I didn't feel completely ready. I eventually started taking steps toward the kind of work I wanted again. My career still looks different from the one I had before moving, but I no longer see that as going backwards.”

“When I started working with Lina, I knew I wanted something different professionally, but I couldn't tell whether I needed a new job, a completely different career or simply a change in the way I was working. Lina didn't tell me what decision to make. Instead, she asked questions that helped me understand what I valued, what was keeping me where I was and which fears were actually influencing my decisions. I started separating what I genuinely wanted from what I thought I was supposed to do. That gave me the confidence to explore opportunities without feeling that I needed to have my entire future figured out first. The biggest change was clarity. I stopped waiting until I felt completely certain and started making decisions that actually moved me forward.”

“When I came to the Netherlands, I knew that learning Dutch and completing my integration requirements would be part of starting my life here. What I didn't expect was how much pressure I would put on myself because I knew I had a limited time to complete everything. The closer the exams became, the more anxious I felt. I would study, but sometimes the anxiety made it harder to concentrate. I also became very self-conscious about speaking Dutch because I was afraid of making mistakes. Even ordinary conversations could start to feel like another test. Lina helped me separate the practical challenge of learning a language from all the fear and expectations I had attached to it. We worked on managing the anxiety around studying and exams, being less critical of myself when I made mistakes, and recognising the progress I was already making. I still had to study and do the work, but I stopped treating every mistake as proof that I wasn't going to succeed. I became more confident using Dutch in everyday life and approached my exams with a much calmer mindset. What helped most was having someone who understood that integration is not only about passing exams. There is an emotional side to building a life in another country too.”

“From the outside, there wasn't really anything wrong with my life. I had a career I was proud of, financial stability, a good relationship with my family and a comfortable home. That was actually part of why I found it difficult to admit that I wasn't completely happy. What I was missing was connection. I knew people and had colleagues I got along with, but I didn't have many people I could spontaneously call, meet for coffee with or talk to about something personal. I often spent weekends wondering why I felt lonely when I had so much to be grateful for. Lina helped me understand that gratitude and loneliness don't cancel each other out. Our conversations made me look more closely at the kind of relationships I wanted, how much of myself I was actually showing to other people and how difficult it had become for me to create new friendships as an adult. I started making small changes instead of waiting for a social life to somehow happen. I became more intentional about reaching out, accepting invitations and allowing new relationships time to develop. My life wasn't empty before counselling. Something important was simply missing from it. Recognising that without feeling guilty about it made a bigger difference than I expected.”

“I came to Lina because relationships had become an area of my life where I was losing hope. I had dated, had relationships that didn't work out and experienced the same disappointment enough times that I started wondering whether the problem was simply me. I wanted a relationship, but I noticed that every new connection brought a lot of overthinking. If someone became distant, I questioned what I had done wrong. If I really liked someone, I worried about losing them. After another relationship ended, my confidence became even worse and I started thinking that maybe love just wasn't going to happen for me. Counselling with Lina wasn't about learning how to find the right person. We looked instead at how I approached relationships, what happened to my confidence when I experienced rejection, what I needed from a partner and some of the patterns I kept finding myself in. One of the biggest changes was learning not to measure my worth by whether someone chose to stay. I also became more aware of the difference between trying to keep a relationship at any cost and asking whether the relationship was actually meeting my needs too. I still want to find someone and build a lasting relationship. The difference is that I don't see being single or having another relationship end as proof that something is wrong with me anymore. I haven't given up on love, but I'm also learning not to give up on myself while looking for it.”